Maryland inched closer to bowl eligibility with a 38-33 win at Indiana, moving to 5-2 (2-2) on the season, but saw one star go down.
With a 27-24 deficit, Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa went down once more but this time, he didn’t get back up right away. On 1st-and-10 from the Maryland 47, Taulia found receiver Jacob Copeland to push the offense into Indiana territory, but Taulia stayed down after the play, grimacing in pain as he clutched to his right knee. Head coach Mike Locksley said that Taulia suffered a lower leg injury but was in good spirits in the locker room following the win.
“It was a lower leg injury. I don’t know if it was knee or ankle by the time I got in there, probably won’t be clear until tomorrow. Hopefully when we get back, we can get an MRI. I know he was in there celebrating with his teammates so that was good to see,” he added. “But I think we’ll know a lot more after we get the MRI.”
With Taulia sidelined, Billy Edwards Jr. stepped back into the spotlight for the second time this season and once again looking to pull Maryland out of a deficit. Only this time, he did just that to put the touches on his first career win with Maryland.
“I think, as a backup quarterback, I think that’s always in the back of my head, just staying ready for whenever my number’s called,” Edwards said about his relief appearance. “Obviously I hate the fashion I went in, obviously for a teammate of mine to get injured, but that’s kind of the, [Locksley] preaches the next man up mentality so as soon as I saw him down, you know, I obviously know I was going in for at least one play, and then from there on, you kind of just ease into things, get relaxed and, and then play from there.”
Edwards finished 0-for-3 on the day, but after the defense forced a quick punt from Indiana, Edwards and the Maryland offense got a chance to take back over and reclaim control midway through the fourth. Edwards’ pass to Demus on 2nd-and-5 was broken up, but Maryland actually benefitted from a penalty after an unsportsmanlike conduct was called on the Hoosiers. After consecutive carries from Hemby, it was Edwards who kept it and picked up 31 yards to put the offense inside the Hoosiers five. Three plays later, the Terps took the lead back–and for good–with under six minutes remaining.
“Our offensive line was blocking phenomenal,” Edwards added about the late-game execution. “The only reason I had the runs I had were [because] they were keying on [Roman Hemby], [Antwain Littleton], Colby [McDonald] whoever was the running back end at the game at the time. And then, you know, obviously I saw green grass on a couple of those and I was able to pull it and kind of make something happen out of it.”
Edwards joined the program as a midyear transfer and reunites with his brother, quarterback GA Kyle Edwards, and benefitted from his familiarity with the Terps’ scheme and playbook. After transferring in from Wake Forest, Edwards entrenched himself as the backup quarterback to stabilize a position that Maryland fans have seen ample turnover in prior to Locksley’s tenure. If Taulia does not indeed suit up next weekend, it would be just the second missed game of his career after missing the Rutgers game back on December 12, 2020. While Maryland will await MRI results from Taulia on Sunday to determine the extent of his injury, Locksley reinforced his confidence in possibly his new starting quarterback.
We have tremendous faith in Billy and his ability to come in and execute. It’s a next man up mentality and I was really glad to see, you know, Billy come in and do what he did. Dan [Enos] did a tremendous job of establishing the run game in the second half, which really took some pressure off of things. They were a high-pressure team on first and second down and once we kind of got their flavor of the day, we were able to go in at half, settle some things down and be able to run the ball, which I think helped us in the second half.”
Related Links