Locksley Post-game Maryland Football after UConn

question yeah um great uh great team win great start to the 2024 season and uh great liftoff to it you know we talked to our team going into this game about the the start and the importance of getting off to a fast start uh kind of coming and putting it all together and I thought we were able to do it today with uh you know all three phases contributing uh to the win and turn you know we had a turnover on special teams defensively creating some turnovers um we've got to play a lot of players and to me that's uh something that's much needed for our team and especially in games like this if you look at the the the lack of experience on offense to be able to get 85 plays I think we placed nowhere 72 different players played in this game so to me that will come back to to pay great dividends for us uh as we move through the season you know offensively uh to see us be able to run the football against a front that was a non-traditional to say the least you know we did a lot of movement stuff and we had a few of those what I call 5050 runs where the ball uh sometimes the guys come free because they're they're twisting and moving and we going to have to be able to handle that uh a little bit better I thought Billy did a really good job of controlling the offensive system uh over 300 yards and to me did a great job Distributing the ball getting it to The Playmakers and and I think that they were able to show that again we've found and been able to develop some some guys that that have the ability to make big plays for us on offense uh defensively giving up just the one score and to me uh just from looking at it and thank goodness for technology because I can't come in here and say oh let me look at the tape and I'll let you know cuz we get to see it uh pretty in real time but you know we're able to forc three turnovers and when we gave up the touchdown it was a communication error that that we've got to kind of get fixed um Jack Jack how opened it up well for us hitting three field goals and then you know how about the punter mcf first uh being able to change fli field position he was able to pin him in 25 out of six uh but now what we've got to do and typically which is uh very normal the biggest jump that we'll make as a team typically is between week one and week two because now we see kind of the identity of what we're capable of against real people and not just against ourselves and I'm excited you know to get back in here on Monday we'll celebrate it tonight they'll be off tomorrow get back in here Monday evening and start our preparation as we enter into our our big 10 opener next week uh which comes upon us pretty quickly um next week in the Shell shout out to the student section and you know our fans who showed up uh for this game you know against Yukon the energy that was brought was needed and and it was a great environment to go place so with that I'll open it up to whatever questions you guys have hey coach how are you Brandon what's up much so you briefly talked about that offensive line obviously it was a relatively kind of new group relative for for the first for the first for the five that started I mean how would you really feel they worked communication wise and really Jed out there today you know we were able to get the the meaningful snaps for that group I think our ones played close to about 70 plays 64 65 plays and you know those five will only get better as the season goes on uh you know again this was one hell of a opener to open up for a young new and exper line with all the different things that they did front wise they were doing a bunch of stemming from three down to four down they had the odd spinner look where they were taking linebackers and overloading them and you know I thought for the most part the five did a good job of the communication piece uh we knew going in that it' be a 5050 Run game and they may bang Us in the back field once or twice and but we may hit a 80 yard like we're able to do with Nolan Ray or big play like we're able to do when when they play that style of Defense um I think getting on the tape and and them the just the experience of playing the game together uh will benefit from that M what was it that way the decision to to start building what's separated him from the rest during camp and and you mentioned his play overall today that what was ESP special impressive to your guys performance today you know I think coming out of Camp is the metrics the things that we've talked about you know the drive chart uh winning on third down protecting the football uh doing a great job elevating the level of play the players that he's on the field with you know the one thing that that really jumped out to me about Billy throughout camp and I think um Ray Charles could see today that you know his uh his ability you never knew which group he played with his ability to run with the ones the twos and the threes uh and and when we watch the tape not know which group he's playing with because you know one of the things we strive for is to have the mind of a coach and the skill of a player if you just look at the Comfort level that he showed operating the system with all the stuff going going around him and the way he was able to distribute the ball you know that's the reason he protected the ball the way we needed to and not that those other two I think you saw today that both Cam and MJ uh again as I said we can win with all three and we have uh you know we'll have the ability to develop him we went in with a plan uh where MJ was going to play two three series this game to develop him like we know we're going to need to and it was great to be able to get cams on work um so all three of those guys uh like I said have the ability to run our system and we'll keep growing with Billy tayor Billy Billy's waited you two really three years for an opportunity like this and patience like that is pretty rare in college football these days I mean how important has been for you in the program to have someone like that who's willing to wait their turn go through a camp battle and you know and come through it when theity I wouldn't say waited his turn cuz we got him out of the portal so that's I would say that I'm glad we were able to to get him um out of the portal but no I mean you know guys like Billy and and it's so hard in today's society because of the pressures that some of these kids have on them where everybody wants it now and and as I told those three you know haven't been through a quarterback battle like like we've just gone through uh it kind of reminded me of the the jayen tu ma Jones deal we got three really good quarterbacks and they all have to continue to do the necessary things to develop the parts of their game that that maybe uh they not a strength of theirs and and they all are they all know the system they all have worked hard and uh you're only going to see those guys get better with the Reps that that we're able to get again with Billy it's his job uh he's our quarterback and we we'll ride with him but we'll continue when we have opportunities to develop the rest of our roster we'll always do that what's up um you guys said 249 yards after the catch today which was higher than any number you had last season was that something where you guys are making concertive effort to try to get in Tai s more Kaden sore after the player was there just a couple big plays train like how would you describe it no we we're pretty intentional about touches we we track touches all game long and you know like the reason Kate and pra went in late in the third quarter with Cam is that we wanted to try to get them another touch you know one of the ways that you you you control your team is you you utilize them and I think when you create roles for every player you look at the Players we played on defense I saw number six out there I saw 11 and two those freshman or I mean anytime you can play freshman and they can get on the field and fail and make plays it it only makes you stronger so um there's no doubt that you know being able to play a bunch of players today will benit the turs hey what's up man good to see you I know you you talked about this all season you know just trying to find ways to run the ball efficiently I obviously today you his first touchdown M D Williams but the end zone but just kind of running back as a whole obious M as well I would you kind to assess something did today I'm not going to say I told you so I think just you know I said a few years ago that some of these young players but the running back room you know we we lose guys but one of the things running backs receivers skilled players I mean this system is built for Playmakers and and the way we were able to get the ball the different people today and get it to the places that they were able to make plays and I was so happy for Josiah man he's had a rough week man he lost his dad to in a car accident a week ago uh Saturday and you know he stayed here all week and and we loved doing them our team got behind him and for him that's why our team was really excited that he was able to get a touchdown because he's got to go home here this tomorrow to bury his dad and and get back here and it was great to see him be able to make a play and and you know as a as part of our family man it was a great day to see that happen uh coach talks about you know quarterback sliding and and you're sort of getting out of trouble and all that kind of stuff um what were your thoughts today obviously you know seeing your quarterbacks you know slide and trying to stay out of trouble but then having to to take some of those hits with a kind of an outlier kind of thing or I hope it's an outli I mean there's a couple times where I didn't want us to slide you know we slid on a short yardage play where you know once you give yourself up that way we work drills where we dive forward and because you're better protecting yourself going forward than you are sideways and you know we got to find ways to to continue to to teach our quarterbacks not to take those extra shots but some of the shots they took today there's no way around them there were penalties you know we got to protect our guys a little bit better but I also think there's some times where we shouldn't slide and maybe going down you know face first and and Diving more than sliding when when you're able to do that it will be probably the better thing hey Micha how's it going what's up George good to see you um going to MJ in the second quarter something that you saw the opportunity be up a little bit like hey let's get him some reps here we planned on he knew he was going to go in a third or fourth series uh it's just part of our process of developing Billy knew it there was no surprises of what was going on we they Comm we communicate you know every player in our program knows why they play why they don't play that's the only thing we owe them and and going into this game it was it's Billy's job he is our quarterback there's no short leash he's not looking over shoulders but when we have opportunities to play guys like MJ and some of these other players we're going to play them because we understand that the Big 10 is a a tough league and and we're going to eventually need these guys and the only way they get better is by playing not standing on the sideline and and finally having the sidelining tech for the first time in a regular season game change the way you approach anything absolutely helpful detriment it's it's a it's a game changer for us because it you know when you are teaching you know this generation grew up on iPads they didn't grow up with a chalk board and you know that little crazy noise used to make one squeaky noise so they're iPad kids and you know I as I told our staff one of the things and we do it in practice and we you know our the resources that Colleen gives us back there you know brought us these big TVs for us to have on the field thanks so much Colleen but uh you know I call it putting their face in it you know you train a dog and he does something in the house and you take him over there and put it in and show him like Hey that's not good well that's kind of how we've used the technology and we've come up with a system throughout the course of the game where when a guy makes a mistake we take it to him we sit him down we show him immediately and and and the learning takes place now instead of having to wait until Monday CU they'll be gone for about you know today the rest of the day and tomorrow and they'll show up Monday but it allows us to clean things up a lot quicker and show them immediately and we're teaching all the time you got defensive you guys kept him out of the red zone for the first two and 1 half quarters so what were the seats to success defensively you know just the knock back the Gap sound Gap control you know the area where we got in trouble is those big plays with missed tackles you know Perry had to miss tackle then we gave up a couple of Cho routes uh in the slot where we were in good coverage and and a couple times they just made great throws and great catches and and that's going to happen at times but you know I thought our defense had a really good plan going into how we wanted to defend it uh uh Yukon and really not knowing what they were want to be you know new quarterback new system new coordinator um made it tough but you know at once we kind of figured out how they wanted to attack cuz I thought feed up and the defensive staff did a good job for the most part we still got some things to get cleaned up from a communication standpoint and then also doing a better job of tackling hey coach what's up big man um can you talk about how um how much I going to say pressure and maybe takes off the offense where your defense is playing so well dominating the football not letting them get into the Red Zone yeah as I said before man a young or inexperienced quarterback which you know Billy's kind of in the middle there he's got some experience but just still the game experience uh that's his best friend and some good defense and a running game and the day we had both those things and you know I think you were able to see Billy kind of calm himself down I think Josh did a good job early of getting the ball and space to some of our guys giving Billy a couple of layup throws to kind of you know ease into the transition of of taking this thing over and but I really like the way Billy played I like the control and command he had of our system and couple balls that that we we'll talk about we'll get a chance to get corrected some fundamental things that will get better but really pleased with his first outing as our shello I'll try I'll try and not be so formal today but good point uh Glendon Miller had his first start had the first two tackles Trader had some tackles Scruggs had pretty good game what do you make of those guys in the defensive back field today again you know the experience over the years Dante's got three years worth of experience uh Glendon Miller can play nickel can play safety can play Corner his experience four years experience there um you saw a bunch of the young guys number six you know Jacob's going to be a hell of a player for us he got some great meaningful snaps you know the way that the safeties and the the they're like the quarterbacks on defense and and Dante uh has done a really good job of settling things down you know we got young corners or inexperienced Corners so to have that uh that veteran experience on the back end and then when we put Glendon down as a nipple and it allows us to bring scrubs in Scrubs had a pretty good game from what I've seen and you know the last two weeks has really come on strong which allowed us to move Glendon down to the ne position thank you coach thanks appreciate it thank you very much