MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
That Maryland is now safe to play as an underdog on the FOR AMUSEMENT ONLY cards is a hopeful sign, as the Terps have covered the spread the past two weeks against two very good Big Ten teams. There was a time not long ago when Maryland wasn’t even on the card. Or, so I’ve heard.
That Maryland, however, could not put either of those good Big Ten teams away in the fourth quarter when they should have – at home in front of large, supportive crowds – has long exceeded tap-dancing on a Terps fan’s last nerve.
In Maryland’s 34-31 loss to Nebraska at SECU Stadium, the Terps battled back from two 10-point deficits, added three interceptions to their nation-leading total, yet were again blanked down the stretch, this time by 10-0 by the Huskers, to absorb their second Big Ten gut punch in a row.
“We’ll turn the page quickly, get back on the horse, and continue to coach the crap out of this team,” said head coach Mike Locksley. “I feel really good about this team. I know you guys are going to write what you’ve got to write, but nobody can watch what we did today and feel like it’s the same old Maryland, because I don’t see that, and I’ll continue to tell you those things.”
Well, Coach, you’ve been telling us those things for several years now, and while this might not be the same old Maryland, the same old Maryland things keep happening to spoil Saturday afternoons on Route 1.
Once again, penalties were front and center, as the Terps were flagged eight times for 100 yards, including three personal fouls prior to halftime..
“If it was the same person, I’d say, hey, let’s pile on,” Locksley said. “But when it comes from leaders like number 10, Cam Rice, obviously those after-the-play penalties are critical. Like I’ve told you, I equate a lot to being a parent. As a parent, all I can do is draw the line in the sand. We’ll continue to coach our guys up on the proper way to play.”
The players themselves say they’re being coached up on the proper way to play ad nauseum every day in practice, yet impropriety continues to rear its ugly head in each Maryland game.
The little things – Maryland doesn’t even pretend to do them on Saturdays. The special teams are horrendous, the tackling is awful and the penalties are inane. Maryland is not a detail team and it shows, as little things lead to the big picture, be it victory or defeat.
After playing an exceptional third quarter, Maryland again couldn’t finish what would have been a huge program win for the second week in a row.
Locksley is right that these players never seem to quit, though they didn’t seem ready to play at the start, as Malik Washington’s want-to in gaining a first down early in the first quarter appeared half-hearted at best. It was a fourth-down conversion Maryland needed, and one play later Nebraska was on the board.
In the end the Terps don’t get it done in conference games. They’ve proven they can compete with Top 25-type opponents, but they continue to beat themselves with poor tackling, penalties and special teams play.
There is no kill shot in this team, and the youth across the roster may have something to do with that. But six games in, Maryland still cannot make that one more drive on offense to stay on the field or that one more stop on defense to get off the field.
They look fatigued in the fourth quarter, particularly defensively, but when a team finishes with a plus-three in turnovers, as Maryland did on Saturday, it’s supposed to win the game.
Maryland is now 4-2 and 1-2 in the Big Ten, just seven agonizing points from being 6-0 and 3-0. The Terps are close to being a very good team, but close isn’t good enough, particularly when you have top-of-the-class recruits in the stadium watching you, as Maryland had the past two weeks.
Consider, 22 Maryland football players have been drafted by NFL teams in the last six years. That’s one of the highest totals in the country, and the case can be made that there is more talent in College Park now than there has been in those six years.
But in the immortal words of that old football announcer Dutch Reagan, “There you go again.”
“I kind of like what we saw other than the result,” Locksley said. “We’ve got a team that’ll fight and play without worrying about the scoreboard. We just didn’t finish.”
Oh, is that all? So, other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT