Maryland football suffered its fourth consecutive loss on Nov. 1, falling 55-10 to Indiana.
Locksley is now 0-11 following a bye week as Maryland’s coach. After earning their only conference win of the season against Wisconsin, 27-10, on Sept. 20, the Terrapins began their current losing streak with a 24-20 loss to Washington after a bye.
Maryland will look to snap its losing streak when it travels to face Rutgers on Nov. 8 at 2:30 p.m.
“We can’t hang our heads. We have a big game next week on the road,” head coach Michael Locksley said. “We’ve got to get this thing watched. I obviously didn’t coach well enough. The players obviously didn’t execute well enough.”
While there may have been moral victories in Maryland’s first three losses — games that were decided by a combined 10 points — the performance against Indiana exposed a recurring issue: The Terrapins have been unable to hang with top-tier Big Ten teams.
Maryland is now 2-12 in its last 14 conference games and 0-37 against ranked Big Ten opponents since joining the conference ahead of the 2014 season.
Locksley has emphasized that his team is focused on how to fix its problems rather than asking why they exist. However, many fans are asking both how and why — and some are even calling for Locksley’s job, with chants erupting during the Indiana game.
A lack of balance on the offensive side of the ball has been a constant theme all season. Through eight games, Maryland has 313 pass attempts and 217 rush attempts. Last year, Locksley took over play-calling midseason when the offense was struggling.
“The inefficiency on offense is just the inability to have balance, and that’s my job,” he said. “I’m an offensive guy. If I’ve got to get back involved in making sure that we can create the balance to take the pressure off of [quarterback Malik Washington], I hate putting the kid in a situation where it’s all on him — and it wasn’t. It’s on me as the coach. It’s on me as the leader to make sure … when he’s not at his best, that we have other answers.”
Maryland appeared poised to seize early momentum after intercepting Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza on the game’s opening drive but settled for a field goal.
The Terrapins forced a short punt on their next defensive possession, giving the offense favorable field position only to fail to capitalize once again.
“When we had opportunities early in the game, we didn’t take advantage of them,” Locksley said. “Our defense continues to get off to a fast start, and somehow, some way, we’ve got to get the offense going.”
Indiana quickly took charge after Maryland failed to capitalize on their opportunities.
Mendoza scrambled for a 7-yard touchdown to give the Hoosiers a 7-3 lead. Washington threw two interceptions on Maryland’s next two offensive drives, helping Indiana build a commanding 20-3 halftime lead.
Washington finished 16 of 31 for 242 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
“Being able to endure,” Washington said when asked about the biggest life lesson he’s learned this season. “It’s been tough for me, especially because in high school we didn’t lose much. So just having to learn how to deal with losses, come back from them, and come back stronger.”
Indiana outgained Maryland, 290-86, in total yards in the first half. The Terrapins managed just 2 rushing yards before halftime, while Indiana had 131 (and finished with 367).
The blowout continued in the second half, fueled by three more Maryland turnovers.
“The turnover bug hit us,” Locksley said. “For a team that was No. 1 in the country in turnover margin, I think we had three straight turnovers, plus a turnover on downs in the third quarter. Then the wheels kind of fell off.”
Indiana scored 24 points off four Maryland turnovers. The Terrapins’ fifth turnover came with 47 seconds left, capping off a dismal performance.
“We’re not going to be victims. We’ll get this thing corrected,” Locksley said. “I’ll get on the tape over the next couple of days and get us back in here Monday with an opportunity to go against Rutgers and try to get this thing back on track.”
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox