Maryland fell behind early and could never bounce back on Saturday, falling 48-23 vs. Minnesota on the road. Maryland now falls to 4-4 (1-4) this season heading into their second and final bye week of the season as head coach Mike Locksley details everything that went wrong on:
Opening statement
“First thing is, obviously with all these games, you gotta give credit to Minnesota, to PJ [Fleck], his staff. Good team, especially when they get off to a quick start like they were able to do. Visibly, I'm frustrated a little bit because as a coach, it's always the toughest part for you as a coach is to have patience and when you have inexperienced players, the experience of just having patience and understanding that consistency is always that last piece. To spot a good team at home 21 points like that, it started with the two interceptions in the first quarter. I mean, we're not built to just give the other team points like that. Defensively, we did. We did a good job stopping the run, but that Achilles heel of our inexperience on the outside, giving up the explosive. I think we gave up 14 explosives and only two in the run game. To me, we've got to continue to find the answers. I thought a week ago, they played better. This week, our guys didn't play as well with the ball in the air. And to me, that's the only way that we want to lose is. We weren't gonna let them run the ball but those young guys had to make plays, and consistency is the toughest thing right now. I'm gonna keep coaching these guys. They played for four quarters. I didn't see a bunch of finger pointing and quitting, which is what I like about this team. I would just ask that we just continue to show up here, put the work in, which I have no problem with that. But you know what? We lost some guys early that wound up not playing, and some of these younger guys got opportunities and those are the ones where they have to take advantage of it, and we've got to have coached and ready to fill in when they need.”
On QB Billy Edwards’s two first-quarter interceptions
“The first one was a poor decision. They played cloud. Right now everybody thinks playing cover two and dropping a bunch of guys in the coverage is the answer and it is. One issue with Billy right now that he's not 100% in the run game where he can use his feet. When they drop eight, you want either run it, check it down. The quarterback either runs it or checks it down. We have answers for it. What we got to do is continue to get them picked up. The second interception, [he] got hit in the chest before we had a guy wide open, that he's ready to deliver the ball. And that's the part when I talk about the progress all happening at one time. We need the protection for him to make the throw on the one interception, and then for him, just the poor, poor decision with the throwing into cloud coverage and all the indicators that told him not to. And that's the part that we got to get the tape watched and I got to get with him to make sure that he's not pre-determining some things as he tries to force plays.”
On injury status vs. Minnesota
“[Glen Miller] was out. He was a game-time decision. He went out to warm up. We've been banged up in the safety position since earlier in the year. Brandon Jacob has been out, Glen Miller without today, then we have our second nickel – Judah Jenkins – gets removed for targeting, and now we're down our third nickel plan in critical situations where to stop the run, you got to load the box. We have to have answers. And this next couple of weeks and a half, [we] got to get healthy first. I mean, the bye week again, it's coming at a good time for us. And we got to use all these resources we have to get some guys healthy. Kellen [Wyatt] was a game-time scratch – we don't have. That's two big productions for us. On defense, we lose Glen and Kellen who both have made a lot of production for us. This is where the patience, this is where the positivity of me just continuing these young players, I got to force them to grow up and prepare them. This is why we practice the way we do because in this league, you'll have these type of injuries. Everybody's dealing with them. It’s just us and you're already playing young players so the guys that are backups, imagine what they are. They’re even more inexperienced. And we'll keep coaching and keep showing up. And I like the way that this team – like they play for four quarters. Just don't play always smart and then we got to be more consistent.”
On how the team lost momentum
“I mean Sam, we threw two picks in the first quarter. If you don't throw two picks in the first quarter, it's not 21 or whatever it was. It was a poor decision making on the first one, the second one, poor protection. It's not a philosophical thing. It's all about just we have to make plays. We made from a week ago. This week, we didn't see the progress altogether. Whether it's the line blocking the ability to give Billy the protection, whether it’s Billy making the right decision. The defensive side of the ball, getting off the field on third down and it's frustrating to watch third and long and they catch a comeback. I mean, we're in two man, and they throw a comeback to kick the field goal before the half – we're in trail position. So as I told our guys, I mean, when you watch it and we see it in real time now so I can answer a lot of these questions, if we're in two man and we're in a trail position, that ball doesn’t happen. You can't be even with a guy. You can't be over the top. These are fundamental things that come with coaching, come with the experience, come with the learning. I mean, team has shown that we have the ability to learn from our mistakes. It's just, I hate it, but I'm keep coaching them.”
On Minnesota QB Max Brosmer
“They didn't beat us running the ball but I expected us to be able to affect him a little bit more. He's a good quarterback. I said that on Tuesday or whenever the press conference was having evaluating him, but I would venture to say that again, very few times, is it the opponent that the issue is. I mean, you know, last week we had our guys were in better position with balls in there. Today, I mean, we had guys look like they were wide open, guys getting picked. We're not executing, getting to a bunch set and you're supposed to have a guy that puts hands on the guy that's on the line of scrimmage so that you don't get the picks, and those are the fundamental – it's frustrating when you look at it, it's frustrating because you coach it, it's frustrating that they don't have the consistency to get it done every single play. That's where for us as coaches, we got to keep coaching these guys but also think there's some responsibility on these guys to also take the techniques and everybody has to be prepared to execute.”
On the second interception
“They showed off coverage. And we have concepts which I don't get into the philosophical part of it against cloud coverage, you don't throw hitches. That's a base concept. And Billy's not done that a lot. And so why'd you do it? He said I was just trying to get a completion. And to me, that's where I'm like, Billy, that's not how you get the completion. And so as soon as it happened, I'm like, I'm screaming, ‘oh no, what are we doing?’ And what? We'll watch the tape. He's been a great learner from it. I mean, it all goes back to not pre-determining or making decisions about going through your process. And you know what? I'll keep coaching. Billy Edwards Jr. He did not play his best game today, but you know what? He's given us a chance to win and I'll keep coaching and he'll be better for it.”
On whether Locksley expected to play this many freshmen this year
“I didn't but nobody cares. I gotta play the guys that have to – this is college football, man. Everybody's going to be dealing with this. Not having depth, having to play new players, it's a new world, because it used to be you had a guy that's been in your system for three years, and then all of a sudden they grow up. Well, you got three or four linemen that hadn't been into the system and it's game six, game seven for some of these guys. I want it now and they know it and this team wants it, man. The patience is the toughest thing for me. I know it's tough for my bosses, it's tough for me, it's tough for everybody that loves us, because you have the success and see it a week ago, then the consistency of not being [able] to show up and build on it. And that's to me, I’m probably more disappointed that we didn't build off of what we accomplished a week ago. And it started with just how we started the game. Because if we don't put ourselves, I mean, get the game to the fourth quarter on the road, give yourself a chance and we didn't give ourselves a chance from the first quarter where we got down the way we did.”
On OT Andre Roye
“I haven't heard anything yet on it. I've heard anything about it, but it was a lower leg extremity. I don't know how bad yet. Didn't get any information injuries before I got in here.”
On when the consistency piece will come
“I want it to come tomorrow. I wanted to come – you see glimpses of it because a week ago, we were in great position. I mean, they challenged us with some really talented receivers a week ago and they’ve got talented receivers today. I just felt like we played a little hesitant. That's the one thing about when you play the young guys out on the perimeter and this is why it's always I mean, I look across college football and pro ball, and the deep ball down the field is probably one of the toughest plays to play because either being a pass interference or the defense is at a disadvantage. But a week ago, we did a tremendous job of challenging and being in better position. For whatever this week, I know one of them missing our jams a couple times, we're kind of bailing off of things that's our jobs to get these guys to consistently do the fundamentals and the things that we ask them to do. And they will man. They want to. They continue man, they continue to show up. And I hate talking about the young corners and the [offensive] line, because you know what? They're growing up right in front of us. And what I will keep stressing man, is the patience of the consistency of them executing the way it has to be done and in this league. There's very little room or margin for error. And you know what? We'll get this corrected. We'll get some teaching off of it. We got a week to get some healthy bodies back, some production back on the defensive side of all. We’ll get Billy cleaned up and his decision making, and we'll keep developing our program. Again, we the goal is to win now, not next year and all that stuff. I'll just look for progress each week and then stick into the process of what it takes to build it.”
On what goes into calling the ‘Turtle Push’ vs. shotgun
“Well, they do some things defensively. When they load the A gaps. And again, I'd like to – in a perfect way. I like to say, let's call Turtle push on fourth and one every play and impose my will. But the reality of it is we're just not there yet as a developed offensive line to say we can just line up and knock people off the ball. We still got some young guys in it. We got to teach to play with leverage. They got to get bigger or stronger. Those things are coming, because I see signs of it, but there's also some gamesmanship in there that if they're going to put a bunch of guys down inside the A gaps, and then we have to have answers. We've done a decent job of giving our guys plays that need to be made in short yardage situations.”
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