Maryland is not even competitive against the giants of the Big Ten. Saturday, they got hammered by Ohio State 73-14 in Columbus.
Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields completed 16-of-25 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for a fourth before ultimately being pulled from the game. The Buckeyes had 383 yards rushing and scored six rushing touchdowns — 10 in total.
Maryland was outgained 705 to 139 yards. And that’s with Ohio State amassing 13 penalties for 141 yards.
Maryland’s quarterbacks Josh Jackson Tyrrell Pigrome combined for 8-of-17 for 77 yards one touchdown (Jackson) and one interception.
And now fingers point to head coach Mike Locksley and the direction of the program. Their 79-0 win over Howard and 63-20 over Syracuse to start the season seems eons ago. Since, Maryland has won just one game — against Rutgers 48-7. Rutgers is the worst program in the Big Ten right now.
Against the giants of the Big Ten this season, Maryland has been blown out in each contest. They’ve lost 59-0 to Penn State; 52-10 at Minnesota; 38-7 against Michigan; and the 73-14 drubbing at Ohio State.
The lost drops Locksley as 6-38 as a head coach. It appeared he was the answer at Maryland, after the firing of DJ Durkin and interim run by Matt Canada.
Locksley, who has always been suspect of a head coach, has a strong reputation as an offensive coordinator and recruiter from his time at Maryland previously, Illinois and Alabama. In his first year in Maryland as the head coach, the offense has been unable to move the football against the better programs.
And now Maryland is losing recruits and commitments, which is what Locksley was brought on to build in College Park.
Maryland has been outscored 303-121 in Big Ten play. Nothing seems to be going right. At 3-7 Maryland is now bowl ineligible. They missed opportunities against Temple, Purdue and Indiana to get to six wins. They still have Nebraska and Michigan State remaining.
Mike Locksley, as many other college head coaches, should be allowed to get their recruits in and mold the program to their fitting. But, history isn’t on his side, given his record as head coach and the fact Maryland plays in one of the top-two football conferences in the nation.
Chances are slim that they’ll ever compete for a Big Ten East title, but as exemplified against Ohio State, they are light years behind the Big Four, and still steps behind the giants of the Big Ten West, and middle tier teams such as Indiana and Purdue. Fixing that will take some time, but time may already be running out for Locksley.
