Maryland football coach Mike Locksley was not happy with the way his team’s season ended.
After Penn State threw a touchdown pass on fourth-and-12 with no time remaining Saturday to punctuate a 44-7 win over the visiting Terps, Locksley and Nittany Lions coach James Franklin had a lengthy meeting at midfield following the traditional postgame handshake.
It was unclear what the coaches said, but after the game, Locksley took issue with how Franklin’s team handled the finish.
“Bull[crap]. That’s what it was,” Locksley told reporters in State College, Pennsylvania, after a loss that dropped the Terps to 4-8 for the season and 1-8 in the Big Ten Conference. “I respect the game. I’ve got a lot of respect for James, his program. I think it was bull[crap].”
Maryland’s Mike Locksley was not happy with Penn State’s James Franklin after taking a 44-7 loss at Beaver Stadium. pic.twitter.com/NGl8TrO43k
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After Maryland quarterback MJ Morris threw his third interception of the game, Penn State took over at the Terps’ 13-yard line with 1:04 to play. After two straight runs, the clock was running and the Nittany Lions could have let the final seconds tick away. But backup quarterback Beau Pribula took a shot into the end zone, which fell incomplete with four seconds left. On the next play, Pribula threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to reserve wide receiver Tyseer Denmark as time expired, extending the final margin of victory to 37 points.
“I get it,” Franklin told reporters when asked why Penn State (11-1, 8-1) scored a seemingly meaningless touchdown at the end of the game. “My job is to put the [third- and fourth-string players] in the game. But when the threes and fours get to go in the game, they get to play football. Those guys deserve to play football.
“Your [starters] are in the game. You were trying to score. We’re trying to score. On top of that, you’re playing Cover Zero. If you don’t want [us to throw], play Cover 2.”
Franklin, a former Maryland assistant coach, also pointed to a “change in college football” as a reason why scoring a late touchdown mattered to his program.
“We are trying to play as long as we can, make the playoff and be seeded as high as possible. And scoring as many points, and a point differential, all that matters,” he said. “And if you don’t get that, it’s really not my problem. So, [it’s a] ‘W.’ 1-0. I’m good with it. Anybody that’s not, that’s their problem.”
With the win, Penn State clinched a spot in the Big Ten championship game for the first time since 2016. With a win over No. 1 Oregon in Indianapolis, the Nittany Lions would receive a first-round bye in the new 12-team College Football Playoff.
Maryland, meanwhile, will not play in a bowl game this season after winning three in a row for the first time in program history.
“Disappointing end to a long, long season,” Locksley said. “Disappointed. Disappointed in the way this thing finished. Disappointed in our inability to get things going.”
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