Maryland head coach Mike Locksley reviews what went wrong in 27-24 loss vs. Michigan State

sure um one give credit to Michigan State Jonathan Smith and his coaching staff uh did a tremendous job getting their team prepared for a road game uh it's big 10 football um we talked to our team about it uh early conference game against a team like I talked about that from the status quo they've been one of the better teams and uh we didn't get it done you know special teams penalties uh the big plays on defense and then the inability to run the ball on offense when I see that from a big picture things here's what I see I see all those things are correctable all right we we can correct the the penalties you know we we put ourselves in the bad position on special teams to have the type of penalties we had uh the big plays on defense that's about growing up um you know those guys had opportunities and we we got to do a better job of keeping the big plays in front of us and then just when we needed to be able to run the ball on offense to finish drives we were we weren't able to which you know when you have opportunities like that playing Big 10 football you have to take them um they're not going to give them to you and I think uh right now as we talk about a player leg culture uh it'll be tested this week because these guys need to get in here we'll get these things corrected it's early in the year so again I'm not in here telling you that the the the the season is lost because we took a a tough loss here at home against our good team as we talked about but I think can expect this team to respond the right way um they they've done the work they continue to do things the way we need them done in practice but it has to translate the games and when we have opportunities to win uh Big 10 games like we had with this one we have to seize the opportunity so um with that I open it up for questions Mike if you could expand on uh Aiden child game today what what how you guys tried to defend them in their passing game and what they were able to take advantage of yeah our goal was to make him beat us throwing the football and guess what he did um they're a team that we decided we wanted to stop the run um we know that the run and the play action pass off the run is what they do best today the kid showed us he can win playing drop back football and um you know some of the times it didn't look like we we were in good coverage and we gave up some big plays and you know what those are some growing pains that I hate that we have to go through now um and I know for the people that that support us they don't like to hear it but those are necessary Growing Pains that some of these inexperienced players are going to have to go through we got to help them on as coaches by figuring out how to protect them a little bit more whether it's keeping a safety in the middle of the field or whether it's getting after the quarterback and forcing him to make fast decisions um but you know Aiden CH our goal was to make him beat us throwing and and he did that today so hats off to that kid for the way he played Mike following that up you know we talked about the defense during the offseason how excited this team was about that side of the ball is it a little more disappointing that they gave up those big plays considering the depth and the skill it's always disappointing when you you give up 350 yards passing I don't know how many big plays total it was but it's the part of our defense that we understand and know that's young I mean and so it's not as if we are surprised that that we've got young corners and and some guys that are playing their first football force and as I said before it's a matter of one those guys growing up a little bit and learning the lessons that come along with failing like we failed today but I also think as coaches uh as we start to understand what what what who we are uh you know keeping us safety in the middle of the field helps some of those young corners and maybe takes the air out of some of these deep balls but you know the game plan was to make them beat us throwing the ball and and Aiden Childs and and those receivers did a good job of winning we had our chances and we just didn't take advantage of them and to me we've got to get that part fix hey coach um Sam what's up wanted to ask you about the uh kind of two third and then fourth down and one um the fourth and one electing to go for the field goal and then on the third and one um not doing any sort of QB sneak the field goal was there any thought to going for it and then Billy hasn't rushed to QB sneak I don't think this year is there any reason to that um you know what we called and how we called it is all game plann essential um the third one and the fourth and one calling sneaks hand it off I mean we can always second guess every call we make in terms of what we should have done you know with the fourth and one call last week I punted them both times and I didn't get that question and we pinned them inside the 10 the goal was to pin them inside the 10 give them the long field play the field position battle it didn't work out it didn't work out we punted it down there they hit a big play and they got the ball across the 50 yard line and that's where when I talk about taking advantage of some of the opportunities we had opportunity with them pinned in there to keep the field position in our battle to win and uh we didn't get it accomplished no I mean Jacks Are we we we had a chance to go up two scores if I don't kick if I do kick it and miss it you're gonna be saying why didn't you go for it or if I kick it and we make it I mean I'm damned if I do damned if I don't from that standpoint but the smart play is to go up two possessions 10 points Jordan Johnson Next Level Sports entertainment coach how do you feel like a big 10 game this early obviously the first time you've had to play one this early in the season helps prepare you for down the line in October November yeah this is probably the earliest we faced one but you know we weren't surprised we knew it was on our schedule um again Big 10 games are hard tough battles and today was just that and I'm hoping this is one of those battles that that as I always talk about when we have failures what's the lesson we can take from it and the one I get just off the the the cuff is that when we have chances to win in the Big 10 and we had our offense on the field for a drive to Win It we had our defense on the field for a drive to win it and we had our special teams on the field to give us a chance to go up two scores three phases and neither one of us or either of those phases were able to to to take the Victory and the Big 10 ain't gonna give it to us so I've got to get us in the position to make those plays and and when we need them hey lock uh good to see you preseason you talked about you know competing for championships your conference championships so when you have a loss like today where you know you guys were up five minutes ago and then falling in this so how how do you use today as maybe an example for for and and what's I guess your message with this in terms of that bigger picture well the message is that all is not lost I mean this is a big 10 of game we put ourselves behind the eight ball starting um starting behind in Big 10 play but we got a long season so I'm not going to sit up here and and and and have this uh the poor mes f sorry for ourselves I mean shoot we lost a tough game at home it's one that we had a chance to win we got to get on the tape and I got to figure out how to get us to go win these games I mean Damon said something to hit coaches the other day he said something about we got to win the games we're supposed to win well this is one we should have won and we got to find out find a way to win it and it starts with us as a staff uh establishing and making sure that these guys understand when all three phases had a chance to win the the game for us none of us came through we're 0 for three and that's the part we got to get fixed and just curious if you're willing to share what did you say to your team after this game I mean I just told him I mean you know ain't time to have the poor mes you know see a couple of those young Corners man with those you know Tears in their eyes it's you know what these guys come to compete they put a lot into the work uh my my message is all is not lost and if we're player Le like we say we are then I'll see them back in here Monday with the right mindset to find a way to get prepared to go down and and plant the seeds to go down in in Charlottesville again against another really good team a regional rivalry game old ACC fo uh they're not going to feel sorry for us so we need to get it corrected get over it and get ready to go play hey Mike only 86 yards rushing this week after going for over 200 last week just what you talked about their front seven all week but was also something on your part too that was unable to get that game going yeah we were on edges the whole day we had a penetration all through the a gaps I mean we have to cover people up um you know the good thing when you watch it because we get the the real time information it wasn't scheme it's a matter of the fundamentals being executed up front and you know this is a big 10 team we knew they play heavy-handed a very physical group that we've got to win at the line of scrimmage and today we were on edges in the inside when we needed to run on those fourth and ones that Sam asked about when you see that type of color inside it didn't give me uh confidence to say let's line up and just knock him off the ball we got to figure out and there were times on those uh second Downs where we could have have got the first down if we just knife the ball vertical and not keep running lateral so a lot of good coaching a lot of good teaching we can take from it I'm looking forward to getting on the tape and then getting these guys prepared and and I know that you Perry was injured and you rotated through a lot of guys in the secondary was that because of injury or dinged up or out of necessity just trying to find a guy that could get a stop for you in the second I mean Perry played injured I mean we knew he had the the hand the finger deal uh that shouldn't affect Corners I mean we we're going to play these young guys we have to you know when you play the amount of plays and the special teams plays that that they had I mean it's unfortunate man we got some talented young Corners that I mean they got to grow up and we got the front seven and people understand it it's going to be tough to run it against our front and so what we've got to do now is is have a good mix of being able to get after the quarterback and and again today that kid did a tremendous job of making the plays man thre the Deep ball down the field and put it in position for those guys to uh take advantage of those opportunities which we missed our of those as well hey coach I know you mentioned uh some of the big plays the defense gave up but can you talk about the some of the key takeaways Glenn had as well as Jaylen husky yeah I mean we we had some takeaways on defense you know Glendon as I told you guys is one of those special players that always has a knack for being around the ball and and with his playmaking ability if we could just eliminate the the the the 115 yard penalty play like you're a veteran player now we don't hit the guy out of bounds but when it comes to being around the football being a guy that's a ball Hawk and and can make plays and affect the game on defense uh Glendon one of those guys uh jaylen's interception it was good to see him it was one of the times where we had a safety in the middle of the field and we played deep third coverage and they got threw it to us and and Jaylen made a play from a confidence standpoint much needed but you know we got to grow up a little bit at that at that position and there's no doubt in my mind we will um those guys are they are resilient the young Corners uh we can't be afraid to play getting beat now as coaches again we can help them some and I expect us to make some of those changes or make the necessary adjustments to get those guys a little help uh hey coach I'm Jack from hey Jack I'm Jack from wnbc um Ty Felton has been great through both games so far what role do you think he's going to have in the offense going forwards I mean I think we've talked about he's been a playmaker for us for the last couple of years he's waited his time to kind of become you know the compliment he and both Kate and pther are both two talented receivers in this league and there's no doubt when we need a play uh Tai has been one of those guys consistently that's come through with with those plays and we're going to need him we're going to need his leadership uh you know the locker room I'm sure as down as they should be because you invest a lot of time and energy into these opportunities you only get 12 we're down to 10 we got we kind of let one we had one taken I mean because you gotta give Michigan State Credit they took the game they drove it down they kick the winning field goal uh they did what we didn't do and and to me that's the part uh that as a player Le team and as me as the head coach that we got to come together and get that part fixed thanks guys