Penn State wide receiver Jahan Dotson showed Maryland last Saturday why he could be a first-round pick in next year’s NFL Draft.
This weekend, the challenge facing the Terrapins will be preventing Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III from making a similar statement.
“You better bring all your pads and all your friends when you tackle him,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley told reporters this week ahead of his team’s trip to East Lansing to take on the No. 8 Spartans (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten) on Saturday.
The superlatives to describe Walker are numerous. The junior leads the country in rushing yards per game (148.9 yards), total rushing yards (1,340), and yards after contact (976). The likely Heisman Trophy finalist has also rushed for 15 touchdowns this season, which is third-best nationally.
Locksley highlighted Walker’s balance when encountering opposing contact as the biggest reason for all of those after-the-contact yards.
“That means he runs with great pad level,” Locksley said. “We’ve got to do a good job of getting 11 hats to the ball.”
For Locksley’s Terrapins (5-4, 2-4), the search for six wins and bowl eligibility continues after a winnable, close game through three quarters against the Nittany Lions slipped through his team’s hands in the fourth thanks to Dotson and key mistakes.
“Discipline is one of the toughest things to say, ‘How do you correct?’ You correct it by constantly preaching it, constantly showing how it’s affecting us,” Locksley said.
To do that, Locksley said he puts up a chart for his players at the beginning of each game week. The numbers show the penalties and turnovers committed by schools across the Big Ten Conference and the country and how those mistakes affect won-loss records.
“The energy in the meetings and making the corrections … those things are all there,” Locksley said. “That’s a good sign for us, a good sign for the culture that we’ve kind of started to create. And I know we’ll be able to get things done based off of that.”
One unit that excelled last week, Maryland’s defensive front, will have to do it again if the Terrapins hope to contain Walker.
“I expect those guys to just keep bringing the energy, keep setting the tone up front,” Terrapins cornerback Tarheeb Still said. “They get a lot of displacement. They do a lot of stuff up front for us.”
The Terrapins held Penn State to 2.8 yards per rush, but Locksley admitted he would have liked to have seen more balance from his secondary. The unit gave up 363 yards — including 242 to Dotson.
Michigan State won’t need any motivation for Maryland. The Spartans fell to previously-unranked Purdue last Saturday, 31-13, and dropped out of the top four of the College Football Playoff picture this week. To add insult to injury, the playoff committee ranked Michigan State seventh. That’s one spot behind rival Michigan, a team the Spartans beat earlier this season, 37-33.
Locksley, however, knows the test ahead and is confident his players will meet the challenge, including quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa. The coach went out of his way to praise the junior, saying that he “felt like he’s played winning football for us” since a loss to Iowa on Oct. 1.
“When we’re not successful, very few times can I put on the tape and say it’s because of our quarterback,” Locksley said. “I really think the kid is one of the better quarterbacks in our league. I think he’s only going to get better and better.”
NOTE: Freshman linebacker Branden Jennings has been day to day with a knee injury. Locksley said Jennings had practiced all of last week, but ‘a setback’ last Thursday caused him to miss the Penn State game. Maryland’s medical staff is in the process of finding the best knee brace for him to wear, and if successful, he could be available against Michigan State.
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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