See what he thinks about this Michigan defense!
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There are two games left in the college football season for Michigan, and all of its hopes and dreams remain on the table.
The Wolverines are sitting at No 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings and they all but control their own destiny. If the maize and blue can win out then they should be sitting pretty in the end. We all know what game happens in two weeks, very possibly the game that will decide the Big Ten East division, but Michigan has to take care of business this week against Maryland.
The Terrapins started the year out on fire going 4-0 in the first four games of the year, but it’s been a tailspin since then. Maryland is now 5-5 with hopes to make a bowl game, which means it needs one more win.
Head coach Mike Locksley met with the media on Tuesday to talk about the Michigan game, and he said how important it would mean to this program to get into a bowl game. He talked about how he has been a part of championship teams, like Alabama, in the past and how big it was for any program to go from 10 to 11 wins in a season. He compared Maryland going from five to six wins and making a bowl game. Locksley says his team is motivated for getting bowl game eligible. “Were motivated to do it against a good Michigan team that comes in,” said Locksley when asked about getting bowl eligible.
After Locksley talked about the need to get his team bowl eligible, he talked about the Michigan offense. He really gave the Wolverines credit up-front in the trenches and gave Andrew Vastardis a ton of credit — along with Cornelius Johnson as a playmaker.
“Probably one of the better offenses we face in terms of balance,” said Locksley. “They are really good up front – their center (Vastardis) is phenomenal and does a good job leading them up front. They got some capable guys on the outside; No. 6 has made some plays for them. I know they are a little banged up at the running back position with losing Blake Corum who started out having a great year. But they’re still Michigan, they still have players that are very capable that can step in and continue to do what they do.”
The Terrapins coach couldn’t forget what his offense will go up against on the defensive side of the ball — the edge rushers.
“Defensively, Aidan Hutchinson is as advertised, will probably be one of the biggest defensive playmakers we have faced this year – a mixture of speed, size, tenacity, and really plays hard with a motor,” said Locksley. “No. 55 plays alongside him, I think they both have 10.5 sacks a piece and we will have our hands full with them because they are a well-balanced team and well-coached.”
Locksley, along with anyone that knows anything about college football, knows that Michigan faces the Buckeyes next weekend with a legit chance of that game coming down to a Big Ten championship. The Maryland headman had something to say about that game as well.
“Again, they have done a great job at not beating themselves and putting themselves in a position for a Big Ten title,” said Locksley. “It will come down to the game behind us with Ohio State, not to put that in their head, but they have a big game coming up.”
Mike Locksley was asked about his team defending Hassan Haskins on the ground — the Terps have the 77th-ranked rushing defense in the nation. He talked minimally about Haskins, but gave him some praise — he did talk about how the Michigan offense has gone back to what Harbaugh has done at Stanford or even when he was first hired at Michigan.
“I mean he’s a big athletic guy that makes a lot of plays,” said Locksley. “When you look at them in the passing game, they may not throw the ball over the top or down the field, they are a run-first team. They kind of adapted the personality that you saw out of Coach Harbaugh’s time out at Stanford, or even when he first got the job at Michigan. It’s like they have gravitated back to some of the two-tight end sets where they want to run the football and establish the run. In the passing game, most of the big plays in the passing game with No. 6, tends to be throwing underneath and catch-and-run – he’s exciting and explosive with the ball in his hands.”
You can watch the game on Saturday, at 3:30 p.m. EST on BTN.
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