How Tagovailoa's second-year jump has elevated Maryland's offense
- Ahmed Ghafir
- Sep 29, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 5, 2022
All the preseason buzz surrounding the Terps’ offense heading into this season centered around whether the offensive line can take a step forward as fans were hopeful to see a deep crop of wide receiver talent carry the offense. Through four games, the unit has progressed under offensive line coach Brian Braswell but after posting seven touchdowns and interceptions in 2020, fans were also eager to see whether quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa could make the natural second-year jump to maximize the offense’s potential. Through four games, Taulia has done exactly that.
Though the Terps have faced a pair of Power Five teams heading into this weekend, Tagovailoa sits seventh in the country with 335 passing yards per game and is on pace to set Scott Milanovich’s all-time Maryland record for passing yards in a season. Tagovailoa also sits first in the Big Ten in completion percentage, passing yards, passing yards per game, passing touchdowns, and total offense while his 75.5% completion percentage is second among all Power Five quarterbacks. He’s already tallied four 300-yard games to tie him with Chris Turner and John Kaleo in the record books, while Tagovailoa’s success has helped receivers Dontay Demus and Rakim Jarrett combine for the second-most yards of any pass catching duo among Power Five teams. Even with all the accolades and recognition through the first four weeks, head coach Mike Locksley noted there “hasn’t been a lot of surprises” in his second-year starter.
“This kid can throw the football, this kid is a serious, really smart, driven leader and I just continue to see that growth in him where he's getting more and more and more confident in what we're asking him to do,” Locksley said on Tuesday. “The players around him obviously are helping him quite a bit, even though we had some drops Saturday, but he's done a great job of being a great distributor of the ball. I like when you know, 10, 12 guys are catching balls and you know, the tight ends are making plays, the backs are making plays, the receivers, it makes you tough to defend. And, you know, he also has an element of athleticism that adds to his package. And so, you know, I've been really proud of the way he's played.”
Tagovailoa completed at least one pass to 12 different receivers in Saturday's win over Kent State, the most by the Terps since November of 2015 against Indiana. While the established stars in Dontay Demus and Rakim Jarrett have garnered the full attention of opposing defenses, guys like Darryl Jones and Jeshaun Jones have complimented the room to give the Terps a sense of everlasting talent along the perimeter. It helps that the offensive line has allowed just one sack in three of their four games this season to give Tagovailoa the necessary time in the pocket to get the ball to his playmakers.
“The biggest thing is them giving me time and the receivers making my job easier, even the running backs making my job easier to give them the ball,” Tagovailoa added. “Just me putting the ball in their hand and letting them go make plays. We have great depth as everyone knows at our receiver position and the biggest thing is we got to continue to work hard.”
It’s understandable for Demus to lead the team with 24 receptions on the season while he’s garnered over 20% of the team’s targets and caught nearly 80% of passes thrown his way. Demus and veteran Darryl Jones have been the go-to targets on first down while Rakim Jarrett has commanded the most completions on third down. The most interesting takeaway from Tagovailoa’s first four games is that Demus had registered 13 receptions on Tagovailoa’s 47 passes at least ten yards downfield, providing the reasoning needed to understand how the junior wideout now sits 11th in the country with 446 receiving yards.
But the arm strength was evident last season as Tagovailoa threw for three touchdowns against both Minnesota and Penn State last fall, so to veteran receiver Brian Cobbs, he’s seen his starting quarterback become a more accountable leader in year two.
“It's a player-driven team and when something starts slipping in practice, he's on it quick,” Cobbs said about Taulia. “We're on it as well so it's not really him being the quarterback and having to controlling everything. I think us as receivers and then even the running backs, they get on their respective rooms but he's kind of like the overseer of everything.”
Tagovailoa now has his biggest test to-date as Maryland’s starting quarterback with Iowa looming. Under defensive coordinator Phil Parker, the Hawkeyes enter Friday night’s showdown allowing under 25 points in 26 straight contests while they own the Big Ten’s best scoring defense. Something has to give as the Terps’ offense is averaging over 37 points through the first four games, but to Taulia, he’s ready to bask in the atmosphere inside Maryland stadium.
“It’s going to be good. We’re facing a top ten team, top five team I think and I know the fans are going to come out. We just got to continue, I think the biggest thing for us is continue to prepare and focus on what we need to focus on throughout the week and doing what we continue to do. I think everything will pay off on [Friday].”
Kickoff is set for 8 PM on Fox Sports 1.
