Maryland will welcome its first ranked opponent of the 2021 season when the Iowa Hawkeyes come to College Park for the Terps’ second Friday night game in three weeks.
That matchup will feature a Maryland offense that has clicked through the first four weeks of the season. Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa sits first in the Big Ten with an average of 335 passing yards per game and is on pace to set the all-time record for passing yards in a season, wide receiver Dontay Demus has caught a pass in 26 consecutive games, while the duo of Demus and Rakim Jarrett have combined for the second-most yards of any duo among all Power Five teams. With momentum gradually growing within the unit under offensive coordinator Dan Enos, Maryland will face a true efficiency test with a stifling Iowa defense looming. The Hawkeyes enter Friday as the best scoring defense in the conference with just eleven points allowed per contest while the secondary has generated a Big Ten-leading six interceptions during that stretch. While Locksley tabbed the Hawkeyes defense as ‘very well coached,’ the Hawkeyes defense is a big reason why head coach Kirk Ferentz has led his team to ten consecutive wins and seven consecutive conference wins.
“Defensively, you know, 97 [Zach VanValkenburg] and 91 [Lukas Van Ness] are really good players for them, two of the top leaders of sacks in our league. Number 31 [Jack Campbell], their MIKE linebacker does a really good job, kind of you can tell he's the quarterback on the defensive and obviously, they do a great job of generating turnovers in the secondary with their corners. You know, 33 [Riley Moss] and then four [Dane Belton] who plays some field safety and some nickel.” The shortened practice weeks means the Terps are still assembling their gameplan against the Hawkeyes, but Locksley knows offensive success is predicated on his team’s execution. “They're a solid sound defensive structure that you know, I mean, year in and year out, this is what you see and I mean, again, because of the experience I've had playing against and coaching against this defense, it's, you know, they are who they are. And I think what we've got to do is our execution has to be at an all time high and that's what I was really disappointed more in last week was that our execution wasn't as clean or what we weren't as in rhythm on offense as I would have liked. We've had some uncharacteristic drops by the receivers, you know, had some bad decision-making there in the run game. But, you know, that's what we're practicing for.”
Wide receiver Brian Cobbs knows the challenges that the Hawkeyes’ defense presents to Maryland. “They’re a very disciplined team across the board, from the [defensive] line to the secondary. We know that they’re going to play fast, they’re going to play hard, and they’re not going to take any plays off so the biggest thing with us is staying disciplined within our routes, staying disciplined within our execution, not taking any plays off as well because you never know when that one play that can spring the change of moment in a game could happen so I feel like all across the board, we’ve got to block hard, we got to run hard, we got to catch every pass that’s thrown our way.”
On the opposite side of the ball, Locksley called freshman linebacker Branden Jennings a “game-time” decision despite not practicing so far this week. “We heard some fairly good news in reference to the MRI that there was nothing structural there,” Locksley added. Linebacker Ruben Hyppolite missed the second half of the Kent State win due to a bruised rotator cuff but Locksley added that he’s expected to be available for Friday night. That will aid the Terps’ defensive efforts against a Hawkeyes offense that features 44 combined starts across the starting offensive line with running back Tyler Goodson and quarterback Spencer Petras behind him. Regardless of who plays, though, Locksley wants to see his team get back to the standard that the defense set for themselves in 2021. “That’s what makes the standard the standard,” he said. “It doesn’t change.” Walk-on linebacker Kobi Thomas found himself thrusted into the defense on Saturday despite limited practice time, providing credence to what’s expected out of the eleven defensive starters.
“A great example is, you know, Kobi Thomas did not take one snap with our defense last week, not one; he was on the offensive field being the other team's defense. But because of how we develop our players during training camp, because of what we do in our individual development, he was thrown in there and played pretty much the whole second half and play really clean for us and really earned opportunities to, to now there'll be a part of that rotation. And so that's why we practice the way we do. That's why we play a lot of players. Because you're going to have those type of injuries and your players need to be developed in a way that when their numbers are called, they can go out and perform and not have a huge drop off in the talent level.”
With Maryland set to play on Fox Sports in a nationally televised game, Locksley knows the potential impact of Friday night's game goes beyond just football. “What I think and having been around programs that have won at a high level that have been able to capitalize on how their football programs have been, this is a great opportunity to showcase the university as a whole. I mean, I know a lot of the emphasis is on the football part of it but you know, we're a top 20 academic institution located in the most powerful area in the world and, you know, to have all the eyes that we possibly can have following the University of Maryland, not just the football program, I think to me is you can't pay for these marketing dollars for all the academicians and all the great things that are going on on our campus so hopefully, you know, people are able to take notice that, you know, we're building a football brand but we've got an academic brand and we've got great people and we got a great location that should you know continue to be showcased. What a great place the University of Maryland is as the flagship university here for the state.”
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