https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_es2iTwX_NM
Maryland was humbled against ninth-ranked Penn State on Saturday afternoon, falling 51-15 inside SECU Stadium as the Terps drop to 5-4 (2-4) with a road game against Nebraska next.
Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa opened the game on fire with 17 consecutive completions, but ultimately was responsible for two of Maryland's four turnovers in the loss as the offense struggled. That includes -49 rushing yards for Maryland as Penn State's front seven dominated all day, finishing with six sacks and 12 tackles for loss despite DE Chop Robinson being sidelined.
"Give credit to Penn State. They were able to have their way with us today," Maryland head coach Mike Locksley said following the loss. "I thought we were able to move the ball early in the game. The early fumble, our failed fourth-and-one, those are the type of plays in critical situations where you've got to be able to execute at a better, at a higher rate. Obviously, we struggled to run the ball today. You give some credit to Penn State's front. They are as advertised, a good front, but I don't think they're 51-15 better than us. And so to me, that's where I don't think we play to our potential. And when we don't play to your potential, the first place you look is at me and I have no problem with owning that. And my job is to get us to play to our potential. We've got to learn from this and kind of flush it quickly. We still have an opportunity, a tough road game next week against Nebraska. I don't see anybody in that locker room quitting. We’re obviously facing adversity as a program and the only way to get out of it is to work. Our guys have continued to give us the work during Monday through Friday, but we just have not played well executed on Saturday. And I've to find a way to get us to play next Saturday. So we'll get this flushed. We'll get back to work on Monday, and we'll start preparing to find a way to go to Nebraska and get a road win."
Everything that Locksley said following the loss:
On Penn State’s defense limiting Maryland’s second-half offense
“It starts with being able to cover people up in the run game and then when you don't have the ability to run the ball the way we wanted to try to establish it. We wanted to run the ball out of spread sets and for whatever reason, we couldn't cover people up and then you get into where you're behind the sticks and you’re forced the throw the ball and we didn't hold up in protection. The interior part of our protection, whether it's the centers and the guards our backs on those linebackers. They outplayed us. We had hats for hats so it wasn't as if guys were coming free but we didn't win the one-on-one battles against a really good front seven which we expected. We just got to be able to protect our quarterback a little bit better to give him time. When he was given time or when we were able to get the ball out quick, we had success but to not be able to run the ball this time of year, it's something that we've got to get fixed and figure out what's the best way, who are the best people, what's the best personnel and figure out how to deal establish a little bit more of a run in a game like this.”
On not being able to “cover people up”
“It’s execution thing. When you spread the box out, they create five one-on-ones. When you got five guys upfront that have to cover the guy up, they have to block their man, the key is not letting your man in on the play. We were on edges today. We didn't cover people up and the run game didn't ever get started.”
On Taulia’s second-half performance
“We’ve got to take care of the football. He's a veteran quarterback. The fumble there, he's got one hand on the ball scrambling around. The interceptions is a predetermined deal. Ball shouldn’t have even been over there and so we've got to do is get him settled. Obviously when you're down and you’re down scores and we're trying to make a comeback, you try to force some things but what we've got to do is not abandon our training. And that’s across the board not just the quarterback. The protection upfront. He’s a better quarterback when those A and B-gaps are really firm to where his eyes don’t drop on watching the rush. He's got to take better care to football.”
On seven combined carries from running backs
“Early on I mean, we went for it on 4th-and-one on our side of the 50 which put us behind the sticks. We wanted to be really aggressive. We didn’t come here to try to play it close. We came here to be aggressive. We got to execute in critical situations. When you get down two scores, we’re driving the ball down and Tai puts it on the ground and now you're down 14 points and what we can't do abandon the run. And again, we've got to continue when we tried to run the ball and it just seems like guys are unblocked inside and you're trying to establish the road. And sometimes what happens is you get spooked out of it. But you know, we've got to continue to coach those guys through it. We've got to continue to have a better plan to figure out you know how to efficiently on the football.”
On lack of sacks against PSU QB Drew Allar
“They match protected. I mean, they did a really good job. They kept some tight ends in, they threw shots and whether it was the chopped route or the outside fade, I think we gave up a couple of slants early which when you want to pressure people and you line up and bring the type of heat we tried to bring, if they keep seven in we’ve just got to win on the outside which we thought we matched up well. We gave up a couple of slants and so when you bring in zero pressure, the goal is to force them to throw the fade, force them to throw the ball outside and we lost leverage a couple of times early which allow big plays and so when you want to bring pressure and force them to throw it, we just didn't match up well on the outside and didn't play well enough.”
On frustrations coming from Maryland's four-game slide
“Every game is about the next one. And so what we've got to do is obviously make the corrections from today. Give Penn State credit, top ten team. They came in here and kicked our butts and we got outplayed and outcoached. We didn't make plays in any of the three phases that we’re going to need to make consistently. With that being said, we still sit here with five wins with an opportunity to get to six. It’s not going to be an easy task. We've got to rally the troops we've got to remain really close knit as a team and understand that the only people that can fix it are us. Can’t look for opponents to give us anything. We can’t look for help from outside. We've got to just make the decision that you know we're going to keep doing the work. We're gonna keep showing up. We're going to Lincoln and put together a good plan and try to figure out a way to get number six on the road.”
On Penn St QB Drew Allar
“He protected the football. Going into this game, the things we said we needed to do to win was obviously protect the football. We finished with four turnovers they don't. He's been one of those guys that has protected the ball. They’ve done a really good job on their side of not giving up those balls and not giving up the ball in terms of turning it over. He made some throws today. The goal was to beat us throwing the ball and he did that today. Credit to him.”
On losing the turnover battle
“Of the four turnovers or the one that gets us are the ones that happen in critical situations. The Tai fumble. Every game has one or two plays that kind of dictate the outcome of it and we've had that in the last three weeks in terms of the first half, not getting the goal line touchdown Northwestern, the turnover before the half against Illinois. We're driving down and Tai puts the ball on the ground, again, he's trying to give us the extra effort but what we've got to do is protect the football. The ones at the end comes sometimes when you're trying to do too much. Our quarterbacks got to protect the ball, made a poor decision on the interception there. We had a guy open on the other side and I think sometimes when you get behind the way we were, we tried to force some things and we just can't abandon our training. We've got to stay within the framework of our offense, our defense and our special teams schemes and just really focus on taking better care of the ball.”
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