Head coach Mike Locksley opened his press conference with the same thought that so many Maryland fans had after Saturday’s 30-24 win.
“Hard fought game,” Locksley said. It wasn’t a consistent offensive showing on Saturday as the Terps’ performance in the opening and closing quarters sealed the win, but it was the type of win that head coach Mike Locksley wanted to see as his team set the barometer for the 2021 season. “I was really proud of the way they faced and handled the adversity of the ebb and flow of a hard-fought game. You know, West Virginia, those guys continue to battle as well so, again, I give them a lot of credit. But what I was really most proud of was the playmakers in our offense and defense made the plays that were there when they needed to be made. And, you know, that's one of the areas that we haven't necessarily done that too much during my short time back here is the coach.”
Saturday’s game starts with quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa as he finished the day 26-of-36 for 332 yards and three touchdowns. “One of the things that helps him is knowing that we've got those playmakers out on the perimeter that you know, tight ends and receivers, and our running backs that all he has to do is do what he's coached to do,” Locksley added. “And, you know, we saw him execute the offense to a tee there in, you know, late in the third quarter, the big pass to Rakim [Jarrett] to kind of break the game open.”
The offense found their groove in the opening quarter as Maryland tallied 17 points but sputtered through the second and third quarter after registering just 110 yards of total offense and five first-downs—all of which came in the second quarter. The offensive lulls were extended to the West Virginia sideline, as well, as Maryland’s defense limited the Mountaineers to just 52 yards of total offense in the third quarter. The Terps’ defense found a way to limit running back Leddie Brown and held West Virginia to just three second-half points as Locksley was pleased with the showing.
“That first game, you go in and you don't really know how they're going to attack you and they had a lot of answers for us wanting to play man coverage,” he said. “They hit the tall screen early in the game. They did some things with the back where they had some matchups where number four [Leddie Brown] who we knew was a big-time player. They got some matchup issues or had some matchup situations where they had an advantage and I thought Brian [Stewart] did a great job there making sure that four didn't beat us. He made some plays early, made some plays in the first half but you know, we talked about ‘hey, we’re not letting their best player beat us so let’s figure out that.’ And we made some adjustments with playing mixing zone coverage in with some of the main stuff. We started doing more five-minute pressures to try to get the quarterback uncomfortable. So, again, our defense did a really good job after, you know, settling down, once we had a pretty good understanding and bead on what they want to do attack us, at halftime made good adjustments.”
Freshman linebacker Branden Jennings found himself thrown into a starting role after Fa’Najae Gotay went down with a first-half injury, eventually leading the true freshman to his first career forced fumble late in the third quarter to halt the Mountaineer drive.
It was only one of four turnovers forced by the Terps’ defense on Saturday, but it was an example of what to expect from the rising star. “The injury there to Fa’Najae [Gotay] early in the game, linebacker for us is one of the thin areas that we are, you know, the young guy was thrown into the fire per se. You know, he's really done a great job. You know, we were fortunate that he was a guy who was a mid-year grad, so he got a spring under his belt. He's the guy who plays really heavy handed, really physical at the point of attack so what you saw today, I think he'll just continue to see him get better and better.”
Cornerback Jakorian Bennett created the second turnover in the second half, coming down with a timely interception in the endzone with just over eight minutes left to halt the driving Mountaineers. “It was just kind of a play we’ve seen on film when we were watching this week. Seen the formation, kind of alerted my teammate what was kind of coming and so you know, I think on that play it was an all-out blitz,” Bennett said after the game. “I was just trying to make a play that changed the game, honestly.”
That play did exactly that as it took the Maryland offense just five plays to respond.
Maryland turned to Tayon Fleet-Davis for a pair of rushes before hitting Jeshaun Jones in the flat for a five-yard pickup. After an incomplete pass intended for Darryl Jones, Taulia Tagovailoa connected with Rakim Jarrett for a 60-yard game-clinching touchdown. “The guy is, again like I said, as advertised, highly and heavily recruited,” Locksley emphasized. “A guy that we count on as one of our better playmakers. A guy who we got to continue to find ways to diversify to get him the ball.”
He wasn’t the only playmaker as wide receiver Dontay Demus led the unit and notched a career-high 133 receiving yards on six catches and nine targets. The biggest surprise from Saturday was Delmar Glaze drawing the starting at left tackle over Jaelyn Duncan for the game’s first two series before the veteran entered the game midway through the first quarter. The silver lining is the unit was not responsible for any of Maryland’s five penalties and accounted for a pair of sacks, one of which could be attributed to Taulia on a failed fourth-down attempt. “It was great to see those guys be able to run the ball when we needed to run the ball and I think it will give them confidence as we move forward. And we try to establish an identity as being a team that can do both really well.”
The Terps’ identity on Saturday was resilience as the comeback victory was met with a near-full Maryland Stadium. Among the fans in attendance were former Terps like Stefon Diggs, Torrey Smith, Kevin Plank, Dominique Foxworth, and Jalen Smith. Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was also in attendance and took in his younger brother’s postgame press conference, but it was the type of win and atmosphere that Locksley wants to see become the norm in College Park.
“We're a football family. And you know, Stef, he called me about a week ago and told me said ‘hey, I'll be in town.’ He actually spoke to the team last night at The Hotel and then showed up for the game. You know, Tua you know, the relationship there we have obviously his brothers here on the team and we know that he would be able to we also had a ton of guys you know, Torrey Smith, Shawn Merriman, Ricardo Dickerson, Ricardo Young. To me, that's what this programs gotta be all about. Now that we stabilized it, we got to get some of those old Terps back in the fold supporting the program. And, you know, it's great to see that, it really shows that the relationships are not just four years, and they really support their Terps.”