What Maryland head coach Mike Locksley said about his team's loss to Penn State
Penn State Nittany Lions football defeated Maryland, 31-14, Saturday night in Maryland Stadium.
It was a tighter contest than the final score would indicate, with the score tied at 14 early in the fourth quarter.
The Nittany Lions used chunk plays and turnovers to pull away, earning some measure of revenge for the 35-19 defeat they suffered at the hands of the Terrapins last season at Beaver Stadium — one of the true low points in a difficult year.
The Nittany Lions moved to 6-3 with the win, while the Terps fell to 5-4, still seeking out their sixth win to become bowl eligible for the first time under head coach Mike Locksley.
Here’s what he had to say about his team’s defeat
Dotson dominates
Jahan Dotson’s performance on Saturday wasn’t merely excellent — it was record breaking.
“We knew who [Dotson] was,” Locksley said. “We knew what he was capable of. To look at the stat sheet and see him with 242 yards [receiving], it’s really, really disappointing.”
Dotson’s 242 yards through the air marked a new Penn State football record, besting Deon Butler’s previous record of 216.
“He ran slant routes for about 242 yards against man coverage,” Locksley said. “We want to deny inside leverage. He’s a big-time player. He made the plays available to him.
“We got to challenge a good receiver like that, take away the leverages that don’t allow the ball to be thrown inside. Those are the things we’ve got to get corrected.”
Missed chances
This was not a game that the Nittany Lions dominated from a total yardage perspective.
Penn State held only a 456-419 edge in total yards on the day. The true difference on the scoreboard came from the Nittany Lions’ efforts in the margins.
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They were 10-18 on third down. The Terps went 4-15. Penn State created two takeaways to Maryland’s zero. The Nittany Lions stopped the Terps on three of their five trips to the red zone.
Locksley lamented all of that in his press conference following the game.
“We just continue to make mistakes at the most inopportune times,” he said. “We had five opportunities in the red zone and came away with two touchdowns, we had turnovers down there. Couldn’t get off the field on third down. But we had opportunities.”
Third down problems against Penn State’s offense
Specifically in relation to Penn State’s success on third down, Locksley pointed toward some difficulty executing.
He used a crossing route on third-and-long that Penn State completed as an example, noting that his team’s coverage was too shallow and needed to be deeper.
He also pointed toward his defensive backs losing their leverage on man coverage.
“All of these are fundamental and technical things,” he said. “Very few things were schematic or created a matchup issue or something that we weren’t prepared for.
“A lot of this is fundamental and technical, and that’s what coaches’ jobs are: To get these fundamental and technical things fixed.”
