COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The Terps were shell-shocked in their season opener. Now they are trying to put it behind them.
"Saturday was not anything that what expected," said Head Coach Mike Locksley. "We can clearly play better and we will."
The University of Maryland football team was blown out at Northwestern 43-3.
"Losing sucks. It sucks because of all the time you invest in it and we invested a lot of time up until that first game. There were so many things that we had to sacrifice and do to get there," added Locksley. "For us to go lay an egg and not play up to our standard, that’s probably the most disappointing."
The next chance to reach that standard comes Friday night in the home opener against Minnesota. Locksley is staying with quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa. He’ll start after going 14-25, while throwing for 94 yards and three interceptions.
"[Taulia] is our starting quarterback and I expect that he will play better and continue to improve," said Locksley.
#Terps HC Mike Locksley on QB situation: "Taulia (Tagovailoa) is our quarterback. Lance (LeGendre) is our backup."
— Shawn Stepner (@StepnerWMAR) October 26, 2020
The Gophers come into the game 0-1 following a 49-24 loss against Michigan. They were led by Baltimore native Mohamed Ibrahim, who rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Maryland will have to do better against the run than on Saturday when they allowed 325 yards on the ground.
Friday night’s contest is slated to be homecoming at Maryland Stadium. It will be the first time in program history homecoming will coincide with the home opener. It will also happen with no fans in the stands.
"It’s definitely going to be weird. But, I don’t know, it’s football so when we’re out there, we’re in between those lines I kind of try to zone everything out anyway. It’s definitely going to be different though," said wide receiver Jeshaun Jones.
Fans or no fans, the head coach said don’t expect a game like last week.
"I don’t think how we played on Saturday is predictive to who we will be as a team," said Locksley. "What we do next against Minnesota has to change that."
Kickoff Friday is at 7:30 p.m.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
