Instant reactions: Maryland controls Kent State for 37-16 win

Maryland moves to 4-0 on the season after defeating Kent State 37-16 on Saturday afternoon. It wasn’t always pretty on Saturday, but the Terps put together a good performance to move to 4-0 for the first time since 2016 and just the second time since 2001 to give Maryland more momentum heading into conference play. With a nationally televised game set for Friday night against Iowa, Maryland will now look to secure their second Big Ten win of the season. Taking a look at our instant reactions:

WR Drops…it was the passing attack that once again carried Maryland through the first half as quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa finished 18-of-24 for 265 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the opening 30 minutes, but the lack of focus out of the gate cost Maryland in the opening quarter. Wide receiver Dontay Demus easily notched his seventh 100-yard receiving game in the 1st half, tied for second-most in program history alongside TE Vernon Davis and WR Torrey Smith, but Demus was also responsible for the game’s first drop on a 3rd-and-6. On the ensuing possession in the first quarter, a pass from Tagovailoa to WR Rakim Jarrett went through the hands of Jarrett and into the lap of the Kent State defense to mark the first interception of Taulia’s season. Wide receiver Brian Cobbs also dropped an easy pass in the flat with just under ten minutes left in the second quarter, while Jarrett had a second bad drop along the sideline deep in Kent State territory midway through the third quarter.

While the drops raise questions about the receivers heading into conference play, the Terps were able to find success through the air for the fourth consecutive week as Tagovailoa amassed his third 300-yard game on the season and fourth of his career by throwing to eleven different receivers—the most since facing Indiana back in 2015. Tagovailoa's third 300-yard game this season ties him with Scott Milanovich for fourth-most all time, while Saturday marked the fourth career 300-yard game to tie him with Chris Turner and John Kaleo for most in a career. Even considering the first quarter interception, it was another mature showing out of Tagovailoa as he went through his progression, got out a crisp ball while failing to force a throw into a tight window.

Secondary bent but didn’t break… Kent State quarterback Dustin Crum wasn’t a player that the Terps’ defense could take likely as Crum found consistent success against the Terps. Crum threw for over 300 yards and ran for another 24 as receivers Dante Cephas and Nykeim Johnson found success along the perimeter in man coverage, but that success was consistently challenged on third down. Maryland allowed just three conversions on 13 attempts through the first three quarters despite an average of six yards to go for the Golden Flashes, while walk-on linebacker Kobi Thomas stifled Crum on fourth down in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. It’s a telling statistic given Kent State completed over 43% of their third-down attempts heading into Saturday and it’s even more impressive considering the existing loss of Fa’Najae Gotay and new injury to Branden Jennings in the linebacker room. It helped that Maryland, who sat second in sacks entering the game, were able to generate four sacks on Crum as Demeioun Robinson, Kobi Thomas, Durell Nchami, and Mosiah Nasili-Kite all registered one sack each. The sacks from Kite and Nchami came on back-to-back plays midway through the third quarter to halt the Kent State momentum.

Third down offense…flipping to the other side of the field, Kent State’s third-down defense was known to be porous heading into Saturday’s affair as they allowed their opponents to convert 50% of their attempts and Maryland took advantage. The offense converted three of their five attempts with four or less yards to go for a first down, while the Terps failed on both attempts with nine or more yards to go as Maryland turned to the passing game on each attempt except for two. Fleet-Davis helped convert one of the short yardage attempts while Peny Boone punched through on the last conversion of the day, providing credence to the complimentary rushing attack on Saturday.

OL rotation…Maryland rolled out the same starting offensive line of (L-R) Jaelyn Duncan, Mason Lunsford, Aric Harris, Johari Branch, and Spencer Anderson but backup tackle DJ Glaze was rotating in at left tackle throughout the game. It’s not an uncommon sight for Maryland fans as the staff has leaned on that rotation through the opening four games to provide Glaze the needed game reps to develop into a serviceable starting tackle in the Big Ten. But the penalties emerged along the offensive line, though they certainly weren’t alone.

Penalties ran rampant…nine Maryland penalties for 120 yards kept Kent State within striking distance for large parts of Saturday. A pair of unnecessary roughness calls extended Kent State’s final drive of the first half while also pushing the Terps’ second-half kickoff back to their own 20 yard-line, while the secondary was called for one pass interference in each of the final three quarters. Head coach Mike Locksley has routinely pointed to these miscues as ‘correctable mistakes’ though both late hits were plays that could’ve been avoided. Though Maryland has found a way to win though the first four games of the season, the margin for error against Iowa will be much narrower than a game against Kent State and Howard as the staff looks to retain composure.

Injuries…head coach Mike Locksley said that DL Ami Finau, Mosiah Nasili-Kite and Sam Okuayinonu would all be available for today’s game and all three were spotted in action. But Maryland was also without a handful of players as LB Fa’Najae Gotay, WR DeaJaun McDougle, OT Marcus Finger, fullback Joseph Bearns, walk-on WR Robert Smith, and walk-on OT Tommy Varhall were all inactive. Wide receiver Nick DeGenarro battled through a broken hand and was suited up with a club on his right hand, but Maryland also suffered a pair of notable injuries on Saturday. OLB Demeioun Robinson walked off on the field early in the second quarter with an unknown injury but returned in the second half while WILL linebacker Branden Jennings went down in the 1st quarter with what appeared to be a lower leg injury. While first-year linebacker Gereme Spraggins filled Jennings’ void, Maryland’s linebacker unit is already without veteran Fa’Najae Gotay while former five-star freshman Terrence Lewis has yet to suit up this season. Star safety Nick Cross also went down after a hard hit in the final minutes of the third quarter but returned shortly after. LB Ruben Hyppolite was not in action in the second half as Locksley did not have a postgame update on either Hyppolite or Jennings.