D4 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2 , 2019
scoreboard,” meaning the play-
ers allowed the early deficit to
affect their play. The following
week against Indiana, Locksley
said, it was the first time he
thought his group’s play was not
dictated by the circumstances.
“We’re still moving forward,”
Locksley said after the Indiana
loss, which featured a pair of late
turnovers when Maryland had
two chances to muster a go-
ahead drive. “Obviously not at
the pace that I would like to see
us move, but there were some
things that we can take away
from that game that shows that
our team is moving in the direc-
tion we want to see it in.”
Seven days later in Minneapo-
lis, the Terps reverted to what
they had shown before. They
never rebounded from an early
turnover and a quick 21-0 deficit.
Even now, Locksley sees mo-
ments of progress. Maybe the
offensive line improves its pro-
tection or the young defensive
backs cover certain plays better
than before. He has watched
depth develop at positions where
there were once concerns. He has
stomached the steps backward
that accompany the forward
strides.
“There are small battles that
are being won every day for me
when I look at it in the totality,”
Locksley said, “and not the
result-oriented part of it.”
[email protected]Spencer Anderson, also has
pitched in. Freshman left tackle
Jaelyn Duncan earned a starting
job beginning in the second week
of the season, and Locksley has
praised his progress.
About 10 players form a lead-
ership council that meets with
Locksley usually twice a week,
according to senior offensive
lineman Ellis McKennie, who’s a
member of the group. They help
disseminate Locksley’s vision to
all their teammates. That mes-
sage preaches what Locksley re-
peatedly refers to as the right
“habits and behaviors,” such as
arriving on time with a notebook
ready for meetings or all dress-
ing the same each day at prac-
tice, which will lead to success on
Saturdays.
“Being his first team,” running
back Javon Leake said, “it sets
the tone.”
At times this season, the Terps
have lacked consistency, a frus-
trating issue for Locksley but
perhaps one to be expected in the
first year of a new era. Early in
the season, Locksley said his
team reaped the benefit of hav-
ing just completed fall camp,
where football remained players’
sole focus for nearly a month.
Once the season and the school
year began, Locksley said, “there
are a lot of other things going on
in their mind besides football.”
Against Purdue, Locksley said,
his team “played to thethe best possible chance to win.
You do that with how you put
together game plans, with how
you develop your depth, with
how you play your players.”
Building depth for the future
came as one of the few welcome
byproducts of Maryland’s injury
woes. In the depleted secondary,
freshman Deonte Banks has four
starts filling in for senior Tino
Ellis, who suffered a season-end-
ing injury, and freshman safety
Nick Cross has started twice this
season. (Under Locksley, Mary-
land has not made freshmen
available for interviews.)
“We know in the long run the
plays that they get they will be
better for as we get the tough
part of our season and the end
stretch of our season,” Locksley
said last week. “So we’ve started
preparing for that from Day 1
with how we’ve played a bunch of
young players in meaningful sit-
uations.... You’re starting to see
the fruits of them from playing
earlier in the year.”
Even when healthy, the offen-
sive line is a point of concern, so
when a handful of starters (cen-
ter Johnny Jordan, right guard
Terrance Davis and right tackle
Marcus Minor) had to sit out,
younger players helped fill their
spots. Redshirt freshman Austin
Fontaine converted from defense
this year and has played a con-
siderable number of snaps.
Another redshirt freshman,heatstroke. The focus, under-
standably, had veered far from
football itself. Some players
stood up against their school’s
administration when the univer-
sity briefly reinstated Durkin.
The team waited in limbo with
interim coach Matt Canada lead-
ing the charge. So even though
the game results have slipped,
the program has found stability
in this new era, and attention has
drifted back to its on-field
performances.
From the moment Maryland
hired the D.C. native, Locksley
has referenced the Maryland
teams of his childhood and some
of the successful ones around the
turn of the century, when Locks-
ley was first an assistant here.
Those teams reaffirm Locks-
ley’s vision for this program,
which, assuming Maryland
doesn’t find any November mira-
cles, will have gone to a bowl
game in just three of the past
nine seasons. But even as the
outlook for this season darkened,
Locksley pledged to focus on
short-term goals as opposed to
the future, meaning he’s not
going to give a freshman experi-
ence when a senior offers a better
chance of winning this weekend.
“We really want to win,” Locks-
ley said. “That’s the bottom line.
We really, really want to win. And
we also want to give our playersMARYLAND FROM D1EARLY SHIFT
Noon No. 14 Michigan at Maryland » WJLA (Ch. 7), WMAR (Ch. 2)
Noon Nebraska at Purdue » WTTG (Ch. 5), WBFF (Ch. 45)
Noon North Carolina State at No. 23 Wake Forest » ESPN
Noon Houston at Central Florida » ESPN 2
Noon Buffalo at Eastern Michigan » ESPNU
Noon Boston College at Syracuse » ACC Network
Noon Texas San Antonio at Texas A&M » SEC Network
Noon Northern Illinois at Central Michigan » CBS Sports Network
Michigan, at least temporarily, quieted the incessant talk about Jim
Harbaugh’s future with a dominant win over Notre Dame last weekend,
and now the Wolverines have a bit of a lull before the annual season-
ending skirmish with Ohio State. It starts with Saturday’s game at
Maryland, a team that just allowed a season-high 321 rushing yards to
Minnesota. Michigan, meanwhile, rushed for a season-high 303 yards
against the Fighting Irish. Applying some advanced mathematical theory
here, it stands to reason the Wolverines could gain many, many yards on
Maryland, and Harbaugh hasn’t let his foot off the gas in four previous
meetings with the Terrapins, winning by an average score of 41-8.... The
previous time Wake Forest dipped its toe into the top 25 this season, it
promptly allowed 62 points in a track-meet loss to Louisville. But now 6-1
for the first time since 2006, the Demon Deacons are back among the
ranked for Saturday’s game against North Carolina State, which will
have its third quarterback this season — in this case redshirt freshman
Devin Leary — making his first career start.
SWING SHIFT
2:30 p.m. Virginia Tech at No. 16 Notre Dame » WRC (Ch. 4), WBAL (Ch. 11)
3 p.m. Stony Brook at Richmond » NBC Sports Washington
3:30 p.m. No. 8 Georgia vs. No. 6 Florida » WUSA (Ch. 9), WJZ (Ch. 13)
3:30 p.m. Miami at Florida State » WJLA (Ch. 7), WMAR (Ch. 2)
3:30 p.m. TCU at Oklahoma State » ESPN
3:30 p.m. Arkansas State at Louisiana Monroe » ESPNU
3:30 p.m. No. 22 Kansas State at Kansas » Fox Sports 1
3:30 p.m. Texas El Paso at North Texas » NFL Network
3:30 p.m. Army at Air Force » CBS Sports Network
3:30 p.m. Rutgers at Illinois » Big Ten Network
4 p.m. Wofford at No. 4 Clemson » ACC Network
4 p.m. No. 9 Utah at Washington » WTTG (Ch. 5), WBFF (Ch. 45)
4 p.m. Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech » NBC Sports Washington Plus
4 p.m. Mississippi State at Arkansas » SEC Network
4 p.m. Tulsa at Tulane » ESPN 2
4:30 p.m. Oregon State at Arizona » Pac-12 Network
Two losses spell doom for Notre Dame’s playoff chances, considering its
lack of conference affiliation and thus no conference title game. And in the
game that follows that second loss, the Fighting Irish usually don’t put up
much of a, well, fight. Since 2014, the first year of the College Football
Playoff, Notre Dame has gone 1-3 in the game that follows its second loss
of the season and is 0-4 against the spread (the Fighting Irish were double-
digit favorites in three of those games, too). One game after its second loss
of this season, Notre Dame is a 17^1 / 2 -point favorite against Virginia
Tech on Saturday. You know what to do.... Either Georgia or Florida will
awaken with two losses Sunday, its national title and SEC championship
game hopes all but shot. Both teams have one conference loss, but the
Gators’ path to Atlanta will be clear with a win over the Bulldogs: Florida
has only Vanderbilt and Missouri left on the schedule. Georgia still has to
play Auburn.
NIGHT SHIFT
7 p.m. Mississippi at No. 11 Auburn » ESPN
7 p.m. Northwestern at Indiana » Fox Sports 1
7 p.m. UAB at Tennessee » ESPNU
7 p.m. No. 17 Cincinnati at East Carolina » CBS Sports Network
7:30 p.m. No. 15 SMU at No. 24 Memphis » WJLA (Ch. 7), WMAR (Ch. 2)
7:30 p.m. Vanderbilt at South Carolina » SEC Network
7:30 p.m. Virginia at North Carolina » ACC Network
8 p.m. No. 7 Oregon at USC » WTTG (Ch. 5), WBFF (Ch. 45)
9 p.m. Colorado at UCLA » Pac-12 Network
10 p.m. BYU at Utah State » ESPN 2
10:30 p.m. No. 21 Boise State at San Jose State » CBS Sports Network
10:30 p.m. New Mexico at Nevada » ESPNU
ESPN’s “College Gameday” is at SMU-Memphis on Saturday, which may
seem a little peculiar until you realize that the AAC is, in fact, good. The
AAC West — home to the Mustangs and Tigers along with a vastly improved
Navy team — ranks higher than either ACC division in Jeff Sagarin’s
conference ratings. Memphis is favored by roughly a touchdown even
though it has been walking a tightrope this season. Witness last weekend’s
win over 2-6 Tulsa, secured only when the Golden Hurricane missed a field
goal as time expired. The unbeaten Mustangs have reached eight victories
for just the third time since they received the NCAA death penalty in 1987
and have achieved their highest ranking since 1985, but they also almost
lost to Tulsa (winning in overtime) and were outgained by tanking Houston
last weekend. A Memphis win would be massive for the Tigers’ New Year’s
Six bowl hopes: Memphis already has a win over Navy, and a victory over
SMU would give the Tigers the division tiebreaker over both.
— Matt BonesteelTODAY’S TV GAMESOther area games
Colgate (1-8) at Georgetown (5-3), noon
East Stroudsburg (5-3) at Shepherd (6-2), noon
Old Dominion (1-7) at Florida International (4-4), noon
Presbyterian (0-8) at Hampton (4-4), 1
N.C. Central (3-5) at Howard (1-7), 1
Morgan State (1-7) at Norfolk State (2-6), 2
Virginia State (6-2) at Chowan (2-6), 1
Elizabeth City State (2-6) at Virginia Union (6-2), 1
Gallaudet (2-4) at SUNY Maritime (3-4), 1
William & Mary (2-6) at Elon (4-4), 2
Delaware (4-4) at Towson (4-4), 2
Norwich (5-2) at Catholic (0-7), 2
Stony Brook (5-3) at Richmond (4-4), 3
college football
In first season, Locksley sees a foundation for future
BY CHUCK CULPEPPERAround this time of year, we
start the near-annual adieu to the
Pacific-12 Conference as a College
Football Playoff candidate, and
we leave the Pac-12 to try to live
with its peerless collection of
Power Five college towns, its
peerlessly gorgeous terrain, its
peerless collection of schools that
includes the highest-ranked Pow-
er Five school (Stanford), four of
the top 25 schools in the U.S.
News Best Colleges rankings and,
atop all, its region’s peerless range
of options for the pursuit of fun.
Somehow, the Pac-12 survives.
It just usually doesn’t survive
within the annual discussion of
playoff candidates after the big
Interstate 5 Saturday at hand.
No. 9 Utah (7-1) goes to Seattle to
see a member of the weekly Oth-
ers Receiving Votes fraternity,
Washington (5-3), then No. 7 Or-
egon (7-1) goes to Los Angeles to
see another member of the week-
ly Others Receiving Votes frater-
nity, Southern California (5-3).
Neither Washington nor
Southern California tends to see
itself as a member of the ORV frat,
but both have resolved bravely to
persist with playing football
through their present-season dis-
appointment. Besides, Utah’s
only loss came at Southern Cali-
fornia, by 30-23, while a second
Oregon loss nearly came at Wash-
ington, where the Huskies led
31-21 in the third quarter and
31-28 in the fourth.
Losses from Utah and Oregon
would leave a roughly 99 percent
certainty of Pac-12 exclusion from
the four-team playoff, in a world
where little ever happens after99 percent improbability except
the 2019 Washington Nationals.
Come next week, we might see off
Pac-12 football again and leave its
schools to their general happi-
ness.
This has begun to seem tradi-
tional. Here’s the ranking of con-
ference playoff qualifications in
the first five playoff seasons:
SEC, six.
ACC, five.
Big 12, three.
Big Ten, three.
Pac-12, two.
Notre Dame, one.
“In November, everybody’s
playing relevant football,” sec-
ond-year Oregon coach Mario
Cristobal said to reporters in Eu-
gene the other day. That’s true,
and in this day and age, the
relevance grows every year right
about now, with the 13 College
Football Playoff Selection Com-
mittee members landing this
weekend at the Dallas-Fort Worth
International Airport.
The committee issues its first
rankings Tuesday evening. The
committee this time: six current
athletic directors, three former
head coaches, one former player
(Ronnie Lott), one university
president (Christopher Howard
of Robert Morris), one journalist/
professor (Paola Boivin) and a
former U.S. Army chief of staff
(Ray Odierno) who, having taken
on so many vital tasks in life,
finally reaches the most vital
American task: football rankings.
If Oregon or Utah or both win
Saturday, how might the commit-
tee weigh that?
As it happens, the snooty fans
of the Eastern and Central time
zones, in a football country longbiased eastward, might have felt
surprise Monday if they hap-
pened to notice both Utah and
Oregon barging into the Associat-
ed Press top nine.
The Utes’ loss in Los Angeles
on Sept. 20 seemed to send them
to the brink, yet since then, they
have treated the offenses they
have encountered to an unusual
meanness. Washington State
splurged for 13 points. Oregon
State got seven. Arizona State
managed three. California got
none. If that pattern continues
against Washington, it’s going to
be very weird.
Asked by Utah reporters to
distinguish this Utah defense
from his other good Utah defens-
es, Coach Kyle Whittingham said
Monday: “Probably there are real-
ly no holes in it. There is no spot
where we feel we can get exposed.
Now we don’t have all the an-
swers and we are still a work in
progress, but every level is good.”
Utah’s national rankings in-
clude fourth in scoring defense
(behind only Ohio State, Penn
State and Iowa), third in total
defense (behind only Ohio State
and Wisconsin) and eighth in
yards-per-play defense. As Cali-
fornia quarterback Spencer
Bresch put it to reporters last
Saturday, “The secondary is nice,
and their front is phenomenal.
They just beat us up and down the
field.”
Speaking of brinks, Oregon
seemed to find one hurriedly. It
shouldn’t work this way for any
program that dares to make bold
nonconference scheduling, but
the Ducks’ last-minute 27-21 loss
to Auburn on Aug. 31 in the Dallas
Cowboys’ stadium seemed to rushthem into must-win mode before
Labor Day dawned.
They and their admired quar-
terback, Justin Herbert, have won
ever since, decisively for five
games and then thrillingly for
two — at Washington (35-31) and
against Washington State (37-35),
the latter on a last-minute drive to
a last-play field goal. The defense
has thrived through much of the
run, reflected in these national
rankings: ninth in scoring de-
fense, 20th in total defense, 15th
in yards-per-play defense. It all
leaves them and their coaches in a
curious place: managing fresh
incoming praise.
“That’s a great point,” Cristobal
said Monday in Eugene to a re-
porter who raised it. “I think
that’s always going to be the
monster that we’re faced with —
right? — with our generation. I
think you quickly acknowledge
the fact that it’s there, but you also
acknowledge the fact that, okay,
we’re having success. We are
clicking. But we’re also clicking
because other teams had some
mishaps on Saturday. That’s the
bottom line. That’s the truth.”
Those teams with the mishaps
last weekend were Oklahoma (at
Kansas State), Notre Dame (at
Michigan) and, to a lesser degree,
Auburn, which dared to venture
into No. 1 LSU as its great sched-
ule demanded. All three tumbled
below Oregon and Utah in the
opinions of Associated Press vot-
ers. Now, as November begins
with its usual promise of drama,
the Ducks and Utes get a chance
to impress the 13 decisive minds
and maybe even postpone the
Pac-12 adieu.
[email protected]With Utah, Oregon, Pac-12 is still alive
TONY DING/ASSOCIATED PRESSQuarterback Ian Book will try to stop a recent trend of Notre Dame
following its second loss of the season with another loss.
ABBIE PARR/GETTY IMAGES
Oregon rebounded from an early loss to Auburn and got a last-play field goal against Washington State to remain in the playoff chase.