Maryland will face their second top-ten opponent this weekend when Michigan arrives in College Park. With 25 seniors set to be honored prior to kickoff, Maryland head coach Mike Locksley would love to capitalize on the chance to give the senior class their sixth win in what could be the final home game of their career.
“This time of year, as I told our team, becomes kind of sentimental because it starts bringing closure to some things. For some of these players, these guys have never experienced a postseason game. I don’t think there’s a player on our team that’s played in a bowl game since the last one was there in 2016 and so our goal and the mission that we’ve kind of put on ourselves as a program is to find a way to get this done, to extend the season of some of these kids that have been through an awful, awful lot here during their tenure. I have a lot of empathy for the group of seniors that we’re sending off because of what they’ve been able to go through and how they’re really fought through a lot of adversity during their tenure here and to still sit here with two games guaranteed left in our season with an opportunity to again, advance the program.”
The Terps remain a double-digit underdog against a Michigan team that has bounced back since their October 30 loss to Michigan State. Locksley called the Wolverines “one of the better offenses that we will face in terms of balance” with quarterback Cade McNamara under center.
“Those guys are very good up front, their offensive line, I think their center is a phenomenal player there and really does a good job with leading the way with them upfront. Got some capable guys on the outside, [Cornelius Johnson] is a guy that has made a bunch of plays for them.”
Michigan enters the weekend second in the Big Ten and 13th nationally in rushing yards per game, but with Blake Corum’s status questionable heading into this weekend, it’ll be the Hassan Haskins show. One week after containing Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker, head coach Mike Locksley knows the run defense will once again have their hands full with the run game integral to Michigan’s identity. “[Haskins] is just a big athletic guy, makes a lot of big plays. You know, when you look at them in the passing game, they may not throw the ball necessarily down the field or over the top, they’re a run-first team. They've kind of adapted that personality that you saw out of, you know, coach Harbaugh’s time at Stanford, and even when he first got to Michigan, it's kind of like they've kind of gravitated back to some of the two tight end sets where they want to run the football and establish the run and then in the passing game, most of their big plays in the passing game with number six, tend to be the throw underneath and catch and run and he's exciting and explosive with the ball in his hand and he's a guy that we got to do a good job of trying to contain.”
Maryland couldn’t establish the run consistently in the loss and finished with just 97 yards but did see a pair of young backs led the unit in a performance that gives Locksley confidence about the future. “I was glad to see Colby get some opportunities, what you saw is what we've had a chance to see. We're looking for somebody that may be able to add that element to the run game. You know, the good thing about when you run the ball is that sometimes it's not always going to be blocked cleanly and the backs that I've been around and I've been around some really talented backs in my career, fortunately, they tend to make things happen, even if it's not blocked correctly. And I think that's what young Colby McDonald has shown us in practice and in training camp and now, obviously, due to some injuries there at the position group, he's now forced into the role where we need more of him. And, you know, in a perfect world, I would have liked to have seen us maybe had him a little more seasoned, had played him a little bit more, but with some of the stuff we were getting out of Challen [Faamatau] that allowed us to maybe not play him as much but I'm excited about him as a runner.”
Boone finished with 42 yards on five carries, but it was a 28-yard run that showed fans glimpses of what excited the staff when the Michigan native first signed with the program. “What you guys saw, he's a big back the things we saw that we recruited him you saw in one run where he broke tackles, had the ability to run away from people, and now what we've got to do is get that consistency out of him and not just as a football player, but in every aspect of our program. And I think the more we see those things out Peny, you know, kind of off the field being consistent with his work habits and doing all the little things off the field, that you'll continue to see him get better and better on the field for us.”
Where Maryland knows they must improve is with their redzone offense. Maryland has converted slightly over 70% of their redzone opportunities this season, sitting second-worst in the Big Ten, and once again squandered opportunities in last weekend’s loss. Five of Maryland’s 13 penalties on Saturday were attributed to the “non-competitive” type of penalties such as offside or false starts, so if Maryland wants to improve inside the 20, Locksley knows it once again comes down to execution.
“First thing that comes to my mind is being able to run the ball a little better in the red area to where, you know, we don't have to force ourselves into throwing it. We had a designed quarterback run where we missed the block on the [defensive] end and we had a tackle for loss when we got down in there. So, the thought going in is, hey, you know, one, because of how tight the box gets down there, the plus one runs with the quarterback help offset the numbers without forcing us to throw it. But then I mean, even on the interception, when you watch the tape, if it's not there, we have a red zone philosophy of touchdown, check down. So you look to make the touchdown throw and if it's not there, then you come down to your check down and the check down, the back was opened in the flat, you know, instead of pressing or forcing the ball, just take what the defense gives you and to me, that's continued maturation at that position, we’ll continue to try to help them with how we call it down in there and, you know, to be able to line up and maybe have some success running the football, take some pressure off the quarterback down there.”
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