Maryland football coach Michael Locksley believes watching the scoreboard creates anxiety. He doesn’t want his team to care about what it shows.
The scoreboard has looked poor for the Terps early in games this season, falling into quick deficits on a regular basis. It’s cost them.
“There’s no one secret answer to starting fast other than execution,” Locksley said.
Maryland’s execution at the start of bouts has lacked. It’s trailed first in five of its six contests against Power Four teams. A sluggish offense has often been the cause.
Against Indiana, the nation’s third-best scoring offense, defensive backs Jalen Huskey and Glen Miller each secured interceptions on the Hoosiers’ first two possessions. The Terps went three-and-out in response both times.
Maryland’s first play was an incompletion where Billy Edwards Jr. missed an open throw to his right to Kaden Prather. Roman Hemby ran for just three yards on the next play, setting up a third-and-7 that Edwards was sacked on.
The Terps started their next drive with a Tai Felton catch for no gain. Another Edwards sack created third-and-20.
[Inexperience, inconsistency plague Maryland football]
Maryland’s game against Northwestern was a similar situation.
After the Terps’ defense forced a three-and-out on the opening drive, Edwards rolled to his right on third-and-4 but got sacked, forcing Maryland to punt. The Wildcats struck for seven on their next possession, adding another 10 points before the Terps finally scored.
The trend continued the next week against USC.
USC scored the game’s first touchdown thanks to a Maryland blunder — the Trojans missed a field goal wide left, but an illegal substitution penalty on the Terps kept the drive alive.
Maryland finally started on offense in its most recent outing at Minnesota. The drive started well with a 26-yard completion to Felton, but Hemby was stuffed behind the line-of-scrimmage on a shotgun run on fourth-and-1 a few plays later.
The Golden Gophers scored in just five plays on the ensuing drive to total 21 points in the opening quarter.
“You want to start fast? Block the guys you’re supposed to block, be in the gaps you’re supposed to be in, cover the man you’re supposed to cover,” Locksley said.
[The Diamondback Sports Digest: Maryland football’s rocky season continues]
The Terps have averaged only four first-quarter points per game this season, tied for 94th among 134 FBS schools. Their defense has faced similar woes — they’ve allowed an average of 6.4 points, tied for 89th.
The slow starts have compounded by halftime as Maryland’s struggles have deteriorated in the second quarter. The Terps have trailed at the break in all six of their games against Power Four opponents.
Edwards said Maryland’s offense starts and ends with him as its quarterback. The redshirt junior has fared his worst within the first 15 minutes of a game. He has more than 200 yards fewer in the opening quarter than in the other three with a meager 3:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
He feels the Terps need a sense of urgency from the opening snap, something they’ve lacked this season.
“We don’t ever want to have a feeling out period,” Edwards said. “We want to come out and let the thing rip.”
