As Maryland’s football team prepares to face off against #9 Penn State in College Park this weekend, they’ll do so with more questions than answers. Three straight losses, particularly their last two to Illinois and Northwestern, have derailed what began as a very promising season. With four games left on the schedule, they may very well be able to match their seven-win regular season total from last year. But 2023 was supposed to be the year where they put it all together, and instead it’s all come apart.
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The Terrapins began the year by winning their first five games, the first time they’d done so in more than two decades. While slow starts against Charlotte and Virginia were concerning, there were improvements shown against Michigan State and Indiana. They lost their first game to Ohio State, who despite being ranked as a Top 5 team, looked very beatable for the first three quarters. Mistakes by Maryland however, including two interceptions by quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa and a botched two-minute drill to end the first half, sent them back home with the first blemish on their record.
Regardless, the team still showed positive signs in their game against the Buckeyes, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. There were certainly missed opportunities, but losing to a Top 5 team on the road isn’t ever going to be the end of the world for a program like Maryland’s. Their next two losses though, tell a different story. Illinois and Northwestern had won one conference game between them before playing the Terrapins, and had clear talent deficiencies on their rosters. The Wildcats were led by an interim head coach who was appointed just weeks before the season began after allegations of hazing led to the firing of longtime head coach Pat Fitzgerald. Despite all of that, both teams were able to score victories over Maryland.
In each of their last two losses, the Terrapins have reverted back to many of the same blunders they’ve made consistently over the last few seasons. Costly turnovers, crucial penalties, and a general lack of effort on both sides of the ball. Through the first five weeks of the season, Maryland had one of the best turnover margins in the country. They’ve turned the ball over five times in their last three games. What was once one of the least-penalized teams in the conference has seen fields riddled with flags at the worst possible times to extend opposition drives and give away good field position.
Before the season began, head coach Michael Locksley and his team began to talk about competing for conference championships for the first time. This was his fifth year at the helm, and he believed that this team had the talent to be a part of those conversations. Led by one of the conference’s best quarterbacks in Tagovailoa, they’d surrounded him with weapons through high school recruiting and the transfer portal. Defensively, steady improvement over the last few seasons particularly against the run had them believing they could compete with the conference’s best teams. But while the talent may still be there, the mistakes and inconsistencies clearly remain.
Locksley has understandably been the brunt of criticism over the last few weeks, and it’s fair to evaluate the job he’s done as he prepares to wrap up his fifth season as Maryland’s head coach. First though, it’s important to remember the state that the program was in when he took over in 2019. Less than six months prior, offensive lineman Jordan McNair died two weeks after collapsing at a team workout with heatstroke. Just three coaches interviewed for the opening in College Park: Pep Hamilton, interim head coach Matt Canada, and Locksley. He was tasked not only with rebuilding a program whose on-field performance had been subpar for some time, but also with rebuilding its image, particularly to recruits and their families.
There’s no doubt that Locksley’s first four years were successful, scoring major victories in recruiting while navigating COVID-19 and the NCAA’s transfer portal. His first five recruiting classes averaged as the 33rd-best in the country when combining high school recruits and transfers, according to 247Sports. Additionally, the team’s play on the field improved, leading to their first consecutive winning seasons in eight years and their first consecutive bowl victories in two decades.
But while the program’s floor has been raised significantly, its ceiling remains lower than it should be. They’ve now shown they can compete with the conference’s best teams, but have yet to actually win one of those games. Even worse, they continue to lose winnable games due to mental mistakes, a lack of effort, and poor preparation. Locksley has proven his worth as a recruiter, and he’s clearly learned some valuable lessons from his time on Nick Saban’s coaching staff at Alabama. However, the talent he’s added to the team’s roster has yet to overcome what appear to be issues either with his own coaching or the work of his staff. Over the last five years the team is 0-5 when coming off of a bye week, a statistic which doesn’t speak well about the locker room’s leadership.
Before the season began, Locksley signed a contract extension which raised his salary and keeps him in College Park through the 2027 season (an extra year will be added if he wins at least seven games this year). Given how significant his buyout is at the moment, it’s extremely unlikely that he’ll be going anywhere anytime soon. He has a lot of work ahead of him, with a large number of key players set to graduate at the end of this year. The program is dangerously close to falling from “building something special” to “mired in mediocrity”, and another season like this one could cement even more apathy from a tired fanbase.
Terps Analyst
Zack is a financial analyst for a defense contractor in Washington, DC. The Owings Mills native focuses most of his efforts on Maryland Football recruiting and individual coach and player pieces; but also covers Terps Basketball. He has established relationships with Big Ten beat reporters across the conference, which he utilizes in his game previews. Now a Sr. Terps Analyst for BSL, Zack can be reached at: zack.kiesel@baltimoresportsandlife.com.