Sparse playing time hasn’t stopped Zion Elee from ascending for Maryland football

As Maryland football built a second-half lead over Purdue on Saturday, interim coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim grew nervous. The unease stemmed from a bet he had made days earlier. Zion Elee, who entered the game with three-and-a-half sacks, wagered that he’d record four against the Boilermakers. The freshman fell short — with only a career-high two-and-a-half. “I’m glad he had two-and-a-half, not four, because I was not ready to complete that bet,” Abdul-Rahim said. “I’m not gonna tell y’all what it was.” Elee may have lost the bet. But he powered the Terps’ first Big Ten win this season while becoming their first player to register multiple sacks in a conference game since 2023. The breakout outing continued the edge rusher’s late-season surge. Elee arrived in College Park as the program’s highest-ranked recruit ever. Now, he’s one sack away from breaking now-sophomore Sidney Stewart’s freshman record of seven. His six sacks are the most by any freshman nationally.

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