Throughout the final three quarters of their game against Minnesota last weekend, the Maryland football defenders shared a common thought.
“Let’s do this for Will,” defensive coordinator Andy Buh remembered his players saying. “Let’s battle for him.”
Two plays into the second frame, defensive back Will Likely fumbled a punt and left the game with an injury. While he did not return in the Terps’ 31-10 loss to the Golden Gophers, the team pushed for its reserves to fill Likely’s void.
For the rest of the game, the Terps played without four senior starters. Quarterback Perry Hills (shoulder) missed the game, while safety Denzel Conyers (knee) and running back Trey Edmunds (foot) are out indefinitely.
“You can’t get caught up in, ‘Oh well, this happened, so this happened,'” coach DJ Durkin said. “You’ve got a man down. The next man’s got to hop up.”
In his press conference Tuesday, Durkin said the Terps medical staff would continue to evaluate Likely’s and Hills’ injuries before determining their statuses for Saturday night’s clash with Michigan State.
For Edmunds’ and Conyers’ long-term injuries, Durkin has made an effort to include those players in team meetings.
In those sessions, the coaching staff highlighted the positive and negative plays from the younger Terps to prepare them from the future.
“We’re treating everything right now, as a coach staff, as an opportunity to learn, a teachable moment because we’re building this thing for the long term,” Durkin said, his eyes looking up and his hand stretching in an upward motion as he stood at the podium. “This thing is going ahead, so we’ve got to take advantage of each and every one of these times.”
Two of the team’s underclassmen reserves, defensive backs RaVon Davis and Elijah Daniels, had that chance as they helped filled Likely’s nickel spot on Saturday. Linebacker Jalen Brooks also played some snaps outside of his SAM position.
While Buh said the front seven played one of its best games of the season against the Golden Gophers ground game, he admitted the defense missed Likely’s presence.
“Obviously, losing Will in the football game, that’s a major hit to us,” Buh said. “Guys look up to him and listen to him.
“Our motto is just next man up.”
That’s the mindset safety Josh Woods said he adopted when Conyers suffered a torn ACL against Central Florida on Sept. 17. Woods, who added 30 pounds of muscles in the offseason, has started the past three games after joining the Terps as a wide receiver in 2014.
The Terps offense has relied on reserves, too.
Quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome made his first-career start against the Golden Gophers. While offensive coordinator Walt Bell appreciated the chance to get the rookie some repetitions, Pigrome committed three turnovers as Hills stood on the sideline in a red baseball cap.
Plus, a Terps backfield that featured six co-starters had a hole during Edmunds’ first game out with a fractured right foot.
The players, however, wouldn’t lament the veteran losses.
“We don’t have the mentality when one person goes down — no matter who it is — we’re going to be like, ‘Ah, we’re going to really miss him,'” left tackle Michael Dunn said. “We’d love to have him, but the next guy’s got to step it up.”
That’s how the defense felt Saturday as their leader limped off the field. Defensive end Roman Braglio said Tuesday the players didn’t often need to verbalize their motivation because they knew the coaches’ expectations.
“Whoever is coming up next,” Braglio said, “we’re going to take him in, make sure he knows everything and put him out there to fight with us.”
