Maryland football’s hopes of a fourth straight bowl game are in jeopardy.
By this time last year, Maryland had secured its trip to go bowling with a 13-10 win against Nebraska. The Terps then followed it up with a 31-24 loss to eventual national champion Michigan in College Park.
This season, however, is a different story. The Terps are 4-5 overall, meaning they need to win two more games to go bowling. With three games remaining this season, Maryland sits at 1-5 in conference play after going 4-5 in league play a year ago.
But even with Maryland’s bowl hopes hanging by a thread, that’s not the biggest concern — it’s how the Terps are losing. Losses to Indiana, Northwestern, Minnesota, and Oregon have all been by at least 20 points. Last season, Maryland only lost two games by double digits.
The Terps have struggled against conference opponents all season, foreshadowed by a 27-24 loss against Michigan State in September that slipped out of their hands in the final moments.
“We’ve got to do everything [correctly] right now and that’s my job to make sure we’re doing everything correctly,” head coach Michael Locksley said.
A lack of complementary football has been a key factor in Maryland’s losses. Locksley echoed those same sentiments after the 38-19 loss to Oregon on Nov. 9.
“Today we didn’t play complementary football,” Locksley said. “When the offense played well, the defense didn’t. Then when the defense played well, the offense didn’t. The penalties on special teams … these are all things we have to get corrected quickly.”
“When you play good teams like Oregon, they do not help,” Locksley added. “That’s why I’m so frustrated … just the growing pains of having to go through this.”
The Terps have suffered from the same issues throughout the season — slow starts, turnovers and allowing explosive plays on defense — and those problems have been compounded on the road.
Maryland’s road record since 2019 is 8-13, excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season. With two home games remaining against Rutgers (Nov. 16) and Iowa (Nov. 23), Maryland has a chance to go bowling for a fourth straight season.
But a loss in one of those games will lead to more questions about what went wrong this season.
“As long as these guys keep showing up and fighting I’m going to keep coaching the crap out of them,” Locksley said. “We’ll get healthier, we’ll get it fixed, and we’ll get back home and start preparing for Rutgers.”
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