Maryland coach Mike Locksley’s final weekly media appearance of 2024 began with an unexpected special guest that knows something about playing well in Pennsylvania.
“Finish strong, buddy,” Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts told his former Alabama offensive coordinator, as the two wrapped up a video call before the Terrapins head across the Mason-Dixon Line to play No. 4 Penn State on Saturday.
“Everybody’s calling to check on me today,” Locksley joked.
This Thanksgiving week is somewhat bittersweet for Maryland, as it wraps up its season early after falling short of a fourth-consecutive bowl chance with a Senior Day loss to Iowa.
“It’s been tough. We’re not where we want to be,” Locksley said. “And I think anybody that’s followed the program and that knows me knows that it’s a really frustrating, frustrating time, because we are a better team than maybe we’ve shown.”
For the Terrapins’ seniors and other contributors, that makes Saturday’s contest with the Nittany Lions the closest they’ll get to a postseason game.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a bowl game. But to us,” said linebacker Kellan Wyatt, “this is like our bowl game.”
Instead of wearing his typical Maryland-branded collection of sweatshirts and vests, Locklsey donned a plaid flannel shirt to symbolize the work that’s cut out for the Terrapins against the Nittany Lions, a team they’ve only beaten three times in 47 meetings.
“Jalen, he called me on my way here, and he’s like, ‘Why you got this flannel shirt on?’” Locksley said. “I’m like, you know what? It kind of reminds me, we all, as coaches and as players, got a job to do: finish the ’24 season the best way we can.”
To do so, Maryland (4-7, 1-7) will have to find ways to limit an offense that has kept the Nittany Lions in the national conversation in years past, but has elevated them to the top 10 all season and the cusp of a berth in the expanded College Football Playoff. PSU quarterback Drew Allar has matured, improving his completion percentage by more than 10 points since his sophomore season (72.2%, third in the Big Ten) and averaging 9.6 yards per attempt.
“He’s had a great season. Definitely see the progression he had from this year to last year, and even my freshman year,” Wyatt said. “So, we got to find ways to get to him to slow him down.”
The bread-and-butter of the Nittany Lions (10-1, 7-1) hasn’t changed either. Junior running back tandem Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen have combined for more than 1,300 yards, 10 touchdowns and 125 yards per game. Specifically, the two have tormented the Terrapins for 306 yards and three touchdowns since their freshman season.
“They’re very balanced in what they do. And they don’t put themselves in harm’s way a lot and have a unique scheme,” Locksley said. “They do a lot of exotic formations that create leverage in numbers at times. And so we’ve got to just be really clean in our alignments.”
The disappointing season has left many inside and outside Maryland’s program searching for what went wrong, starting with Locksley. He’s adamant he will be able to find the solutions to put the Terrapins on the right track again, starting with the opening of the transfer portal in less than two weeks and the early signing period for the 2026 recruiting class soon after.
“I’m also looking forward to kind of diving into this thing and figuring out what got us here [and] what I need to do to get us there,” he said. “I’m excited about it. I think you’ll see it isn’t that far away … one thing I do know is help is on the way.”
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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