Quarterback Perry Hills hands off the ball to running back Brandon Ross during the Terps’ 49-28 loss to Ohio State on Oct. 10, 2015.
It won’t be Randy Edsall’s firing that changes the Terrapins football offense.
It’ll be Perry Hills.
Even when Edsall was in the picture, offensive coordinator Mike Locksley was the one calling the plays. Locksley becoming the interim head coach isn’t going to change the dynamic of the offense, but Hills’ feet will.
During his first teleconference as head coach Tuesday, Locksley said the offensive structure would remain the same. He will still be the main play-caller, though he’ll delegate some duties to tight ends coach John Dunn.
The coaching switch won’t bring about changes. It comes down to the new game plan Locksley employs with Hills.
When Locksley returned to the Terps for the 2012 season and took over as offensive coordinator, he built the offense around former quarterback C.J. Brown’s dual-threat ability. Aside from 2012, when Brown missed the entire season with a torn ACL, the quarterback’s mobility was a major part of Locksley’s game plan.
But after Brown exhausted his eligibility last year, Locksley was left with three pro-style quarterbacks vying for the starting role. At media day Aug. 10, he maintained they all had the ability to run, though none of them had demonstrated that thus far in their careers.
Aside from Hills rushing eight times for 94 yards against Bowling Green, before Saturday, no Terps quarterback had rushed for more than 25 yards in a game this season. After Hills was benched following the Bowling Green loss two games into the season, quarterback Caleb Rowe’s five carries for 13 yards against South Florida on Sept. 19 was the best rushing performance by a signal-caller.
The one-dimensional quarterback play hurt an already struggling offense. The Terps scored just six combined points in blowout losses to West Virginia and Michigan.
“You have to do what your quarterback allows you to do from a skill set position,” Locksley said.
Hills allowed Locksley to bring the offense back to the Brown days Saturday.
He scampered left. He dashed right. He broke tackles. And when it was all said and done, Hills had compiled the most rushing yards in a game in program history for a quarterback (170).
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound signal-caller can’t carry the ball 25 times a game like he did Saturday. He simply won’t be able to take that many hits. But forcing defenses to honor the quarterback running the ball will help the Terps, who rank 13th of 14 in the Big Ten in passing yards per game.
Teams likely will devote a quarterback spy at times moving forward against the Terps to deter Hills from taking off, but that should provide chances for receivers in one-on-one spots.
“Perry’s skill set enables us to do some things offensively that we displayed [Saturday],” Locksley said. “We’re open to building on them.”
Locksley has led successful offenses in the past. The Terps amassed more than 5,000 yards in 2013 under his guidance for just the fourth time in program history. And then last year, he helped the Terps average 28.5 points per game, their most since 2010.
Those teams were both carried by Brown, though, who finished his career with the most touchdowns in program history.
Locksley hasn’t proven he can be successful without a mobile quarterback. It showed the three weeks Rowe was under center.
Hills, who completed just 10 of 27 throws Saturday, still needs to show improvement passing the ball if the Terps are going to build a successful offense.
They weren’t able to do that under Edsall. But Hills will hope to turn the season around with his legs.
