Maryland was no match for Iowa on Friday night as the Terps suffer the first defeat of the season, moving to 4-1 (1-1) with a noon matchup against Ohio State next weekend. Instant reactions from the deflating yet latest blowout loss of the Mike Locksley era…
2nd quarter meltdown…The Terps held onto a 7-3 lead to open the second quarter, but it would be the last time that Maryland held a lead on Friday night. The Hawkeyes opened the second quarter with a two-yard rushing touchdown, but the Terps blew each opportunity to respond thanks to turnovers. After Iowa took the lead, star WR Dontay Demus went down with a scary injury on the ensuing kickoff that sidelined him for at least Friday night with his status for the remainder of the season in question. Iowa converted the red zone opportunity and extended the lead to 17-7, but it took just one pass for Tagovailoa to throw interception number two of the day as Iowa got the ball back and pushed the lead to 24-7. On the ensuing Maryland possession, Tagovailoa threw his third interception on an inaccurate throw and the Hawkeyes took near-immediate advantage to push the lead to 31-7. Tagovailoa finished the first half with four interceptions as Iowa stole any and all momentum in the game, effectively ending the Terps’ bid at a 5-0 start.
Tagovailoa regresses…after drawing national praise for his performance through the first month of the season, Maryland fell flat on Friday as quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa struggled once the Hawkeye defense settled into the Terps’ gameplan. On passes at least one yard downfield, Tagovailoa finished the night just 9-of-21 for 132 passing yards and five interceptions as the second-year starter was only able to complete a maximum of three consecutive passes which came in the first quarter. The downfield touch that Tagovailoa showed he improved was nowhere to be seen on Friday once the second quarter hit with the Hawkeyes linebackers active in the second level and the Hawkeye cornerbacks jumping the receivers' routes well. One of Tagovailoa's interceptions came on a hail mary on the final play of the first half, but nonetheless, it was an abysmal performance that head coach Mike Locksley and offensive coordinator Dan Enos will spend ample time in the film room reviewing. Backup Reece Udinski entered the game midway through the third quarter to finish the game yet he threw an errant pass straight in the hands of the Iowa secondary, finishing the night just 5-of-8 for 17 yards.
Penalties ran rampant…before the Hawkeyes ran away with Friday’s game, the Terps took themselves out of potential opportunities to move the ball. A false start on the opening drive eliminated a chance for the offense to convert on 4th-and-one near midfield, bring out the punt unit as the Hawkeyes went down, and opened up the game’s scoring. On the ensuing drive, a false start by the right side of the offensive line pushed Maryland into a 3rd-and-6 and led to Tagovailoa’s first interception of the night. While three first-half offensive penalties resulted in 15 yards, the defense didn’t do themselves any favors as they accounted for 56 yards on five first-half penalties of their own. Maryland entered Friday as the second-most penalized team in the Big Ten and the margin for error was narrow heading into the first matchup against a ranked opponent, but once again, Maryland got in their own way to eliminate a chance for a comeback.
Secondary woes…the Iowa offense entered Friday night as one of the most inefficient teams in the Big Ten but you wouldn’t have known that after watching 60 minutes against the Terps. Veteran quarterback Spencer Petras finished the night 21-of-30 for 259 yards and three touchdowns, but the Hawkeyes were able to spread the Terps’ secondary and capitalize on the advantageous matchup in man coverage with near ease. It’s an aspect that fans saw routinely through the first two years under head coach Mike Locksley, but Petras had no problem breaking down the Terps’ defense. Cornerback Tarheeb Still shined early on, forcing a pair of pass breakups to force Iowa into a field goal to open the game’s scoring.
Falling flat…one could make the argument that Maryland didn’t come out flat from the start on Friday night and I’d respect your argument, but committing three false starts all on short-yardage situations pinpoints the lack of discipline that Maryland still needs to reach. All offseason into the first four weeks, you could tell the changes were starting to gradually shift the mindset within the program but Friday night marked the first game during the 2021 season that Maryland showed no fight or the ability to play through adversity as the lead continued to grow. To me, that’s the biggest disappointment from Friday night and the type of performance that will drastically impact fan support. The feeling on Friday night matched the same feeling from two years ago in the blowout losses to both Nebraska and Penn State. Maryland took two steps forward through the first month of the season and took a resounding step back in Friday night’s thrashing. Maryland will travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on Ohio State next weekend. Kickoff set for 12 PM EST.