Maryland coach Mike Locksley knows exactly where his team has come up short, and why he still believes the best is yet to come this season. After watching his Terps surrender fourth-quarter leads in consecutive losses to Washington and Nebraska, Locksley said on Tuesday the issue isn’t effort or preparation, but rather depth and endurance.

“In the last two games, it’s my job to figure it out,” Locksley said. “I’ve got to do a better job of getting some young players in a little earlier in the first and second quarter to take some plays off of the veteran starters. Our best players have to be in the best possible position to make plays in the fourth quarter.”

Maryland (4-2 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) held a 20-3 fourth-quarter lead against Washington and led with barely a minute left against Nebraska.

 “The frustration stems from knowing the kind of team we have and the type of work these guys have put in. But the optimism is because I know this team is different than any team that I’ve had the chance to coach here. We’ve played very clean in games, we don’t turn the ball over, and our defense continues to get takeaways. What we’ve got to figure out now is how to finish it in the fourth quarter,” he said. then the optimism is because I know this team is different than any team that I’ve had the chance to coach here in my tenure as the head coach.

“To play as clean as we’ve played with winning the turnover battle, not having a bunch of drops, not having a bunch of things that cause you to not win, that gives me the optimism that we’re really close.”

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Missed tackles have been a problem in the losses. According to Pro Football Focus, last week Maryland had the worst tackling game in any Big Ten game since 2014.

“One of the things that I’ve come up with, and again, it’s just really deep diving, but I’ve got to do a better job of getting some young players, some guys in a little earlier in the first and second quarter to take some plays off of the veteran starters. If you look at the amount of reps that guys like Daniel Wingate has had to take for us, and a freshman like a Zahir Mathis and the amount of plays he has to play, it’s my job to figure out how, instead of him playing 70 plays, how do I get him to play 55 plays?”

“Bring a young [Keyshawn] Flowers, 23, or Michael Harris – let them play a little more earlier in the game so that our best players are in the best possible position to make plays in the fourth quarter. And that’s me, that’s what I have to do.”

then the optimism is because I know this team is different than any team that I’ve had the chance to coach here in my tenure as the head coach.