Mike Locksley praises Michigan football special teams, more
Michigan hammered Maryland — again — Saturday, scoring 59 points before taking the foot off the gas in the fourth quarter. A blocked punt and a throwback kick return touchdown were huge plays in a game in which the Wolverines shined in all phases.
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Walk-on Matt Torey blocked a punt in the first half that led to a score four plays later.
“This game really got blown open with our special teams play,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said. “Special teams is one of the quickest ways when you give up explosive plays there … that’s how you end up with the score the way it is today.
“From coaching to playing, we weren’t our best today, and I’ve got to get us to be our best. We had a sky kick call, they recognize the sky kick and had an adjustment and made the play. For us, we lost contain back on the backside of it, so you know any time when you go to have a score and you allow a play like that to happen on special teams, it definitely takes away momentum. And momentum is an important part of the game.”
The kick return for touchdown came in the third quarter after Maryland had cut the lead to 31-10. Michael Barrett threw back across the field to A.J. Henning, who completed the 79-yard score to immediately give Michigan the momentum back.
Henning joked that Barrett hadn’t exactly been stellar with the pass the handful of times they practiced it during the week. Saturday’s, though, was right on the money.
“[Special teams] are just like any other phase. They’ve got to go out and execute their job,” Locksley continued. “We’ve had some games with our special teams that play well, so they’re no different than offense or defense. Today just wasn’t our day on special teams, which going into this thing, we knew that it was going to be really important for us to not give up big plays whether it’s on defense or special teams and today … we got outcoached and outplayed.
“A lot of blame to be placed, and it starts with me.”
The Maryland offense started strong, moving down the field on its first possession before stalling. But the Michigan defense was stellar on third down, as it’s been all year.
Maryland finished 3-of-14 on the night, averaging 7.4 yards on their attempts. They failed to connect all five opportunities of nine or more yards, often abandoning the run.
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“Third down for us … you’re usually good when you keep it third and manageable,” Locksley. “I thought we had way too many third and longs, third and extra longs. With the way their pass rushers work, it was going to be important for us to stay in third and manageables. The way you do that is by being better on the first and second down.”
There were also miscues in the passing game they haven’t made much of the year, including a Taulia Tagovailoa pick-six in the final minute of the third quarter that extended the Michigan lead to 52-18.
D.J Turner seemed to bait the quarterback and jumped the route. Receiver Carlos Carriere claimed the fault.
“I hung him out to dry,” he said of his QB. “I need to come back to the ball, and I take full responsibility for that play. I need to come back to the ball and at least not let him make a play, at the least. I take the blame.”
There was plenty to go around. The bottom line, though, was another big win for the Wolverines in a series that’s been lopsided since the Terrapins joined the Big Ten.
