What Mike Locksley said as Maryland prepares for Homecoming bout vs. Indiana

Maryland is looking to snap its 3-game losing streak this Saturday against Indiana after opening up the season 4-0.

The Terps are coming off a 34-16 loss to Minnesota this past Saturday, and it’s the 3rd game in a row that they have failed to score at least 20 points.

Taulia Tagovailoa’s drop in play is surely part of that as he has 5 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in the Terps’ last 3 games. Before that, he had 10 touchdowns and 1 interception through 4 games.

With that said, here’s what head coach Mike Locksley said during his Tuesday presser.

Locksley on freshman LB Branden Jennings: "He wasn't 100 percent in this game, but he's getting close to being there. You'll see his playing time continue to increase as he gets more comfortable being back out there."

— Emily Giambalvo (@EmilyGiam) October 26, 2021

More from Locksley’s thoughts on Taulia’s performance on Saturday pic.twitter.com/p3xJQ7zOBm

— Ryan McFadden (@ryanmcfadden_) October 26, 2021

Locksley: "I'm going to stand up here and protect him like the papa bear. He has not probably played his best in the Iowa game, made some mistakes. I thought Ohio State, he took a step forward. And then I thought this game, he's as close to what he's been."

— Emily Giambalvo (@EmilyGiam) October 26, 2021

Locksley on Taulia’s performance vs. Minnesota: “I thought our quarterback actually played probably the best game he's played since prior to the start of kind of him hitting a rough patch there in the Iowa game.”

— Ryan McFadden (@ryanmcfadden_) October 26, 2021

Locksley on homecoming game: "For us, we're the show, and it's our job to, as I always say, go out and put a product on the field that these people coming back here to campus can be proud of. I expect us to do that."

— Emily Giambalvo (@EmilyGiam) October 26, 2021

Locksley said he feels his team was a few plays away from a win vs. Minn: "You think back to the blocked field goal, with a chance to scoop & score to tie the game. You think of the fourth-and-1 drop. You think of the third-and-longs that they were able to get off the field on."

— Emily Giambalvo (@EmilyGiam) October 26, 2021

After a Halloween-related question from @davpresto, Mike Locksley jokingly says: "Being on a three-game losing streak, I'm a little nervous to let somebody come knock on my door."

— Emily Giambalvo (@EmilyGiam) October 26, 2021

Locksley on the blocked FG:

“We had block right called & block right means Jakorian [Bennett] should have been rushing. I called timeout to try to ice the kicker & in that TO, Tarheeb Still said, ‘f that, go block left I’m gonna go get this.’ I love when my players do that.”

— Matt Levine (@MattLevine__) October 26, 2021

#Terps coach Mike Locksley on giving out Halloween candy: “We’re on a three game losing streak so I’m a little bit nervous to let somebody come knock on my door. We may just leave it out front and let them grab what they want.”

— Ryan McFadden (@ryanmcfadden_) October 26, 2021

The captains for this week’s Maryland football game against Indiana are defensive lineman Lawtez Rogers, defensive lineman @gregrose24 and defensive back @Jakorian23, coach Mike Locksley announced.

— Jacob Richman (@JacobHRichman) October 26, 2021

UMD 🏈: Terps will be honoring the ‘01 ACC champion football team this weekend, at homecoming.

HC Mike Locksley pointed out he was a part of that team, and highlighted how similar the resiliency of both teams were.

“Good teams don’t beat themselves”@WDVMSports @WDVMTV pic.twitter.com/kxaYV67lkg

— Allif Karim (@AllifKarim) October 26, 2021

Despite the poor result, coach Mike Locksley is still encouraged by the energy his squad is bringing into their upcoming Indiana game.

"The effort is still there."

— Jacob Richman (@JacobHRichman) October 26, 2021