Mike Locksley talks Indiana game, Glen Miller's development, confidence in Jack Howes

After picking up a win in their first road game of the season, Maryland will look to move to 2-0 in Big Ten play for the first time ever while moving to 5-0 for the first time since 2001. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHrW1PAIh3c Head coach Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers will look to play spoiler to that as the Hoosiers head to College Park at 2-2 this weekend. Former assistants Chad Wilt, Walt Bell and Anthony Tucker will all head back to College Park, this time along the opposing sideline, as the Terps look for their third consecutive win against Indiana. “We played one score games against them each of the last few years. This has always been a tough game for us,” Maryland head coach Mike Locksley said on Tuesday. “You think about last year's matchup where Taulia left the game injured, we were down and Billy Edwards was able to come in and lead us to victory. Ever since I've been in this league in 2014, I was here when we joined this league, this has always been one of those games that’s been a tough, tough game for the Terps and I expect it to be the same here this week as Tom Allen is one of the better coaches, in my opinion, in this league.” Defensively, Indiana sits near the bottom in the Big Ten in total offense allowed, rushing yards allowed and scoring defense but senior linebacker Aaron Casey has the Terps’ full attention. “When you turn the page to Indiana, they're led by a really strong defense. I think their linebacking core is probably one of the better linebacker corps that we faced thus far. 44 is one of those guys that makes a lot of plays for those guys. They've got some transfers over there. You know, their coordinator Chad Wilt, we know a lot about. He was a line coach here in one of my earlier stints here and they’re top five in the Big Ten in pass defense, interceptions and then third down stops so really do a good job on that side of the ball,” Locksley added. First-year offensive coordinator Walt Bell has drawn criticism with his play calling from Hoosiers’ fans to open the season. Redshirt freshman Tayven Jackson is expected to make his fourth career start, while running back Jaylin Lucas is the engine for the offense. “They've got a tremendous playmaker in number 12 who they try to find ways to get him touches. The quarterback, the transfer from Tennessee, throws the deep ball as well as we'll see a deep ball so we've got to do a great job this week of preparing our team for the ball being thrown vertically,” Locksley added. “If I were to say what our objectives were for our defense this week is to find a way to minimize number 12’s impact on the game, number one. Number two obviously is to be able to stop the run and they offer,  they're very diverse in their offensive systems. They have the ability to spread you out, play with tempo. They even have elements of triple option that they use where number 12 becomes the extra run guy so playing really disciplined fundamentally, in terms of when they do get you into option football, is going to be really important. And then also, really important for us to be really sound in those option responsibilities when they do offer that.” More from Mike Locksley on the Michigan State win, Glen Miller’s progression, confidence in Jack Howes and more.

Opening statement “This week for us we have our annual Mental Health Awareness game and I've been one of those guys that I've always tried to use the game of football to make a difference in the players’ lives that come underneath us and others. Doing this each year is really special to me because of obviously my son, Meiko Locksley, and my family so we're excited about being able to bring awareness to mental health with the game this week. Michigan State obviously was proud of the fast start. was great to see us kind of get back to that standard. Defense came up big with the turnovers, offensively we capitalized on them to give us a great lead. Our defense has done a really good job the last couple of games of creating turnovers and as I've said before, the winning formula is big plays—us creating them, defense minimizing. Taking care of the football on offense, defense, creating turnovers, and then obviously having the ability to play great situational football, and I thought we did all three of those things and the Michigan State game. I didn't like how we finished but that's something that we will continue to work on. I’m going to steal a little bit of a quote I saw Jalen Hurts say this, and as I looked at this week, winning is hard in this league and for us to get road wins, I want us to make sure we enjoy and celebrate them. But we also have a standard and to me, that's where the sweet formula, taking care of winning while also playing to our standard. For me, when I come back off the field, I kind of get disappointed in myself because I felt like we lost the game after we've done a really good job the first three and it's because of the standard and I think our players really have embraced that part of it. It’s not just about winning, but it's also playing to a standard and so what we'd like to do, as we get into the Indiana week, is be able to play winning football while also doing it to a standard and I think that's the part where I talk about this team is a little different, I think they share that same sentiment. It's the Big Ten home opener so we need to be ready to take their best shot. As I've always said I'm really proud of the way our student section has continued to turn out for these first opportunities here at home. We're hoping to have the ability to have that same type of environment and maybe add to it with some of our ones that are here in the DC metro area to come out and support this team as we continue to work to take the next step. It'd be great to be back here at The Shell. Our game captains Aric Harris, Ruben Hyppolite and Riyad Wilmot. And as well as not just our mental health awareness game, it’s also family weekend so we're excited to have families back here to support Terp football family.”

On five takeaway’s vs. Michigan State “It’s funny because I shared this with the team, went to church Sunday and part of the message was about mindset and what's going on in your brain and how when you think positive things, more than you think negative things, you move to become what you focus on. And turnovers are kind of like that. Once you get a couple, they kind of come in bunches and we've been a team that has not taken the ball away the last couple of years. I remember coming in always talking about we've got to find a way to get our hands on more balls and you know, the last couple of weeks it's like the floodgates have opened and our guys are hungry for it on that side of the ball. It's definitely been a catalyst and how we've been able to overcome slow starts and then last week helping with our fast start. So it's a much needed thing for us on the defensive side. I'm hoping it is contagious because you look and see to have the amount we've had the last two weeks, we'd love to continue that trend because again, big plays turnovers and then being able to run and stop the run are critical in terms of being able to win ballgames.”

On defensive momentum heading into Indiana “Momentum is critical. It's real and it has the ability to affect you in both ways, winning and losing. So I don't mind the ride of the momentum wave we have going. Like I told our team, it’s gonna be really important to understand that momentum that just happen. It's created by what you do. Every week, we've got to pay a price to go out and play successfully on Saturday. I think our players have really, that part of our culture, that part of our standard, they really embrace the work that has to be done to be able to have the success we have and momentum is a big part of it. We need to continue to do the things that we've done to capture it.”

On which games Maryland hasn’t played to the standard “We haven’t. We haven't played the perfect. Perfect game is winning and meeting our standard and we haven't had any of those yet. Unfortunately for me, I tend to dwell on what we didn't do. And that's not necessarily I think that’s best for our team and that's where I struggle because my job is to continue to push. But there's a fine line between pushing and then also celebrating the victories that we have right at that moment. And that's the perfect word. I'd like to get rid of press conferences after, I'd like to get the camera out of the locker room because it takes away from…when I look at it I feel like crap because here we just won and all I'm talking about is we didn't meet the standard, we didn't do this, we didn't do that. You know what? This generation of players, I don't know if they're motivated that way. So I've got to check myself. We always talk about accountability, goes both ways and for me, I'm not gonna stop pushing the team, you best believe that. But I will not focus on the negative pieces because you guys do enough of that for me by asking me why we didn't start fast. And I'm like, shoot, can’t start fast every game but I need to check myself at times, especially right after a game where we won. Our players we overcame adversity in two games prior to this one. We played fast and met the standard that you guys and our fans would like but then we didn't finish and I'm focusing on that. So I'm gonna focus on continuing to push that we want to win but we also have a standard that we play to and I'll keep pushing that we play to the standard.”

On what he learned with Maryland opening Big Ten play on the road “You know what I think the best part was, you know, Brian Griffin, who's our Chief of Staff said something to me. I look at halftime of the locker room. We go in as a coaching staff before we go make adjustments. We meet as a staff for me to kind of give our staff, I'm coaching the staff. Here's where we are. This is what we did do. Well by the time our coaches get in that locker room, some of the leaders and culture drivers of our team have already started the process of making the necessary adjustments. I mean, you hear a player's coaching players, and to me, those are the things we always say there's little signs that maybe you guys don't understand, but those are the signs of things that when I declared that we're ready to compete this is why. So I'm really proud of that part of our team and we have some culture drivers in our program that there's almost like having coaches on the field and coaches in the locker room. So by the time we come out to start our transition to make an adjustment, it was good to hear that our team has embraced that philosophy of hey, self correction peer to peer sometimes even more effective then coach to player.”

On whether it’s too early to take stock in Maryland leading the Big Ten in total yards, t-2nd second in turnover margin "I think it’s a little bit of both. I hate being in the middle of answering it, but you know, I do think that part of where we are is a reflection of what we call the formula for winning. And big plays and takeaways are huge and so when you leading in total offense, obviously we're creating and manufacturing big plays. And then when you are one of the top teams in taking it away, those are two of the three elements we need to win. And so I'd say they both kind of go hand in hand and again, it's really early. You got a lot of football, I think we're a third of the way through our guaranteed games and it's a little too early to say that's who we are but we'll embrace it and continue to strive to continue to do those things.”

On chance to move to 5-0 for first time since 2001, similarities to ’01 team “I'd say the brotherhood of it. Anybody that was around, I see Steve Suter back there, that was part of that ‘01 team, that ‘01 team's brotherhood was forged through some tough times. I mean, it started out in 97 and some guys that were really close to winning and we had a couple of 5-6 seasons before you know coach Friedgen came in and he brought a standard with him that we needed to have to win. And so that brotherhood is forged through going through some tough times together. I see those similarities. I mean, that team was a fun team to coach. I'm gonna tell you right now, I enjoyed coaching this team that we had with this version of our football family because of them embracing the culture of winning and what it takes to win, you know. Not the end result of winning, but the process. I mean, we had a Monday practice yesterday, practiced in the rain and I can tell you that a year ago, maybe two years ago there’d be a lot of bitching and moaning about ‘why can’t we go to the indoor? We have an indoor.’ Well, was none of that. I looked around and they were just doing the work in the rain and they’re embracing it. And so, again, this team is fun to coach much like that ’01 team was fun to see them reap the rewards of the tough times they went through.”

On maintaining focus for this week and not looking ahead “That's easy. That's part of our standard. You know, faceless, nameless opponents. They're the next one on there. All we really worry about.”

On how Maryland didn’t meet the standard and how a perfect close looks "The last two weeks, we haven't started out, we got down 14 and we found ways to overcome those deficits and we finished winning the fourth quarter, we finished score touchdowns in the red area. We executed the last three quarters about as well as you can execute. This time we started out fast and we had three redzone trips on offense where we didn't score points. We throw an interception in the red area, we missed a couple of field goals. And so to me, that's what I'm talking about. The finishing and making sure that we have opportunities especially in the situational game of football that we close it out and I didn't think we finished strong. We got out to a fast lead and I didn't see anybody complacent on the sideline, but I just didn't feel as though there was that sense of urgency every time we went out were. When you're down 14 you know you're running out of time, it kind of creates that sense of urgency. So mature teams, and this team is one that I really feel is a mature team, they embrace that we don’t look at the scoreboard. We should play whether we're down or up. We play to the standard and not to the scoreboard and that's the part that was disappointing. What played a role in it? You know what, it's hard for me to say when I watched it on tape, as I said after the game and it confirmed it what I got done watching the tape was that there were just so many instances where we were a block away or we were maybe one yard too deep or we didn't see something structurally that would have allowed us to execute better. Guys out of their gaps when they should be in their gap. Those types of things were the things that really jumped out to me. I think to the touchdown that scored on 4th-and-1. We had the same play call where we throw it the Kaden Prather and we just missed the ball on the perimeter, would have been the same exact outcome. So we were just a little off in terms of the attention to the detail of how to do things technically. And to me those are things that will work to get it corrected this week.”

On whether Locksley is comfortable with ‘bend but don’t break’ mentality for the defense "That's why when I leave the field, and y'all put these microphones in front of me before I can even digest it, it’s like every first down felt like it was five or six yards. From the 20 to the 20, the ball, I just never felt like we were stopping but then I looked up and they scored nine points and the ultimate goal is to hold them out of the endzone. But the standard is to stop the run and so we played good third down defense and we didn't accomplish those things to the standard that we want to have them accomplish that and the goals we set for games. And so that to me is where it's just frustrating because as I walk off the field, I don't think about the nine points we gave up. I think that we couldn't stop the run, we didn't get off the field off the third day because I know I'm gonna get these questions and it just puts me in that frame and I’m going to be positive. I'm not gonna let y'all get me down this rabbit hole of being a negative coach and I feel like I'm starting down there. We're doing a really good job on defense of keeping people out of the endzone or the things we need to be better at, no doubt about it and our defensive staff will work hard to get it done.”

On Glen Miller moving at safety and nickel “I am so proud of him because I will tell you back Glen has been a pain in my butt for three years in terms of he loves football but it's just all the other things in life. You know what? He's matured in this program. Like he is a poster child for what I hope this program can become for players because you know what? He's a great kid. He's smart. He's tough. Now we have to work on a reliable part because sometimes he didn't always do or where he was supposed to be. And I'm gonna just tell you right now, he's one of our leaders. He's a guy that even though he's not on my leadership group, when I think of Glenn Miller, I think a tough, hard-nosed throwback type of Terp football players and to see the success he's having, I'm not surprised because every time he's played when he's been given the opportunity or when he's earned the opportunity, he makes plays. Now does he some crazy things like when the ball is the field goal is blocked and you're supposed to get away from it and does he run toward the ball a little bit? That's Glen and we're working on removing those type of decisions from out of his thing, but nobody has grown more in this program than Glen Miller has. really happy for him because he's a great football player. He's a guy that has stepped in big and can play corner, can play nickel, can play safety, loves the game man. Like if he could just play football every day and not go to class and party and do all the things that they liked to do in college. He's a throwback football player.”

On K Jack Howes through four weeks “Jack is on par of what I think of Chad Ryland can be. You know, I know that a lot of people were down on the ones he's missed but going into the week he's dealing with a little bit of an injury. And I was torn between whether to kick him, not kick out. He came to me and said coach, I'm good. You know, he said it may not look pretty but I'll do it. And he's worked through kind of the issues he's had and you know, made a 48 yarder and I thought okay, he's back. But then I think because of the distance of it is why you didn't see him think much about dealing with some of the lower leg extremity stuff he's dealt with last week. And so I think on some of the shorter kicks maybe he didn't come through because he bangs the ball. His foot makes contact, he's got a big leg. And I think in an effort to kind of compensate for what he's been dealing with with his lower and lower body stuff, it got into his head a little bit. Well, I think he'll be healthy this week. We kind of shut him down early to let things kind of calm down. I think he's a really good kicker for us and what you saw last week isn't who he was, but the reason it was still a little bit of an injury.”

On comfort with Jack kicking long FGs “I'm already there. I kicked the 48 yard knowing that he wasn't 100% going into it. And he answered the call.”

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