Breaking down Maryland's snap counts in the win vs. Virginia

Maryland found themselves in an early 14-0 hole for the second consecutive week, but used 42 unanswered points to pull away from Virginia in the fourth quarter. Head coach Mike Locksley saw 61 players make their way onto the field on both sides of the ball, including eight different offensive linemen. We break down Maryland's snap counts and how they fared against Virginia.

Quarterbacks Taulia Tagovailoa: 62 Billy Edwards Jr.: 3 Tagovailoa recorded his 13th career 300-yard on Friday night, finishing with 342 yards and a touchdown on 19-of-30 passing for a 170.1 passer rating. Taulia also capitalized on the deep ball, finishing 4-of-9 on throws 15 yards or more including a 64-yard touchdown to Jeshaun Jones in man coverage. Maybe the lone blemish from the night was the ill-advised sack Taulia took on third down, taking the offense out of field goal range, but his mobility also helped extend plays downfield along with picking up a first-down along the Virginia sideline. Edwards Jr. didn’t record a stat in the win While under pressure, Taulia finished 6-of-8 for 130 yards, compared to 14-of-23 for 212 yards when the pocket was clean. Taulia also finished 3-of-6 for 119 yards and one touchdown on throws 20 yards or more downfield. Taulia's grade on passes within nine yards drew the highest grade (91.3) after finishing 10-of-12 for 128 yards.

Running Backs Roman Hemby: 29 Antwain Littleton II: 21 Colby McDonald: 14 The path to a win on Friday night seemed centered around the ground game, making the Terps’ backfields production a question mark. Hemby broke off just one run over ten yards and finished with 23 yards on nine carries, while Antwain Littleton added 28 yards on the same amount of carries. The shining light? Colby McDonald, who showed flashes a week ago and graded as the best rushing option (72.9) among the trio. McDonald busted out a 35-yard run on his second carry, finishing with 75 yards and a touchdown on ten carries. While the unit finished with 3.8 yards per carry, Maryland’s four combined rushing touchdowns from the unit helped put the game to bed in the second half. Wide Receivers & Tight Ends WR Tai Felton: 44 WR Jeshaun Jones: 39 WR Kaden Prather: 31 TE Preston Howard: 29 TE Corey Dyches: 28 TE Rico Walker: 26 WR Octavian Smith Jr.: 24 WR Shaleak Knotts: 13 WR Tyrese Chambers: 12 WR Leon Haughton Jr.: 9 TE Dylan Wade: 3 TE AJ Szymanski: 3 For the second consecutive week, its junior receiver Tai Felton leading the receivers in snaps as he finished second on the team in targets (5), hauling in two of those catches for 41 yards. Right behind Felton was Jones with 39 snaps, but he led the way on Saturday night with 96 yards and a touchdown on five catches, including a 64-yard touchdown. Prather showed flashes in the first half, breaking off a 43-yard catch and run, as he finished with a pair of catches for 66 yards. Dyches, meanwhile, led the tight ends with 56 yards after reeling in all four targets, grading as the best receiving option (85.4). Rico Walker graded the highest in run blocking (74.7) among any offensive player with at least ten snaps.

Offensive Line OT DJ Glaze: 62 OT Conor Fagan: 55 IOL Amelio Moran: 42 IOL Corey Bullock: 41 IOL Aric Harris: 35 OL Gottlieb Ayedze: 33 IOL Mike Purcell: 30 IOL Kyle Long: 27 Friday night marked the debut of Gottlieb Ayedze, but as nonconference play wrapped up, Maryland’s offensive line still leaned on its positional versatility to roll out different units. With Fagan drawing the start at right tackle, Ayedze lined up at both right tackle and guard while Mike Purcell and Aric Harris traded series at center for the third consecutive week. Despite playing the fewest snaps, Long graded as Maryland’s best pass blocker (85.4), while DJ Glaze (70.9) was the second lineman to finish with a pass blocking grade of at least 70.

Defensive Line Jordan Phillips: 48 Quashon Fuller: 41 Tommy Akingbesote: 38 Tre Colbert: 21 Christian Teague: 20 Dillan Fontus: 14 Taizse Johnson: 12 Lavon Johnson: 10 Isaac Bunyun: 7 Daniel Owens: 4 For the second time this season, Phillips has led the unit in snaps and may be proving early to be Maryland’s top defensive lineman. The Tennessee transfer finished tied for second on the team with five total tackles, including one solo. Fuller and Akingbesote added three tackles of their own, while it was Tre Colbert who graded the highest among all DL (74.3) and registered the forced fumble in the fourth quarter. Bunyun went down in the first half of Friday’s win.

Linebackers Jaishawn Barham: 40 Kellan Wyatt: 32 Ruben Hyppolite: 29 Donnell Brown: 27 Riyad Wilmot: 24 Fa’Najae Gotay: 23 Caleb Wheatland: 22 Gereme Spraggins: 15 Kobi Thomas: 9 Daniel Wingate: 7 Michael Harris: 7 The highest graded defensive player on Friday night? Gereme Spraggins (84.5) in his 15 snaps, while Donnell Brown came down with his second interception in as many weeks in the fourth quarter. Both linebackers were also the lone players on defense to record grades of 75 or higher in coverage, with Spraggins (79.4) narrowly edging Brown (78.2). Hyppolite led the team with five tackles in the win, while Gotay was the lone linebacker to register a pressure after being credited for a sack.

Secondary Dante Trader Jr.: 63 Glen Miller: 60 Tarheeb Still: 45 Corey Coley Jr.: 32 Ja’Quan Sheppard: 31 Perry Fisher: 22 Gavin Gibson: 22 Lionell Whitaker: 20 Lavain Scruggs: 12 Kevis Thomas: 9 Chantz Harley: 9 Avantae Williams: 7 Tamarcus Cooley: 6 Alex Moore: 2 Rex Fleming: 2 With Beau Brade sidelined on Friday, it was Glen Miller who filled the void, just like he did during the open portion of Tuesday’s practice. And it was Miller who graded as Maryland’s top tackler (83.4), highlighted by a bone-crushing hit midway through the first quarter. After being sidelined since the second scrimmage, cornerback Gavin Gibson made his season debut and filled in well, registering a pair of tackles on consecutive plays. Still was the star of the night, reeling in a pair of interceptions. Virginia wasn’t afraid to test Maryland’s secondary though as the two starters struggled early. Still allowed five catches for 48 yards on 12 targets while Ja’Quan Sheppard allowed two catches for 65 yards on three targets. Still drew a 58.4 coverage grade compared to Sheppard's 55.6 grade.

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