What Maryland head coach Mike Locksley said about Penn State ahead of Saturday’s matchup
Penn State football is set to clash with Maryland Saturday after a three-game losing streak, but that hasn’t affected the mindset of the Terrapins.
Maryland head coach Mike Locksley still sees a defense that is one of the best in the country and an offense that performed well with a dinged up quarterback.
“Penn State is a strong team,” Locksley said at his Tuesday press conference. “Defensively, I think they’ve got like the No. 8 scoring defense in the country. Sean Clifford, even though he’s been a little banged up the last couple of games, has shown great improvement and really has done a great job of leading their offense.”
The Nittany Lions and Terps are facing off after Maryland took down Penn State under similar circumstances this time last year. Penn State had lost two games in a row last year and was coming off a loss to Ohio State, while this year the program is on a three-game skid and is once again playing Maryland a week after losing to the Buckeyes.
Locksley said the win his team earned last year, a 35-19 victory in Beaver Stadium, has given his program some confidence.
“This is gonna be a tough game,” Locksley said. “We expect it to be tough. They’ve had their way with us if you look at the history of it. I do think that the last few years we’ve tried to do everything we can to be competitive. Last year, I think our team has a little confidence coming from last year. We went up there and we beat a really good Penn State team.”
Here’s everything else Locksley had to say about the Nittany Lions heading into this week’s matchup.
Maryland head coach Mike Locksley
On this week’s matchup
Obviously with a great opportunity to play a regional rivalry. A team that’s right up the road from us that focuses quite a bit of their efforts in recruiting here in our home state. We welcome them here to The Shell. We’re hopeful that we get our fans in the seat and not their fans. I know their fans will do all they can to be in The Shell and support their team, but I’m hoping we can do our part to keep them out of here. Penn State is a strong team. Defensively, I think they’ve got like the No. 8 scoring defense in the country. Sean Clifford, even though he’s been a little banged up the last couple of games, has shown great improvement and really has done a great job of leading their offense. They’ve got all types of weapons on offense with Jahan Dotson, who I know from having recruited him back in the day. They’ve got quite a few weapons. Both tight ends are really good players. Parker (Washington) in the slot is a big-time weapon as well as the three running backs, Noah Cain and Keyvone Lone all have done some great things to contribute offensively. They do a lot. They win games. They’re positive in their turnover ratio, they lead the Big Ten in red zone defense. So we’ll have a great challenge with a good team.
On Penn State’s defense
They’re definitely formidable. They have the No. 8 scoring defense in the country. ... If you look at the games they played, the defense has contributed to keeping things manageable with giving them opportunities to win. I think the strong of their defense is their front seven. The four guys up front have been aided by a couple of transfer players that have come in and added something. They moved (Jesse Luketa) from linebacker to d-end. He’s been a force. Really strong and twitchy athletic guys in the front four. Then they’ve got linebackers on the second level that are really athletic big guys. So to me, the front seven, it starts with them probably trying to establish a way to stop the run. For us, our challenge would be for us to establish the run. We’re working diligently to get that back to where we create a little more balance in our offense. I think their front seven has definitely been a strength for them. Not that the back seven isn’t as formidable as well, but they definitely have done a great job up front and they do a good job of keeping you out of the end zone.
On the history of the matchup
This is gonna be a tough game. We expect it to be tough. They’ve had their way with us if you look at the history of it. I do think that the last few years we’ve tried to do everything we can to be competitive. Last year, I think our team has a little confidence coming from last year. We went up there and we beat a really good Penn State team. They went on after that game and I think righted the ship for their season and went on and had a great finish. We expect it to be a tough ass game. We expect it to be one of those games where the team that makes the least amount of mistakes, the team that has the most explosive plays will have an opportunity to win. To me, we need to make it that kind of game. We’ve got to get into the fourth quarter of the game and put ourselves in position to come out with a win.
On big plays
Penn State has Parker Washington, they have Jahan Dotson, they’ve got the two tight ends, they’ve got the running back out of the backfield and they’ve got a really good quarterback that’s really progressed in their system. It will be quite a challenge. I still expect them to try to establish the run, because we’ve shown an inability the last few weeks to stop the run, and then set things up with play action shots where we’ve got to do a good job of being in coverage and playing man coverage the way we’re capable of playing.
