On Sept. 30, 2023, Maryland and Indiana met as Big Ten East division foes for the final time.
A 44-17 drubbing by the Terrapins elevated them to 5-0 and forced Hoosiers coach Tom Allen to fire offensive coordinator Walt Bell the day after the game.
Allen himself would be fired less than two months later at the end of a 3-9 season, and the Hoosiers hired Curt Cignetti away from James Madison soon after.
Just two years later, Indiana comes to College Park this Saturday on an entirely different plane of existence in college football.
Cignetti miraculously vaulted Indiana from an also-ran into the College Football Playoff in his first season, quickly becoming a national sensation. The No. 2 Hoosiers (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) are even better in year two, already earning Cignetti a lengthy contract extension.
Maryland (4-3, 1-3) and coach Mike Locksley, meanwhile, are staring down a second-straight season that has fizzled after September amid a three-game losing streak. Add to that their coach’s 0-10 record following a bye week — the second and final of which was last week — and the Terrapins have been stuck in neutral since their previous home meeting with the Hoosiers.
“If you look at where our issues have lied, they typically lie in our lack of depth and when we need it most.” Locksley said Tuesday. “A lot of the meat of guys that have played plays around here aren’t in our program [anymore], and it is what it is. So, not complaining, but what I have to do as a head coach is find a way to make sure that those guys are available to finish games.”
The seventh-year Maryland coach has known Cignetti and his family a long time, dating to Lockley’s playing days at Towson, when he went up against Cignetti’s hall-of-fame father, Frank, during his time coaching at IUP.
“He’s part of the family business, and has really done a good job of not just at Indiana, but if you look at his track record everywhere, everywhere he’s been, he’s won,” Locksley said. “And you got to give credit to a guy that does it, and he’s built it the right way.”
As is typical, Lockley’s primary focus for this year’s homecoming weekend isn’t on scoring an signature upset over such a highly-ranked opponent, but inward instead — even though his Maryland teams are 0-16 against ranked Big Ten teams.
“The biggest opponent we’re gonna face is ourselves, and I think when you look at the way the last three games have gone, it’s been a lot more us than it has been the opponent,” Locksley said. “And those are the things that — it’s why I feel pretty good about going into it, because these are things that can be corrected.”
In regards to his poor post-bye track record, Locksley said he made changes during the idle week to the way he structures practice in an effort to keep his team fresher in the late-game situations where Maryland has struggled.
“It’s what are the things we’re not good at right now? Right now, red zone offense and third down defense. So how do I put practice plans together that allow a young team to rehearse these situations? As much as I would love to see us pop these freshmen in the microwave and pop up redshirt seniors and redshirt juniors. It just doesn’t happen that way,” Locksley said.
Inexperience and exhaustion have led to the Terrapins giving up a fourth quarter lead in each of their last three games.
“That toughness piece that we’re going to need in the Big Ten … it’s not so much about schemes,” quarterback Malik Washington said, “it’s about can I out-tough and out-physical my opponent? So that’s what it’s going to come down to at the end of the game, and you have to see toughness from every single position on the field.”
The Terrapins got banged up on defense in their last outing, a walk-off loss at UCLA Oct. 18. Edge rusher Zaire Mathis unexpectedly didn’t play, linebacker Daniel Wingate left with an injury, and safety Jalen Huskey was ejected for targeting and injured himself on the offending tackle, which will cause him to miss the first half on Saturday.
“[Mathis and Wingate have] given the effort to get back,” Locksley said. “They both were active and participated in practice yesterday. We’re evaluating them this week to see, and hopefully they will be available.”
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.