Maryland came into Saturday’s matchup as a 14-point favorite against the Indiana Hoosiers. Everyone who bet on them to cover that spread, myself included, was very confident in a win by the end of the first quarter.
Tagovailoa got the party started early with a 62-yard pass to Jeshaun Jones on the very first play. Two plays later Maryland was able to take the 7-0 lead with a pass to Tai Felton. The next drive, IU was able to start with great field position from a 56-yard kickoff return by Jaylin Lucas. Indiana only managed to get a field goal out of it after Maryland stuffed Christian Turner on 3rd down. And that is where the scoring stopped for IU in the first half.
Taulia ended the first half going 12/20 with 191 yards and 4 total touchdowns (3 passing, 1 rushing) to take a 27-3 lead. Maryland outgained Indiana in yards 249 to 155 in the first half. The offense took control early and never looked back.
Maryland found the endzone two more times in the second half and added a field goal to secure the 44-17 win over the Hoosiers. Taulia ended the day with an impressive stat line of 24/34, 352 yards, and 5 touchdowns. He ended just one touchdown pass short of the school record, one of the few records Taulia doesn’t already own.
Each week this team has made large improvements in every aspect of the game. This showed to be the most complete game they’ve played all season. They seem to be finding their groove in the perfect time, as their schedule now gets much more difficult.
Offense
The offense showed out once again this week. Maryland is now first in the Big Ten in total yards per game and second in points and passing yards. They didn’t run the ball much, but didn’t need to with how well Taulia was throwing. They ran the ball 14 less times than IU and still outgained them. This wasn’t a case of the run game not working, they were averaging over 5 yards a carry.
The MVP of this game obviously goes to Taulia Tagovailoa for another incredible performance. This was arguably his greatest game as a Terp. Tai Felton could also make a case as he had 3 touchdowns with 134 yards.
Defense
When you think of Maryland football in the past 8 years, the defense would normally never get mentioned. But this year they have been on a different level. With the interception on Saturday they now have 8 on the year, and on pace to have the most since their 2001 season. In the second half they gave up quite a bit when the game was already well in control. IU was able to get two late touchdowns with some subs in to make the score look just a tad more respectful.
Maryland is now second in the nation in turnover margin and 5th in the Big Ten in points given up. This defense will need to carry over for the rest of the season if they want to pull off some of these upsets.
What’s next?
This Saturday, Maryland will be playing at Ohio State. They don’t have a good track record against them, going 0-8. If they are going to do what many Terps fans have been waiting for ever since joining them Big Ten, this defense will need to play lights out against a great OSU team.
Maryland has the better QB in the matchup, but in almost every other position, Ohio State will have the edge. Ohio State opens as 19-point favorites, given the history it isn’t very shocking. I think Maryland will put up a bigger fight than most people assume. I’m not a big fan of “moral victories” but if Maryland can keep this a close game they will start earning some respect around the country as a legit football team.
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