Big plays are always electrifying and one of the most exciting parts of college football. But what comes after an offensive outburst is just as important as winning a game.
Maryland coach Mike Locksley is looking to find that middle ground with his team’s offense headed into a Week 2 matchup Saturday afternoon at Charlotte.
“I don’t think anybody in our building comes away from our first game satisfied that we played to the best of our abilities, though I do think there were some good things done in the game,” Locksley said Tuesday.
Maryland’s 31-10 win over Buffalo last Saturday featured big swings that connected — two long touchdown runs from running back Roman Hemby the biggest among them — but also some misses. An athletic, 35-yard catch-and-run from receiver Jeshaun Jones put Maryland into Buffalo territory. But the mid-second quarter drive would stall after a holding penalty on the next play, leading to a field goal.
Locksley calls those sequences the “big little plays” that happen when the offense follows up a chunk play either with a penalty, incompletion, or short gain. Establishing that consistency, he says, can keep the Terrapins from playing catch-up on second and third downs.
“That’s the efficiency I feel we need to play with where we’re getting four or five yards, and then we get a big play, and then we keep that momentum,” Locksley said.
A lot of that consistency will come from the running backs. Hemby’s 114-yard effort is still the talk of College Park, along with backfield mate Antwaine Littleton’s two-touchdown day.
Locksley credits how Maryland (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) managed the two backs late last season, getting them into practices and game action without burning their redshirts, as the reason why both were able to start the season hot.
“I think they all benefited from those extra practices going into spring with the emphasis we put on the run game, especially with the receivers being injured throughout spring ball,” Locksley said. “I think the timing of our run game and the comfort level we have with the offensive line and all the running backs really showed up.”
The fourth-year coach admits he’d prefer to be playing in College Park this weekend, though the 49ers (0-2, 0-1 Conference USA) will return the favor next year as part of a home-and-home series. It’s Maryland’s first matchup against the 10-year-old Charlotte program.
“They like to blitz a lot in different areas of the field,” quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa said. “We’re still preparing for them. We still have got a lot of film to watch.”
The third-year signal caller threw for 290 yards and an interception against Buffalo. He appeared a bit unsettled at the outset, and admitted he “missed some reads down the field,” but found a rhythm as the game went along.
“It’s always going to be like that,” Tagoaviloa said, joking that Hemby was the only one who might not have had any jitters. “You’re always nervous of what they’re going to show, maybe something different, or just feeling the first contact. So I think that was good for our team. Going into this next week, it’ll be regular again.”
Note: Locksley shouted out fellow Marylander Francis Tiafoe on his upset of No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of the U.S. Open in New York. Locksley has known the Hyattsville native since he was 14, and Tiafoe is around the program and works with Maryland’s training staff frequently when he’s not on tour.
“It’s great to see him have a breakthrough match like that and really proud of having gotten the chance to know him over the last five, six years,” Locksley said. “He’s been a dear friend of our program.”
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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