Maryland wrapped up its second and final live scrimmage on Saturday with 97-plays ran in what Locksley called “really our last full contact that we’ll have before we start our preparation midweek for Buffalo.” The team will be off on Sunday as they recover with the season right around the corner, but before then, Locksley reviewed his team’s progress following the third week of camp.
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It’s normal for the defense to be ahead of the offense during preseason camp even with Maryland returning the most production from last season in the Big Ten, but Locksley credited the defense for their competitiveness, tackling and generating pressure in the trenches. “The thing that jumped out and that’s without even looking at the tape is that we really tackled pretty well today. I was happy to see our safeties get the ball on the ground when it broke out. I love the way we attacked the line of scrimmage. We had different situations and I liked the way our defense showed up today,” he said.
Generating turnovers remains an emphasis for Maryland’s defense and while Maryland looks to get back into positive territory in that department this upcoming season, Locksley also highlighted the experienced depth at linebacker with Lance Thompson leading the inside unit. “We got some guys with experience like Ahmad McCullough, guys like Ruben Hyppolite have played a lot of football for us. Fa’Najae Gotay coming back from injury. With the inside guys really, really been impressed with their leadership. The newcomers like Caleb Wheatland and Jaishawn Barham got here early and so they’re a little more further along than what most true freshmen will be and I expect those guys to play quite a bit or have roles for us.”
One week after Locksley said the special teams unit was an “Achilles’ heel” for Maryland after the first scrimmage, the unit drew more positive remarks with freshman receiver Octavian Smith and junior cornerback Deonte Banks receiving praise for what they showed in the return game. “I saw us make strides in the return game. Deonte Banks had a couple of returns, and you know, guy like Octavian Smith, one of the younger players that’s in the return room for us, did some good things and the blocking and stuff up front. We are making a commitment to play our best players on these teams because it’s really important at the third phase and it’s not third because it’s the third most important, but it’s one of the three phases.”
For the second consecutive week, Locksley also praised transfer addition Chad Ryland as he drilled a 58-yard field goal in Saturday’s scrimmage. “I’m gonna just tell you, this guy is one of the best kickers in the country and probably the best transfer portal pickup we were able to get this year because of his ability to score the ball for us,” Locksley added. Ryland drilled a 65-yard field goal this summer at Kohl’s Kicking Camp and revealed that his career-long is 75-yards, but it’s evident that the former Eastern Michigan standout has the trust from the coaches.
“We talk a lot about the kick line as we start a drive so our quarterbacks understand once we get into this kick position where we can score the ball, and for us, it was the 40-yard line. And I said, are you sure? And we got to the 40 and he basically called my bluff and, you know, kick one through from 58 with some room to spare and it didn’t help that the strings were facing him when he kicked it. So I’m really happy with Chad Ryland and his development and the way that we’re coming along there on special teams.”
Elsewhere, Locksley added that freshmen like Jaishawn Barham and Caleb Wheatland will find a role on special teams “because they’re runners and hitters.”
Maryland’s running back room isn’t lacking confidence heading into the season with four complementary pieces while veteran Challen Faamatau is serving as the leader for his unit while sidelined. Locksley again reiterated his confidence in the room and highlighted protection and ball security as key points for the young guys. “The biggest thing for me, when you play young running backs is how they play without the football and that’s paramount. Being able to protect the quarterback, being effective and efficient in the passing game. You know, most of the guys when they come from high school to college, they’re used to the ball being in their hands a lot but here they’ve gotta play without the football and so I’ve seen them progress. Coach [Elijah] Brooks has done a good job. We feel like we’ve got four guys that really can play effective football for us.”
While all the talk is about veteran quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa leading the Maryland offense once more, the Terps also added a piece from the transfer portal in former Wake Forest quarterback Billy Edwards. Locksley noted that Edwards has “in a short period of time has really put the work in to have a really good grasp of what we do on offense.” Maryland also added a pair of local high school quarterbacks in Jayden Sauray and Cam Edge as Locksley saw Edge “take a huge step forward for us” during his reps on Saturday. “We’ve got some guys that have the ability to go in for ‘Lia if needed be, but we’re gonna continue to try to develop the depth behind them. Our hope is that we can keep ‘Lia healthy and allow him to go build on some of the things that he did for us last season.”
As fans have seen in the past, Maryland hasn’t been shy about giving their young pieces early playing time while still maximizing their eligibility to develop long-term depth. Locksley reiterated while Maryland has established starters, “it’s about contributors, guys that contribute every single game, in different forms of fashion, whether it’s special teams or whether it’s on offense or defense and the meaningful reps they’re able to take.”
“So what you’re gonna see us continue to do is play a lot of players throughout the course of our season because we’re gonna need those guys to grow up fast. And as we know, it’s a long year, injuries are part of the game and we’ve seen how that has affected us in the past. And we’ve gotta get these guys ready to play and so we’ve done everything we can to expedite their growth.”
Maryland kicks off the season on September 3 against Buffalo for a noon kickoff.
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Opening statement: “We finished up a 97-play scrimmage, really our last full contact that we’ll have before we start our preparation midweek for Buffalo. We were able to get a lot of good work done, guys like Dontay Demus and Jeshaun Jones took live reps, were tackled to the ground so it was good to see those guys take part in a live scrimmage and come out healthy and ready to go. We’re able to get a lot of good work done today, really excited about, preparation for Buffalo. We’re at that point where, what I call the dog days of summer camp where everybody’s tired, everybody’s a little sore, but we’ll have a needed day off tomorrow and then we’ll get back in here Monday and and continue our last week of camp before we break on the mock scrimmage next Saturday and then we’ll start our preparation for Buffalo.”
On what he’s seen from RB room: “It’s a young group that I think has shown the ability. They’re all explosive guys that have the ability to make big plays. You know, the biggest thing for me, when you play young running backs is how they play without the football and that’s paramount. Being able to protect the quarterback, being effective and efficient in the passing game. You know, most of the guys when they come from high school to college, they’re used to the ball being in their hands a lot but here they’ve gotta play without the football and so I’ve seen them progress. Coach [Elijah] Brooks has done a good job. We feel like we’ve got four guys that really can play effective football for us. The concern is they’re young and their ability to take care of the protection piece of it, protecting the football. When the balls in their hand, I think any of the four are all capable of being explosive players for us, but they’ve continued to show me, I think that this group keep continues to mature, they’ll be a group of guys that’ll give us a chance.”
On special teams unit: “I bragged on Chad Ryland and today he hit a 58-yard field goal with the strings, which, you know, to me, we like to get those strings turned around. I’m gonna just tell you, this guy is one of the best kickers in the country and probably the best transfer portal pickup we were able to get this year because of his ability to score the ball for us. I saw us make strides in the return game. Deonte Banks had a couple of returns, and you know, guy like Octavian Smith, one of the younger players that’s in the return room for us, did some good things and the blocking and stuff up front. We are making a commitment to play our best players on these teams because it’s really important at the third phase and it’s not third because it’s the third most important, but it’s one of the three phases. It’s one of the areas that if we want to make the next step, we’ve gotta be able to play great special teams and I think our team is embracing that. And so I’m excited to continue to see us progress.”
On LB room: “One of the deep rooms we have. We got some guys with experience like Ahmad McCullough, guys like Ruben Hyppolite have played a lot of football for us. Fa’Najae Gotay coming back from injury. With the inside guys really, really been impressed with their leadership. The newcomers like Caleb Wheatland and Jaishawn Barham got here early and so they’re a little more further along than what most true freshmen will be and I expect those guys to play quite a bit or have roles for us as we go in, start our season so definitely one of those rooms, coach [Lance] Thompson has done a great job in their development and them understanding what we want out of the position, how you need to play it. And so the depth that we’ve created there really, I expect all those guys to contribute in some form or fashion. And obviously with the special teams, which we just talked about, I expect those guys to play major roles on special teams because they’re runners and hitters.”
On young contributors: “That’s kind of the ironic piece of it is that we have a lot of returning starters, but the depth behind them are young and that’s where, you know, the way we practice and the way we try to play our players during the course of the year, much like we’ve done in the past, we play a lot of players. And so I know you guys love to hear about starters, but for me, it’s about contributors, guys that contribute every single game, in different forms of fashion, whether it’s special teams or whether it’s on offense or defense and the meaningful reps they’re able to take. The returning starters is a big deal for us because those guys have a lot of experience and have contributed the last three years quite a bit, but what we’ve gotta do now is we’ve got these really young, talented players that don’t have a lot of experience. So what you’re gonna see us continue to do is play a lot of players throughout the course of our season because we’re gonna need those guys to grow up fast. And as we know, it’s a long year, injuries are part of the game and we’ve seen how that has affected us in the past. And we’ve gotta get these guys ready to play and so we’ve done everything we can to expedite their growth. So definitely happy with the way some of these guys have come along and progressed. You’ll see us play a lot of players early and continue to try to develop them.”
On defense’s progress: “One of the things even today that really showed up for me and, you know, obviously in controlled scrimmages and situational scrimmages, it’s as I always say, is the ebb and flow. But what we like to see is kind of the competitive character that our players will show in game like situations and today, our defense, the thing that jumped out and that’s without even looking at the tape is that we really tackled pretty well today. I was happy to see our safeties get the ball on the ground when it broke out. I love the way we attacked the line of scrimmage. We had different situations and I liked the way our defense showed up today. And typically, defense is a little further along than the offense this time of year because of the volume of things we do. As I talk to our offensive staff, when you go in with this much offense because we’re installing, you know, as we prepare for Buffalo, we pair it down and really trim the fat on what we want to do and it allows our play makers on offense to play faster, but I’ve been pleased with the way our defense is coming along. Coach [Brian] Williams and his staff have really done a great job of just putting the players in the best possible positions to have a chance to have success. And to me, to be successful on defense, we’ve gotta obviously limit the big plays and then find a way to create more turnovers and that’s been our emphasis.”
On QB room: “We’re very fortunate that, you know, obviously with ‘Lia and his experience, but we’ve got guys in the room like Eric Najarian who came in a couple of years ago in the Rutgers game and really gave us a chance to win that game. I’ve been really pleased with the way he’s progressed, you know, having a transfer guy like Billy Edwards come in and Billy in a short period of time has really put the work in to have a really good grasp of what we do on offense. Been pleased with his progression, and then David Foust is another one of those guys, came in as a walk on and has continued to show that he he’ll have the ability. And so what we’ve gotta do now with those guys, and then you add Cam Edge and Jayden Sauray, and you know, today I saw Cam take a huge step forward for us with when he went out and had opportunities. And so, we’ve got some guys that have the ability to go in for ‘Lia if needed be, but we’re gonna continue to try to develop the depth behind them. Our hope is that we can keep ‘Lia healthy and allow him to go build on some of the things that he did for us last season.”
On transfer portal additions: “By signaling out Chad is obviously because of the talent there, but that’s not to diminish the impact that a guy like VD, VanDarius [Cowan] has had with his transfer in. Quashon Fuller coming in, a ton of guys have come in and really, as I say, been able to add value to our offense, defense and special teams. Guys like VanDarius Cowan and his pass rush ability, Quashon Fuller, his development, he’s one of those tweeners that can rush the pass and then also has size enough to be an effective guy against the run. It’s not to diminish any of those guys. Jacob Copeland, obviously on the offensive side of the ball complimenting and being a part of that receiver room has added value there. So, we’ve been able, as I said, to use the transfer portal to fill needs and fill holes or voids that have been created and I’ve been pleased with all these guys, but obviously with Chad and the job he’s done, you know, like I said, hitting a 58 yard of the day, you know, balls at the 40-yard line. And we talk a lot about the kick line as we start a drive so our quarterbacks understand once we get into this kick position where we can score the ball, and for us, it was the 40-yard line. And I said, are you sure? And we got to the 40 and he basically called my bluff and, you know, kick one through from 58 with some room to spare and it didn’t help that the strings were facing him when he kicked it. So I’m really happy with Chad Ryland and his development and the way that we’re coming along there on special teams.”
