When Cardale Jones agreed in October 2011 to continue his football career at Ohio State, the Buckeyes were already embroiled in a mediocre 6-6 regular season that ended with a 24-16 loss to Florida in the Gator Bowl three months later.

But Ohio State’s struggle — the program’s only sub-.500 record since the 1988 squad limped to a 4-6-1 finish — didn’t dissuade Jones, a three-star recruit out of Cleveland. And the CBS Sports Network analyst said he did not think Maryland’s class of 2025 prospects would suddenly grow lukewarm because of the team’s uneven campaign this fall.

“I think recruits can look at it one of two ways,” he said. “You can go in there and be a difference-maker and be that class that sets everything straight. Or you can say, ‘Hey, I don’t want to be a part of it.’ I think the trend that you see with a lot of recruits is, ‘Oh, I have a chance to be a difference-maker, and I can be a part of something where we can say this is where the turning point happened.’ ”

While the Terps (4-4, 1-4 Big Ten) nurse a stretch of three losses in their past four games in their second bye week of the season, they can take some solace in a recruiting effort that has them competing with some of the sport’s bluebloods.

Last week, Maryland moved from No. 22 to No. 18 in the latest rankings compiled by ESPN. The program’s incoming group trails Big Ten powerhouses such as No. 2 Ohio State, No. 7 Oregon, No. 9 USC, No. 11 Penn State, No. 14 Michigan and No. 16 Washington.

The Terps are still ranked No. 24 by 247Sports, but college football recruiting analyst Allen Trieu said there is plenty to like about the net they cast.

“I think when you look at where the class is ranked nationally, it’s a top-25 class,” he said. “So they’re not just filling spots to fill spots. There’s quality there. The class ranking speaks for itself, but I think there’s no doubt that progress has been made in both quality and quantity.”

Maryland’s quest to build next year’s freshman class got a significant boost when Spalding rising senior Malik Washington committed on June 26. Since then, the 6-foot-5, 200-pound quarterback, who was The Baltimore Sun’s 2023-24 high school boys Athlete of the Year and All-Metro football Offensive Player of the Year, has risen in 247Sports’ individual rankings to No. 50 overall, up from 197th in their previous release. The outlet ranks Washington the No. 5 quarterback in the nation behind the top three players overall in the 2025 class and the 28th — all five-star prospects.

Since Washington’s announcement, the Terps have earned commitments from 10 players. The wave began on June 29 with Spalding defensive lineman Delmar White and Concordia Prep linebacker Sidney Stewart and concluded on Oct. 21 with Calvert Hall twin brothers Asaiah-Allan Hamond (a defensive lineman) and Alijah Hamond (a safety).

In August, Maryland’s efforts spiked in the form of a pair of four-star recruits from Virginia. Offensive tackle Jaylen Gilchrist committed on Aug. 3, and safety Messiah Delhomme announced a week later.

Trieu speculated that Washington’s decision influenced others to join him.

“I think in general terms, the quarterback is a huge piece of recruiting the class,” he said. “That’s why schools like having those earlier quarterback commits. And in Malik’s case, he’s also been pretty proactive about recruiting other players. So it’s not only that they can look at the commit list and see that there’s a top quarterback coming in, but Malik is a very personable kid who I think does a good job when it comes to talking to other recruits.”

The Terps haven’t been perfect. A few players have decommitted, most notably Florida’s three-star cornerback Jett White.

But Trieu said the 2025 class can begin to pave Maryland’s path to success in the future.

“I think a top-25 class is the foundation for that,” he said. “I think you can look around the league and see where an infusion of talent can make a difference at a place like Nebraska or Illinois or Indiana where they’ve brought in classes that aren’t even as highly ranked as this one, but just the quick infusion of talent has helped those schools.”

That silver lining seems difficult to find in light of the Terps’ current troubles, which include setbacks in winnable games against Michigan State, Northwestern and Minnesota. Fans might be disillusioned, but Jones said now is not the time to fire coach Mike Locksley because such a move would have a cascading effect on next year’s freshmen — and potentially beyond.

“That’s the one thing that this staff has done a tremendous job of — building those relationships with their players,” he said. “So I would imagine that if these coaches go elsewhere, these players would eventually follow depending on the situation. And the recruits who stay might not fit the new coach’s culture or style of play. So it’s not always the appropriate answer when you’re talking about making a change within the program.”

Trieu echoed that sentiment. “A coaching change would have a much more negative effect than if they were to finish .500 or below .500,” he warned. “These recruits committed off of the strength of the last couple seasons. So I think that belief is still there.”

Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.