What Maryland coach Mike Locksley said about Penn State ahead of Friday night’s matchup

Maryland head coach Mike Locksley is taking a page out of the Penn State playbook this week. He’s trying to treat this game just like any other.

There’s a palpable buzz around UMD’s campus ahead of Friday night’s Penn State-Maryland game at Capital One Field. The university canceled afternoon classes, and temporary bleachers have been set up inside the stadium due to increased ticket demand.

But Locksley, who spent the last three seasons as an Alabama assistant coach, said he doesn’t want his team focusing on the atmosphere.

“It’s great to hear that hopefully we’ll have the type of crowd our players deserve to have, and I know our fans are excited about this game,” Locksley told reporters during a Monday afternoon press conference. “But all of our focus is on being the best version of Maryland football we can be come Friday.

“All the external noise, all the external excitement about this game, we’re looking at it no different than we’ve looked at the other three opportunities we’ve had. And that’s just how we approach the game.”

Locksley and Penn State head coach James Franklin spent three seasons together at Maryland, from 2000 to 2002. Locksley coached the running backs, Franklin the wide receivers.

The two coaches will meet again at 8 p.m. Friday (on FS1). Penn State is 39-2-1 all-time against Maryland, with the Terps’ last win against the Nittany Lions coming in 2014.

Here’s a look at what Locksley said about No. 12 Penn State on Monday:

(On his relationship with James Franklin)

“James and I, our relationship goes back to ‘98 or ‘99 when he came here as a young coach. I think he was leaving Idaho State, and we were both young coaches on Ron Vanderlinden’s first staff, and then we both stayed on through Coach (Ralph) Friedgen. And we maintained a relationship over the years. Obviously, James has had a great success as a head coach at Vanderbilt and now Penn State, so I’m always glad to see guys do well — and, again, in all games except the one we play them in. So, again, we are both guys who grew up in this program here and both having coached under Coach Friedgen. But we do have a cordial relationship.”

(On what he’s seen from Penn State on film)

“They’re a well-coached team in all three phases. They’ve got dynamic skill at the receiver position. No. 1 (KJ Hamler) is a big-time player for them. They’ve got three guys — I know Justin Shorter, the big single-side receiver is about 6-foot-4, 230 pounds. Really physical guy. They rotate three running backs in there, but I think it all starts with the quarterback — (Sean) Clifford. He’s a guy that can beat you with his arm and his legs. He’s made plays where I’ve seen him run away from defenses as a ball-carrier but also has thrown the ball really well.

“When you look at those guys on defense, I think up front their front-four are very concerning to us, along with the two inside ‘backers. Their front-seven is very stout, very athletic. And they’ve got a lot of experience when you look back on the back-end with the secondary as well.

“So Hamler also serves as a returner in the kick game, so we’ve got to do a great job of making sure we can contain them. And, again, I think these guys are a well-coached bunch, and they got them playing a high-level. So, for us, we’re going to obviously have to match them with their execution and how we match the game. And I think Friday our guy will be excited about this opportunity, but we’re going to have to go out and play well to have an opportunity to take care of business.”

(On how UMD has struggled against PSU the last two years, especially offensively, and how that’ll be different Friday)

“Any comparisons, I don’t know about the last two years what they’ve done or what we’ve done on offense against them. Again, we rarely worry about our opponent as much as we do our execution. I think we’ll stick to that script.

“The things we’ve got to do to prepare: We’ve got to practice the right way. Those are the habits and behaviors we talk about, how we study our opponent. We’ve got to put together a great plan as a coaching staff and make sure our guys have a really good comfort level with being able to execute the things we’re going to need to be successful on the offensive side of the ball. And that’s what we’ve done the first three practices last week and starting (Sunday) as we went into our game week prep against Penn State.”

(On whether his players are more jacked up and if this feels like a rivalry)

“We haven’t been on campus. I’m stuck at Gossett (Football Teamhouse), so I don’t know what the buzz is. One of the things we’ve tried to do is just really insulate ourselves to functioning and worrying about the things we can control. All the things you just talked about are things that are out of our control. It’s great to hear that hopefully we’ll have the type of crowd our players deserve to have, and I know our fans are excited about this game. But all of our focus is on being the best version of Maryland football we can be come Friday.

“All the external noise, all the external excitement about this game, we’re looking at it no different than we’ve looked at the other three opportunities we’ve had. And that’s just how we approach the game.”

Maryland injury notes

• RB Jake Funk, a redshirt junior, will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Locksley said he expects Funk will be able to get a medical redshirt out of this season.
• RB Lorenzo Harrison, who missed 10 games last season due to injury, will be available to Maryland on Friday after suffering a hamstring injury. His role will likely increase as the season goes on.
• WR Darryl Jones is still recovering from a calf sprain, but Locksley said he expects Jones to be OK by Friday. Jones has been taking part in practices already.
• Kicker Joseph Petrino, who reportedly hurt his groin two weeks ago, kicked Sunday and Locksley said Monday, “We don’t foresee there being any issue there.” He should kick against Penn State.
• Dual-threat backup QB Tyrrell Pigrome was a healthy scratch against Temple, Locklsey said, but wasn’t involved in the previous game plan because he missed some work that week. Now? “He’s 100 percent,” Locksley said, before adding the Terps will find ways to get him the ball when he’s healthy.

This story was originally published September 23, 2019 at 4:52 PM.