By Ethan Cadeaux (@Ethan_301)
After not playing at Byrd Stadium in over a month, the Terps are looking to end their four game losing skid as they host the Wisconsin Badgers in College Park Saturday for the first time in history. The Terps are excited to play in front of their home fans again, as well as many alumni that will be in attendance for homecoming week.
The Terps will face their fifth straight top-15 defense in a row, as the Badgers lead the nation in scoring defense, averaging 11 points per game. In their last eight games, the Wisconsin defense has only allowed six total touchdowns.
“We are playing a Wisconsin team that is well coached, and does a great job on all three phases,” said Terrapins head coach Mike Locksley. “[They are] well disciplined, the fifth defense in the past five weeks that is top 15 in the country, so we have a challenge on our hands from an offensive standpoint once again.”
The Terps will continue to lean on their rushing attack, as quarterback Perry Hills has rushed for over 100 yards in each of the last three games. But the Terps would like to see a balanced rushing attack moving forward, where the running backs have just as much success as Hills has had over the past few weeks.
“A lot of teams have forced Perry to be a ball-carrier,” said Locksley, regarding the zone-read concepts that Maryland draws up with their quarterback and running back. “The more success Perry continues to have, we will start to see defenses scheme and take the quarterback part of it away, and that is where I’m hoping [running backs] Brandon Ross, Wes Brown, and Ty Johnson can continue to be a little more active participants in our run game.”
Besides having to deal with one of the top defenses in the country, the Terps will have to stop a very experienced Badger offense that scored 52 points on Maryland last season.
“Last year, they had their way with us in all three phases,” said Locksley, referring to the 52-7 throttle Wisconsin handed Maryland last year.
Wisconsin relies a lot on the arm of senior quarterback Joel Stave, who is 26 yards away from becoming the fifth quarterback in school history to throw back-to-back 2,000 yard seasons. He is also only 76 yards away from becoming the third-ever Wisconsin quarterback to throw for 7,000 career yards. These are two feats that he definitely has a great chance to accomplish Saturday.
Badgers junior running back Corey Clement returned to action for the first time in seven weeks last Saturday, and ran for three touchdowns and 115 yards on just 11 carries. The Terps will be challenged by a Badger offense that can attack them both on the ground and through the air.
“As far as stopping the run, that is always how we start our defensive game plan,” said Locksley. “The last couple weeks, I feel like we have done some things to contain the run, and force teams to play left-handed, where they have to throw the football. We are going to have to [stop the run] this week in order to give ourselves a chance [to win].”
Since Locksley became interim head coach a few weeks ago, he has limited some of the veteran’s snap counts and inserted younger players into the lineup, in order to develop the core guys within the team.
“Playing a bunch of young players and playing a bunch of guys who have not played a lot, whether it is five snaps, or fifteen snaps, it takes away that locker room loiter mentality,” said Locksley. “Now, everybody is playing a hand in whether we win or lose. Whether your role is small or as a starter, we have tried to build the core of our team. Playing guys ten to fifteen snaps a game, that brings the energy, that brings the spirit, locks in those guys in meetings and practice because they know they are going to get an opportunity.”
Locksley is trying to change the culture of this program, and all the players are buying in. The team has definitely played with more energy since he has taken over, and were just a few costly mistakes away from winning a couple games.
“You [have] to be very patient, it’s deflating, it is like raising kids,” chuckled Locksley on how to coach these players through some growing pains. “They keep making the same dumb mistakes over and over, as a parent. You just love them through it, hold them accountable, obviously if they continue to make [mistakes] you have to make a change where it is necessary.
“It’s mind-boggling some of the egregious errors that we have had in terms of interceptions, and fumbles, penalties,” Locksley said. “They have been untimely, and those are what bad teams do. We have a good team, we just don’t play real smart at times.”
The Terps have adopted the mentality that each week is a one game season, and they leave what happened last week in the past. The Terps are definitely looking forward to the challenge against Wisconsin this Saturday, looking to pull off the upset in front of their alumni and homecoming crowd.
“There are some proud traditions that have come through here and worn this uniform,” said Locksley. “It is important to show our alums that we do take pride in the name on the front of the jersey, and we will go out and lay it on the line for 60 minutes. The scoreboard wont define [the team], but the effort, preparation, and how you go about playing the game is the respect our alums deserve to see.”
