There are subtle things that stand out in the evolution of a program from one that is trying to scrape out six wins and get to a bowl game to one that is a contender for championships and titles.
Consider the posture of Maryland after last week’s loss at No. 4 Ohio State to be one of those mile markers.
“We had a tremendous test against one of the top teams in the country that we didn’t pass,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said Tuesday. “But I thought we put forth a valiant effort in terms of how you prepare to go win a game like that, the mindset you need to have to win a game like that. Now the next step is to go win a game like that.”
Two years removed from his first winning season as Maryland’s head coach, Locksley was more open about conceding that he’s dwelt on the game for a few days — something he hasn’t verbalized after losses to the Big Ten’s upper tier in seasons’ past.
“For me, it’s lingered, because I’m second-guessing myself,” he said. “I went around the table with the coaching staff on Sunday and said, ‘If you had one thing to take back from that game on Saturday that you would do differently, what would it be?’ And each guy had different answers.”
One of those was a call Locksley made on Maryland’s second drive to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the Ohio State 29 instead of attempting a field goal. Backup quarterback Billy Edwards was stopped on a designed run out of the shotgun, giving the ball back to the Buckeyes.
“That first momentum drive we should have kicked the field goal, gave the kicker a chance. Analytics say go for it, but my gut was let’s kick it, get points,” Locksley said. “There were enough opportunities in that tremendous test we had to where we needed to make plays, and we didn’t.”
It was easy to tell immediately that the coach and players felt they let an opportunity slip away in Columbus. Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa met with reporters after the game while still in his uniform and pads, a sign that the fifth-year senior was still dwelling on the disappointment.
“Saturday’s loss was tough, because we started out strong, didn’t finish how we wanted to, but all we can do is learn from it and grow,” Maryland linebacker Ruben Hyppolite said. “Don’t let one loss turn into two. So our biggest thing is just learning from that and growing.”
On the whole, it’s been a successful first half of the season for the Terrapins (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten), with many of their goals to advance the program still within reach in their final six games.
“As I said to our team, if anybody took a poll to say you get to be 5-1 at the midpoint of the season, you get to take it or leave it, I’d say that a lot of us would take it,” Locksley said.
The Terrapins’ focus now shifts to Illinois (2-4, 0-3), which comes to College Park for homecoming weekend struggling after falling to last in the Big Ten West following a loss last Friday to Nebraska.
“They’re very blue collar, very tough, and you know, disrespected. So they’re going to come into College Park with a chip on their shoulder, and we’ve got to prepare for that,” Hyppolite said.
Locksley has a deep relationship with the Fighting Illini program having served as offensive coordinator there from 2005-2008 and calling current Illinois coach Bret Bielema “one of my closest friends in this conference.”
“He’s a guy that I share a lot of things in common,” Locksley said. “He’s a good dude. He’s a ball coach. He’s done it the right way. And he’s really elevated the Illinois program. So I know they’ll be well coached, they’ll be ready to play.”
Maryland has won both of its previous meetings against Illinois, with the most recent victory coming on a walk-off Joseph Petrino 32-yard field goal in 2021.
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.