Locksley talks sixth win, bowl game, defensive effort, fourth down stops
- Ahmed Ghafir
- Nov 27, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 4, 2022
For the first time since 2016, Maryland is going bowling after pulling off a 40-16 win at Rutgers as the Terps finish the regular-season with a 6-6 (3-6) record.
The Terps didn’t give up effort or hope after entering Saturday losers in six of their last seven games and it showed in a convincing win over a regional foe. “Really proud of the 25 seniors,” Locksley said after the win. “I keep talking about those guys, because I understand what they've endured. They've done a great job of leadership, they've continued to practice to the standard that we set, really happy for those guys. And again, as I said earlier, also some of the guys that are here that played a major part in us building this thing.”
One week after setting the program record for completions in a single season, quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa set the program record for passing yards in a single season after finishing with 312 yards and four total touchdowns on 21-of-30 passing. But in his final regular season game as a Terp, senior Tayon Fleet-Davis exploded on the day for 8.4 yards a carry and a pair of touchdowns. The senior scored the game’s final two touchdowns to ice the Terps’ win as Locksley admits Fleet-Davis embodies what it truly means to be a Terp.
“Fleet is a byproduct of what I hope this program does for players. Guy that it ran into some trouble here doing this career, missed games a year ago, continue to mature because of the systems that we put in place, the resources that we have available to make sure that we're teaching these young men that it's not just about winning on the field but winning off the field and Tayon’s a poster child for me as to what this program should do for individuals and when they come here as parents, they're not always going to be perfect but we will strive to teach them from the mistakes they make and I'm proud of Fleet,” Locksley added. “Really excited to see how he's been able to finish and then he's also been one of our greatest leaders and one of the greatest assets to the program.”
The Terps had a 300-plus passing yard performance from Taulia, 100-plus rushing yards performance from Fleet-Davis and a 100-plus receiving yard game from Rakim Jarrett after hauling in seven catches.
But where the Terps made their biggest mark was on defense as Rutgers finished 0-for-4 on fourth down, 2-for-11 on third down and amassed shy of 350 yards of total offense. The defense also came away with an interception turned into points as Maryland also won the turnover battle, providing credence to the Terps’ cleaning up the miscues.
“It shows our players and we talk about it, we have a thing what often is called our margin of error where it really is a barometer that I learned under Coach [Ralph] Friedgen of what it takes to not beat yourself. Good teams don't beat themselves.”
The dominant showing on Saturday afternoon was capped off with a team postgame photo with the scoreboard behind them, celebrating the marquee milestone that was achieved in year three with Locksley at the helm. To Locksley, the moment capture “what Maryland’s all about.”
“That's what Maryland means to me. I came here to build a program that our former players, that all of our fans could be really, really proud of. This is just one step. We've talked about taking the next step and that's being bowl eligible, then the next step for us is to build upon what we've established—the culture, the identity. We have young players that I think gives us a bright future. I love the way our seniors are leaving a foundation of what leadership looks like as we bring in the right kind of players. But to me, you know, to be able to, you know, take that picture and as I told our veteran players, you know, this was going to be their Christmas card, this was going to be my Christmas gift to them. If they came up here and took victory, we go stand under that goalpost get the score in there and send them home with a nice victory picture and this is the end of our ‘21 season. That also gives us the start of the ‘22 which is the bowl prep.”
The kids have done it.
