COLLEGE PARK — The trend is almost as surprising as Maryland football’s performance in Friday night’s 37-10 loss to Northwestern at SECU Stadium.

The Terps have been on the wrong side of 10 straight games following byes — a questionable streak that began in 2017. That trajectory is especially egregious considering how many teams use bye weeks to recover and regroup to play with a renewed feeling of energy and effort. the rest of the season.

After the latest mistake, a somber Ruben Hyppolite II suggested a unified approach was missing in the locker room before Maryland (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten) faced the Wildcats (3-3, 1- 2).

“We just have to execute,” the fifth-year senior linebacker said when asked to explain the futility of the program after weeks off. “We need guys to have the same mentality: play hard and just be proud. We just have to continue to cultivate that and continue to hammer it within our team. It’s up to me as a leader to do it, and I will.

Here are three more observations from Friday night’s loss.

Mike Locksley’s play raises more questions than answers

Through the team’s first five games, the offense averaged 33.4 points and 451.4 yards under offensive coordinator Josh Gattis and scored no fewer than 24 points.

On Friday, Locksley admitted he called the plays, and the Terps were held to their lowest score since a 30-0 loss to Penn State on Nov. 12, 2022, and absorbed their most lopsided loss to an unranked opponent from a 43. -3 spanked by — guess who? – North-West on October 24, 2020.

Locksley, who was Alabama’s offensive coordinator in 2017 and 2018 during that school’s highly successful run, said the decision to move play-calling duties was part of the usual evaluation by staff of coaches from the state of the team.

“One of my strengths is being able to help on offense,” he said. “It’s a system that I know very well philosophically. I decided to retake the piece today. Josh helped me up with his eyes. It’s the learning curve. I call this in different philosophical ways in relation to Josh, and I think you saw a little bit of that today. That’s where I think you’ll see collaboration progress, as I want to call it philosophically. But it will benefit us.

What necessitated the move from Gattis to Locksley? Why did the offense struggle against a Wildcats defense ranked near the bottom of the Big Ten in points and yards per game with Locksley at the helm? Will Gattis stay after being demoted to a backup role by his boss?

“Josh continues to serve as OC,” Locksley said. “He is still a voice. He helps, collaborates and maintains organization during the week. It didn’t work as well as we would like today, but it showed a glimpse of what it can be.

Redshirt junior quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who was intercepted once, fumbled once and held without a touchdown pass for the first time this season, said almost nothing changed between Locksley and Gattis.

“We obviously had two weeks to make that adjustment and get used to it,” he said. “It’ll be something as we get more reps, we’ll get more comfortable.” But I wouldn’t say there was too much difference, at least on my end, between handling that, getting the play called and running it.

There is no giving up among the players

Bless their hearts, but Edwards and Hyppolite vowed to keep fighting and pledged to stand with their teammates.

“We have the right guys in the locker room,” Edwards said. “This is my third season. In college football, every team faces adversity, like what we’ve experienced here over the past couple of years. I love our fans and we have great support, but I think for the guys in our locker room the message remains the same. Just control what you can control and the only thing we can control is what we do about it.

“All 122 guys in this locker room, we all have to make this decision and then continue to make these steps in the right direction so that we can go out and put out a product that our fans want to come watch and continue to make. Kiss us and love us Saturday.

When asked if he needed to say anything to his teammates, Hyppolite was blunt.

“That’s what being a leader is,” he said. “I’m in this position and I have to step up and do what I have to do. Should I say something? I don’t have to do anything, but I will do it because I care about my team, about my brothers, and I know that we have been through everything with the work that we have done, and we are definitely better than the product that we put. on the ground. So as a leader, I will do this work, they will hear from me and we will be on the right track.

How likely is this to be the case? Maryland needs three wins in its final six games to be bowl eligible, and the rest of the schedule includes games against previously ranked USC (3-2, 1-2) on Saturday against Oregon. #3 (5-0, 2-0) on November 9, Rutgers (4-1, 1-1) on November 16, previously ranked Iowa (3-2, 1-1) on November 23 and Penn State #4 (5-0, 2-0) on November 30. Even a road game against Minnesota (3-3, 1-2), which upset USC last week, on October 26 appears to be a dangerous proposition.

Edwards said players can’t afford to look to the future.

“The hardest step is this, and that’s where we are right now,” he said. “So we need to figure out what we can do. I’ll start with me. I’m the leader of the offense. I’m the guy who has the keys to the car and gets in the car and drives it. So I have to find what I can do best, and then every guy in this locker room has to make that decision and continue to improve as a team.

Locksley has another headache to deal with: returns

Redshirt freshman Ricardo Cooper Jr. was the fourth player to try his hand at kick returns for the Terps this fall. The results left much to be desired.

On his first return in the second quarter, the Baltimore native and Calvert Hall graduate saw the ball dropped by Northwestern graduate linebacker Greyson Metz, and redshirt freshman defensive back Damon Walters pounced on the fumble on Maryland’s 23-yard line. Redshirt junior kicker Luke Akers converted a 43-yard field goal for a 17-0 advantage with 10:50 left.

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On the ensuing kickoff, Cooper let the ball bounce at the 1 before spinning back, forcing him to pick it up at the 6 and run four yards before being tackled. It was a lackluster outing for Cooper, who had taken over for junior wide receiver Octavian Smith Jr., sophomore wide receiver Braeden Wisloski and redshirt junior running back Roman Hemby on kick returns.

“Ricardo is one of those guys that we’ve been developing for about two years, and he has the ability to make plays because he has incredible speed,” Locksley said. “I have to protect football.”

Wisloski had his own problem when he let a punt land behind him, which was downed by the Wildcats on the Terps’ 1 in the third quarter. Locksley acknowledged that the second leg is becoming an area of ​​concern.

“We’re looking for consistency there,” he said. “Our returners made some bad decisions in the kicking game. Even at the end of the match today, we let ourselves get caught behind us, and it’s on them that we have to be aggressive. … Special teams only get one shot, one kill, and we made some bad decisions there, and we’re going to fix that.

Do you have a current tip? Contact Edward Lee at [email protected]410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.