The UCLA Bruins have the tall task of travelling across the country to be ready for a Big Ten Conference Saturday morning showdown. UCLA will kick off 10:30a.m. Pacific Time, giving the team their first geographical challenge of the season.
The Bruins will be facing off against a 2-1 Maryland team that may not feel like a winning team at the moment, coming off of a 35-26 loss to James Franklin and Virginia Tech. Maryland’s two wins this season have come against Hampton University and UConn.
Maryland lost to Viriginia Tech at home this past Saturday. The loss hasn’t gone over well. Maryland public relations employees will now snatch microphones out of reporters’ hands for asking follow-up questions to head coach Michael Locksley.
Asked Michael Locksley
if he believes he deserves more chances to keep *saying* he’s going to learn from losses while rarely actually doing so. Here’s the back and forth. Tried following up but a Maryland PR staffer took the mic out of my hand and Locksley did not look at me. pic.twitter.com/WEJ2x4T0KQ
— Taylor Lyons (@taylorjlyons) September 22, 2026
It’s understandable why Maryland PR wouldn’t take kindly to a question where Baltimore Sun reporter Taylor Lyons tells Locksley that he was outcoached and asks Locksley why he still deserves to be the head coach, but it’s a telling sign of where the program is entering Week 4.
Perhaps Maryland will snap out of it this week against the Bruins but Locksley doesn’t sound too confident in that while answering Lyons’ question.
“I understand why the fans are frustrated. They’ve earned the right for us to play better than we have. It won’t get fixed here at the podium,” Locksley said. “It gets fixed across the street (at the field) with the work we do. We continue to do the work. We continue to improve. We’ll continue to do the things we have to do to earn their trust back.”
UCLA will hope to add to the distrust for Maryland on Saturday while improving to 4-0.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Maryland head coach facing criticism ahead of Week 4 meeting with UCLA
