Coming off the bye week, head coach Mike Locksley broke down everything heading into Maryland's road game vs. Oregon this upcoming weekend:
Opening statement
“Some housekeeping things. One, what about Derik Queen, right? What a great start. Congrats, to coach [Kevin] Willard, [the] basketball programs for starting and kicking off their season, which takes a little bit of emphasis off of the old football program, which is a good thing. Obviously, Derik Queen, big, great start. I'm looking forward to getting over to see both those programs play.”
“Obviously, today incredibly significant day for our country. And as some of you guys probably saw an article, we've had 100% voters registration with our team and we also worked on educating our players on how to vote, how to do research, credible research on candidates. And this is something that's really important to me and that I'm really proud of our team for accomplishing this. As young men, I want our players to know how necessary and important their voices are and I want them to understand the power of showing up and making themselves heard, whether it's through voting. But this also kind of segues into wanting them to show up and make themselves heard this Saturday, when we go to Eugene, Oregon. Every single player, every coach, every person that's a part of our program all are 1,000% locked in on the task of going to Eugene and having an opportunity to play the best team in the country, in my opinion. Having a chance to watch, including some of the guys that missed the Minnesota game. So to be able to have some guys’ healthy bodies back. The last week has been a good week for us in terms of being healthy, being able to practice, to continue to develop our team. We know how tough it's going to be to go on the road and play the number one team in the country, but I promise you this, nobody in Jones-Hill House is concerned about getting on the plane to go play. We have a good football team still. I feel pretty confident that this team will show up and be heard. Oregon is one of those teams that's talented in all three phases – offense, defense, special teams.”
On his observation of the 2024 Maryland team
“This team is immature at times, and just as I like to say, just dumb enough to show up and play up to the opponent. And Oregon is one of those teams that, as I've seen this team do the last few years, they have a tendency to play up. And as I told them, we don't necessarily have to play above our abilities because we do have talent, we have skill that matches up. But what we've got to do is play smart. We've got to go out play together and then we've got to execute because it will come down to execution in terms of the players making plays and I know they'll play to the last second, as we've done in all of our games. So the game captains for this week, going out to Eugene – Tommy Akingbesote, Roman Hemby, Dante Trader and Rex Fleming will represent us as captains.”
On whether facing the top-ranked team is a distraction
“Not at all. It's our next game. I mean, this league has had a lot of number one teams in the country over the course of the season. It’s a good league. The number in front doesn't mean we don't emphasize that. I mean, we watch the tape. They're a good team. They're good in all three phases. They're well coached. Again from the same family tree. So as I told our staff, you know what? They prepare the way we do. They have some of the same recipes of how to prepare and organize their programs and very similar to what we have. And so it's not going to come down to out-scheming. It's going to come down the players making plays and us putting them in the best positions to make those plays.”
On whether players are told to avoid social media
“I don’t because I don't watch it. And I mean, I think our guys understand the only thing that matters is what we think. And I mean, this generation is a lot more savvy, maybe because they're used to social media. They're used to – I'd be lying if I told you I thought that they would not look at it or have I mean. You pick up your phone, and the way these phones work, things just pop up. If I'm thinking about something all of a sudden. You know how to deal with the media? The next thing, I got six reels on how to deal with the media popping up on my timeline. So be foolish to think that they don't. But it's not something that we coach because the way we prepare is we don't let outside noise or distract us. We got to focus on the things we can control.”
On the logistics of the cross-country travel
“I can tell you the truck just got through Nebraska, our truck with all of our equipment, safely through Nebraska, so should be reaching Oregon sometime tomorrow I think is what I heard today. No, I mean, it's obviously new to us, but it's, with anything we try to rehearse, you do the research. You try to figure out the best way to have your team prepared. And I think we think we're not doing anything that's other teams haven't done, doing the research. We're leaving a day earlier than we typically do to give us a little time to acclimate out there to the time zone differences. So we'll get there Thursday to practice, and then use Friday for meetings and just acclimate. And we'll have a Friday walk, like we typically do, and then play the game at seven o'clock PM.”
On Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel
“He makes them go, man. And he's a really talented player. I swear he's been there for ten years. It seems like I've, or I've heard his name for ten years in college football. And the kid, all the kid does is just make plays, whether he extends it in the pocket. He is the guy that makes it go. You think the compliment to him is the powerful running game. And then, you know what? This is the first group of running backs where these guys make the run game go. Typically, the [offensive] line make it go. But these guys, these two running backs, are both power, downhill, attack the line of scrimmage kind of guys and I think their big boys feed off of their style of play. And so you put a big time quarterback that has the ability to extend plays in the pocket with a strong run game. I know their defense very well – Tosh Lupoi and I worked together at Bama. Tosh is a unbelievable coach. I was a coordinator on offense and he coordinated on defense. I know Dan Lanning’s input on the defense. He spent time at Georgia and obviously we played against Georgia when I was there at Bama every year. So lot of familiarities going into the game, the talented team. I feel good about our team showing up and being heard so excited about this opportunity.”
On whether this election mattered any different than the past
“I just think I'm a solution-based guy, whether you believe it or not. And when 2020 hit, our players spoke. I have a leadership council still to this day and I use them to figure out what things we can do as a program that adds value to their life outside of just NIL. And this is one of them. I mean, I know I didn't take advantage of the opportunity to vote until very late in my early adult years and I wanted to educate our guys that don't sit around and just make, complain about problems, man. Like we all complain too much. Well, get out and do something about it. Get out and vote. Every vote counts. I don't care who you vote for.”
On Oregon’s passing offense, offensive efficiency
“They protect him well because he manipulates the pocket. If you want to watch tape of how you manage a pocket, because he doesn't need a lot of space to throw. So they do do a good job of protecting them, but he also is really crafty inside the pocket area, which allows him to extend plays. And I don't care how good a coverage or how much pass rush you have, if the quarterback has extra time to throw, it's not a great recipe for defensive backs. And so, yeah, we're gonna need to have the ability to contain them and get after them some. But I think the ebb and flow of pressure and coverage is what typically gives quarterbacks problems. Or when you just do one thing, they adjust to it. They max protect, and now they create time. So I just think we won't have to be able to do both – cover and contain and rush.”
On whether there were any differences in the second bye week
“Our Mondays typically are light days. Well, we put in most of the gameplan. Typically, we put in most of it. Last week, we put every phase of our game plan, then we came back in Sunday, added the Michigan data to our game plan analysis and confirmed whether or not these things we worked on a week ago. So basically, we've had two go-runs of our four-day cycle to prepare. Typically we would come in on a Monday, have a lighter practice, and then just Tuesday, Wednesday, but we actually are going to have eight full days to prepare. And the biggest piece for us is just getting some of those bodies that we missed against Minnesota. Those guys are healthy, finally, and to be able to add the depth back to our team which allows us to practice the way we need to practice.”
On slow starts this season for the offense
“All of the above, all of the above. I mean, how do you get your quarterback going quicker. Defensively, how do we get off the field on third down? Did we get the right call? I mean, there's no one secret answer to starting fast other than execution. This is the execution sport. You want to start fast, block the guys you're supposed to block, be in the gaps you’re supposed to be in, cover the man you’re supposed to cover. Those are execution things.”
On avoiding scoreboard watching and whether there’s a mental component to doing so
“You’ll have to ask them. Typically, that's part of our deal. We don't – the scoreboard creates anxiety and so I try to teach guys things going into it that when you look at that scoreboard, it creates either you to feel really good about hey, we're up or start pressing, man, we're down. And so to me, the key to having success, it's the turtle race. It's just persevering through the tough times, and whether it's a slow start or fast start. Just keep persevering. Keep taking the next step, stay focused on the task at hand. And the more you can teach 18- to 22-year-old males with all this testosterone running through them to do that, the better society will be, the better our community will be.”
On the academic portion of the cross-country travel
“We we are traveling our academic counselors to this game with us because we do, this is a crunch time for us, and this is unique for football. I know this happens in basketball all the time with the Tuesday, Thursday type games that they play. So our academic people were used to it. A lot of these classes our guys take are either online, but because we are traveling a day early, they're given the ability to either make up the work or get it done early. And our players understand what it takes, and they are still student-athletes. We will travel our academic counselors to help for guys as we sit around the hotel on Friday. And then Thursday evening, we'll have some study hall opportunities for our players and to kind of get things accomplished during the day.”
On families traveling to Oregon
“Those are the decisions. Those are tough, tough decisions that families have to make. And this is where, thank goodness for NIL because I know some kids, families are able. And I know this –most of the families on our team have the ability to make it if they desire to make it. It's a tough trip. It's a long trip for anybody that's from this area that they're recruiting. It's really long trip to go way out to Oregon, from Maryland, DC.”
On the conversations with QB Billy Edwards heading into Oregon after multi-INT game vs. Minnesota
“It’s not a concern, because you can count the interceptions, you can count slow starts, but if you watch the tape, he got hit in the chest and the interception would've been a touchdown, possibly, but if an if was a fifth, we'd be drunk too. So I would just say that I mean, we're preparing Billy like we've done when he was one of the leading passers in the country. I mean, that's these are growing pains. He's in his eighth or ninth start I think as a starter. Every game he plays is filling his toolbox up with experiences that will benefit us.”
On the equipment travel to Oregon
“Annie Peppard, our football operation, she's trains, planes, automobiles, and I'm gonna just tell you she knows I don't like working ahead. I don't know if y'all heard I had a, what do you call a snafu a couple weeks ago. We're heading to Oregon or something after a game and it's because she was talking to me about the Oregon trip. So her job is to have, Annie is the best in the business at it, whether it's setting us up for bowls. Luckily for us, having gone to bowls the last three years, we know how to pack the right way and set up shop. We'll be there for a couple of days, obviously. But the job Annie does, the logistics involved all the people that are involved, but Annie Peppard runs that piece. Drew's responsible for the helmets and shoulder pads showing up, which Annie organizes it. But Drew is best in business when it comes to the equipment as well. So great staff, man, 1,000% locked in.”
On LB DJ Samuels role in 2024
“He likes football but he’s a football player. DJ, is a football player, and anybody that's coached, and if you know Bergen Catholic is one of the, they do a tremendous job of developing players, a big-time program, very similar to a couple of ones that are around here. And I've always said, DJ loves football. I just got to get DJ to do all the other things the right way. So he's working and maturing. And I see him, he's a football player that you'll start to see I think as he matures, you'll see his football become even more important.”
“We’re playing him on both sides of the ball. He caught a touchdown as a fullback. He's a versatile guy. He likes contact. I mean, a lot of guys don't like contact. Just so you know – some people don't like contact. He's not one of those guys. He plays with bend. He plays with power. Not the tallest, not the biggest, not the fastest. But something about football players. I got another guy, Judah Jenkins, is very similar to him. There's some traits about football players, and they usually are guys that like the physicality that comes with it. And DJ is one of them.”
On Oregon’s pass rush and the challenges
“Tosh does a really good job. The big key is staying out of the third-down situations, [to] be honest. Because if you look at their disruptive or havoc rate, the third down package that he has his background, NFL background once he left Bama. Understanding we got to stay out of the third downs and third and longs against this team, which means we got to be efficient on first and second down. But their front seven is the strength of their defense. Number one, I know he played 30 plays, [Jordan] Burch played 30 plays last game, and is working back from injury, and he's a big disruptor. A couple of the interior guys really disruptive. Both interior linebackers are guys that are pass rushers, have the ability to bring the extra, they bring extra people, and it's going to be a challenge.”
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