Maryland Coach Mike Locksley Previews Matchup With Indiana

Maryland football coach Mike Locksley previewed the Terrapins' Week 7 matchup against the Indiana Hoosiers and coach Tom Allen.

Maryland football coach Mike Locksley spoke with the media on Tuesday to preview the Terrapins' Week 7 road trip to Indiana. Maryland is coming off a 31-29 home loss to Purdue, and holds and 4-2 record on the season.

Maryland Terrapins head coach Mike Locksley talks to the referee in the second half against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium / Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Here's what Locksley said about Indiana.

On his experience coaching against Tom Allen:

Locksley: Tom Allen, I've personally had a chance to go against his defenses and Tom since his days at South Florida as defensive coordinator, and we've played them a couple times here, saw him as a defensive coordinator at Indiana. He's done a really good job of building a foundation at Indiana. I know he's battled some injuries, they've battled some injuries this year, but still a quality opponent that has our attention. 

On his impression of the Indiana offense:

Locksley: When you look at them on offense, Walt Bell is their offensive coordinator, who people here are very familiar with. They play fast-paced, uptempo offense that they try to get a bunch of plays, I think they're fourth in the country, fourth in the nation in tempo, which means they're getting over 80 plays a game. They've had a couple games where they've had over 100 plays. So for us, we got to do a really good job on the defensive side of the ball of getting ourselves lined up, a really good job of communicating and making sure we've got everybody on the same page as they try to play fast. 

On the challenges of facing Indiana's defense:

Locksley: On defense, they're a heavy blitz team. They're a team that's going to attack our quarterback. About 60 percent of their snaps in normal down and distance are pressure and 6 and 7 man pressure and we've got to handle that with poise and confidence and make sure we are very sound in our protections and able to execute versus the type of pressure we'll see, which will be one of the teams that pressures the most out of the teams we have faced. I know coach Allen will have his team ready."

On Indiana changing offensive line coaches and if that makes it more difficult to prepare:

Locksley: It doesn't because with the offensive coordinator's philosophy, what they do is what they do. If anything, from a fundamental standpoint or philosophical standpoint with the position group, those things may change – how they set, what protections they want to show this week. I know Rod Carey very well, spent time at Temple and Northern Illinois, he was right there as a quality control guy that got moved up. It's tough to have that type of impact in this short period of time in terms of what he's able to change. I'm sure he'll have suggestions, but what they do on offense is what they do."

Related stories on Indiana football: 

• WEEK 7 DEPTH CHART, INJURY NOTES: Heading into a Week 7 matchup with Maryland, Indiana football is dealing with injuries to key players Cam Jones, AJ Barner, D.J. Matthews and Jaylin Williams. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA DOUBLE-DIGIT UNDERDOG IN WEEK 7: Indiana (3-3) hosts Maryland (4-2) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind. Following three straight losses, Indiana is a double-digit underdog in Week 7. CLICK HERE
• ROD CAREY 'NOT A MIRACLE WORKER': Rod Carey knows fixing the offensive line will be challenging with six weeks left in the regular season, but he's going to try. CLICK HERE
• DARREN HILLER FIRED: Indiana football coach Tom Allen announced that Darren Hiller is out as the team's offensive line coach following a 31-10 loss to Michigan. CLICK HERE
• O-LINE RECRUITS REAFFIRM COMMITMENT: Following the firing of Indiana offensive line coach Darren Hiller on Sunday, Indiana's three offensive line recruits in the class of 2023 reaffirmed their commitment to Indiana football. CLICK HERE