Maryland kicked off the season with a blowout 50-7 win as they controlled the game from beginning to end. Maryland will look to shift its attention to Big Ten play as they welcome Michigan State next weekend in SECU Stadium, but head coach Mike Locksley recapped what went right vs. UConn, the quarterback battle, the development of his skill players and more.
Opening statement
“Great team win, great start to the 2024 season, and great liftoff to it. We talked to our team going into this game about the start and the importance of getting off to a fast start, kind of coming and putting it all together. And I thought we were able to do it today with all three phases contributing to the win in terms of we had a turnover on special teams. Defensively, created some turnovers. We got to play a lot of players and to me, that's something that's much needed for our team and especially in games like this. If you look at the lack of experience on offense, to be able to get 85 plays, I think we played somewhere to 72 different players played in this game. So to me, that will come back to pay great dividends for us as we move through the season. Offensively, to see us be able to run the football against a front that was non-traditional, to say the least. Did a lot of movement stuff and we had a few of those, what I call 50-50, runs, where the ball sometimes the guys come free because they're twisting and moving. And we're going to have to be able to handle that a little bit better. I thought Billy [Edwards] did a really good job of controlling the offensive system, over 300 yards, and to me, did a great job distributing the ball, getting it to the playmakers. And I think today we're able to show that again, we've found and been able to develop some guys that have the ability to make big plays for us on offense. Defensively, giving up just the one score and to me, just from looking at it, and thank goodness for technology, because I can't come in here and say, ‘oh, let me look at the tape, and I'll let you know’ because we get to see it pretty in real time. We were able to force three turnovers and we gave up the touchdown, it was a communication error that we've got to kind of get fixed.
On special teams
“Jack Howes opened it up well for us, hitting three field goals. And then, how about the punter, [Bryce] McFerson? Being able to change and flip field position. He's able to pin him in [the] 20 five out of six [attempts]. But now what we've got to do, and typically, which is very normal, the biggest jump that we'll make as a team, typically, is between week one and week two because now we see kind of the identity of what we're capable of against real people and not just against ourselves. And I'm excited to get back in here on Monday. We'll celebrate it tonight. They'll be off [Sunday]. Get back in here Monday evening and start our preparation as we enter into our Big Ten opener next week, which comes upon us pretty quickly next week in The Shell.
On the atmosphere in the win
Shout out to the student section and you know, our fans who showed up for this game against UConn. The energy that was brought was needed, and it was a great environment to go play.”
On the offensive line
“We were able to get the meaningful snaps for that group. I think our ones played close to about 70 plays – 64,65 plays. Those five will only get better as the season goes on. Again, this was one hell of an opener to open up for a young, new inexperienced [offensive] line with all the different things that they did front-wise. They were doing a bunch of stemming from three down to four down. They had the odd spinner look where they were taking linebackers and overloading them. I thought for the most part, the five did a good job of the communication piece. We knew going in that it'll be a 50-50 run game, meaning they may bang us in the backfield once or twice but we may hit an 80-yarder like we're able to do with Nolan Ray or big play like we're able to do when they play that style of defense. I think getting on the tape and them that just the experience of playing the game together, we’ll benefit from that.”
On what went into the decision to start QB Billy Edwards Jr
“I think coming out of camp, the metrics, the things that we've talked about – the drive chart, winning on third down, protecting the football, doing a great job elevating the level of play with the players that he's on the field with. The one thing that really jumped out to me about Billy throughout camp, and I think Ray Charles could see today that his ability, you never knew which group he played with. His ability to run with the ones, the twos and the threes. And when we watch the tape, not know which group he's playing with. One of the things we strive for is to have the mind of a coach and skill of a player. And if you just look at the comfort level that he showed operating the system with all the stuff going on around him and the way he was able to distribute the ball, that's the reason. And he protected the ball the way we needed to. Not that those other two – I think you saw today that both Cam [Edge] and MJ [Morris] again – as I said, we can win with all three. We'll have the ability to develop them. We went in with a plan where MJ was going to play two, three series this game to develop him like we know we're going to need to and it was great to be able to get Cam some work. So all three of those guys, like I said, have the ability to run our system and we'll keep growing with Billy.”
On Billy Edwards and his patience in the program
“I wouldn't say waited his turn because we got him out of the portal. I would say that I'm glad we were able to get him out of the portal. But no, I mean, guys like Billy and it's so hard in today's society because of the pressures that some of these kids have on them where everybody wants it now. And as I told those three, having been through a quarterback battle like we've just gone through, it kind of reminded me of the Jalen [Hurts], Tua [Tagovailoa], Mac Jones deal where we got three really good quarterbacks and they all have to continue to do the necessary things to develop the parts of their game that maybe not a strength of theirs, and they all know the system. They all have worked hard. And you're only going to see those guys get better with the reps that we're able to get. And again, with Billy, it's his job. He's our quarterback and we'll ride with him, but we'll continue when we have opportunities to develop the rest of our roster, we'll always do that.”
On getting WR Tai Felton touches vs. UConn
“We're pretty intentional about touches. We track touches all game long. The reason Kaden Prather went in late in the third quarter with Cam is that we wanted to try to get him another touch. One of the ways that you control your team is you utilize them. And I think when you create roles for every player, you look at the players we played on defense. I saw number six out there. I saw 11 and two those freshmen or I mean, anytime you can play freshmen and they can get on the field and fail and make plays, it only makes you stronger. So there's no doubt that being able to play a bunch of players today will benefit the Terps.”
On the run game vs. UConn
“I'm not going to say I told you. I said a few years ago that some of these young players, but the running back room. We lose guys but one of the things running backs, receivers – skill players. I mean, this system is built for playmakers and the way we were able to get the ball to different people today and get it to [them] in the places that they were able to make plays. And I was so happy for Josiah [McLaurin]. He's had a rough week, man. He lost his dad in a car accident a week ago, Saturday, and he stayed here all week…our team got behind him and for him, that's why our team was really excited that he was able to get a touchdown because he's got to go home here [Sunday] to bury his dad and get back here. And it was great to see him be able to make a play. As part of our family man, it was a great day to see that happen for him.”
On the quarterback slide struggles in the win vs. UConn
“I hope it's an outlier. I mean, there's a couple times where I didn't want us to slide. We slid on a short yardage play where once you give yourself up that way, we work drills where we dive forward because you're better protecting yourself going forward than you are sideways. We've got to find ways to continue to teach our quarterbacks not to take those extra shots. But some of the shots they took today, there's no way around them. They were penalties. We got to protect our guys a little bit better. But I also think there's sometimes where we shouldn't slide and maybe going down face first and diving more than sliding when you're able to do that will be probably the better thing.”
On MJ Morris getting reps in the second quarter, second half
“It was designed. We planned on [it]. He knew he was going to go into third or fourth series. It’s just part of our process of developing. Billy knew it. There [were] no surprises of what was going on. We communicate. Every player in our program knows why they play, why they don't play. That's the only thing we owe them and they were going into this game, it's Billy's job. He is our quarterback. There's no short leash. He's not looking over his shoulders. But when we have opportunities to play guys like MJ and some of these other players, we're going to play them because we understand that the Big Ten is a tough league, and we're going to eventually need these guys and only way they get better is by playing, not standing on the sideline.”
On utilizing sideline technology for first time in regular season
“It's a game changer for us, because, when you are teaching, this generation grew up on iPads. They didn't grow up with a chalkboard, that little crazy noise used to make on it…the squeaky noise. So they're iPad kids. And as I told our staff, one of the things that, we do it in practice now we. The resources that Colleen gives us back there, brought us these big TVs for us to have on the field – thanks so much, Colleen. I call it putting their face in it. When you train a dog and he does something in the house, and you take them over there and put it in and show them like, ‘hey, that's not good’. Well, that's kind of how we've used the technology. And we've come up with a system throughout the course of the game, where when a guy makes a mistake, we take it to them, we sit them down, we show them immediately, and the learning takes place now instead of having to wait until Monday, because they'll be gone for about today, the rest of the day and tomorrow, and they'll show up Monday, but it allows us to clean things up a lot quicker and show them immediately and we're teaching all the time.”
On the defensive success through 60 minutes
“Just the knock back, the gap, sound gap control. The area where we got in trouble is those big plays with missed tackles. Perry [Fisher] had the missed tackle then we gave up a couple of chop routes in the slot where we were in good coverage and a couple times they just made great throws and great catches and that's going to happen at times. But I thought our defense had a really good plan going into how we wanted to defend UConn and really not knowing what they were going to be – new quarterback, new system, new coordinator made it tough. But once we kind of figured out how they wanted to attack us, I thought [Brian Williams] and the defensive staff did a good job for the most part. We still got some things to get cleaned up from a communication standpoint and then also doing a better job of tackling.”
On the pressure the defense takes off the offense when they play like they did vs. UConn
“As I said before, man, a young or inexperienced quarterback, which Billy's kind of in the middle there. He's got some experience, but just still the game experience, that's his best friend and some good defense in the running game and today we had both those things. I think you were able to see Billy kind of calm himself down. I think Josh [Gattis] did a good job early of getting the ball in space to some of our guys, giving Billy a couple of layup throws to kind of ease into the transition of taking this thing over. But I really like the way Billy played. I like the control and command he had of our system and couple [of] balls that we'll talk about, we'll get a chance to get corrected, and some fundamental things that will get better, but really pleased with his first outing as our starter.”
On the development of the secondary
“The experience over the years, Dante's got three years worth of experience. Glen Miller can play nickel, can play safety, can play corner. His experience, four years experience there, you saw a bunch of the young guys. Number six, [Brandon] Jacob, gonna be a hell of a player for us. He got some great, meaningful snaps. The way that the safeties – they're like the quarterbacks on defense. And Dante has done a really good job of settling things down. We got young corners or inexperienced corners, so to have that veteran experience on the back end. And then when we put Glendon down as a nickel, and it allows us to bring [Lavain] Scruggs in. And Scruggs had a pretty good game from what I've seen. The last two weeks has really come on strong, which allowed us to move Glendon down to the nickel position.”
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