Maryland remains a one-point favorite against Rutgers on Saturday as the Terps prepare to close out the 2023 regular season with their seventh win. Notebook heading into the finale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PRxXIe0gRU Taulia Tagovailoa within reach of Big Ten all-time passing mark Heading into Saturday, Taulia Tagovailoa sits fourth in Big Ten history in all-time passing yards (10,895), just 14 yards behind Drew Brees for third and 269 yards from breaking Curtis Painter's all-time record (11,163). Tagovailoa already holds every single-season and career record at Maryland as he prepares for his final regular season game as a Terp. “Lia has played an important role in the foundation. Anybody that is a Terp supporter or fan like I have been my whole life knows that the quarterback position over the last ten, 15 years has not been a settled position here, whether it’s injuries, whether it’s transfers. It’s just never been settle," head coach Mike Locksley said on Tuesday. "So to be able to have a guy that started four years here, has done some tremendous things in terms of laying a foundation for our program, can’t put a value in what him coming here has done for us. Definitely elevated our program, or at least created a foundation that I think we will be able to build on." Maryland will soon be tasked with filling Tagovailoa's shoes with the transfer portal set to open in a matter of weeks as Locksley and the staff look to replace his production. "Even more importantly it has shown that you know, if you’re a quarterback in the country and you want to have an opportunity to do some really special things, you can come here and this system is a system that is a quarterback-driven system on offense that we always have really good skill. So I think Lia has become a poster child for what we want to try to recruit the type of quarterbacks we want to recruit." Stay-or-go decision not a focus for LB Donnell Brown Maryland will have a long list of veterans eligible to return in 2024 but heading into the season finale, linebacker Donnell Brown admitted plans for next season remain fluid. “Honestly just one of those things where it's like a wait and see kind of thing, but most of all, I'm just staying in the moment, just trying to finish the week out strong and then we got a bowl game,” Brown said. So we'll see where we're going to go out to that.” After two standout seasons at St. Francis, Brown has been a force for the Terps off the edge and enters week 13 as the tenth-highest graded edge defender in college football, according to PFF. But with another season of eligibility left, Brown hasn't thought about whether he’ll be back in College Park just yet. Brown admitted the eventual stay-or-go decision would be a bit new to him. “I don't even know how to make the decision. I just see other people make it. Especially like from the outside looking in so like, now that I'm like in the scenario, it's kind of different like knowing like whether I'm going to actually make a decision or they're going to make it or like really what's going to happen. So I'm just trying to like stay in the moment and just be humble about it.” Brown has recorded three sacks and 4.5 TFLs this season while recording interceptions in consecutive weeks against Charlotte and Virginia before notching a fumble recovery versus Michigan State. After making the jump from St. Francis (PA), Brown has been the blazing edge rusher that the Terps envisioned when he enrolled last January. “Towson, I was just kind of like getting my feet in and just figuring out everything,” Brown said. “I think game by game it started to get a little bit better as far as like just rushing and having like a positive success rate. And I think Indiana kind of capped it off I kind of really got my footing.” Clear leader remains in Maryland's WR room Kaden Prather joined Maryland in the offseason tasked with the role of filling the role left void by Dontay Demus and heading into the season finale, he’s delivered. Prather enters the season finale leading the Terps in receiving touchdowns (5), but it’s been the types of catches that have caught the attention of fans through conference play. First, a one-handed touchdown to kick off the scoring against Ohio State, then an all-out extension on 3rd down against Nebraska, followed by a 34-yard catch along the sideline against Will Johnson to set the offense up at the one-yard line against Michigan. Prather’s catch radius and ability to give the Terps a threat in the vertical passing attack has commanded a feature role in Maryland's passing attack. "When we catch balls, we don't work on the easy catches. We work on the things that's way ahead of us or way behind us. So anything you see, we worked on," Prather added. "So, you know, it's not anything that fell from a tree or anything." Despite creating his own highlight plays in his first season with the program, Prather pointed to the Terps’ veteran as the clear leader in the receiver room as Jeshaun Jones prepares for his 47th and final regular season game as a Terp. “We’re all good at specific things, but the lead dog in that room is Jeshaun Jones, number six. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.” Archbishop Spalding gets shoutout following MIAA Championship Of course, Kellan Wyatt's production isn't a surprise if you're familiar with his production as a disruptor in the trenches at Archbishop Spalding. Wyatt, a former three-star prospect out of the MIAA powerhouse, was one of two Spalding prospects signed in the 2022 cycle (Lavain Scruggs) while twin brothers Keyshawn and Keion Flowers are both committed in the 2023 cycle. Maryland would love to add quarterback Malik Washington to the 2025 class as the four-star has been on campus for four games this season, most recently Saturday's game against Michigan. Off the heels of head coach Kyle Schmitt leading the Cavaliers to consecutive conference championships, Locksley praised the former Terp. “Coming out of the Spalding program, we love recruiting Spalding. You look at some of the kids that we have in our program that are from there. The job Kyle Schmitt’s done building. I think they just won back-to-back MIAA championships. A former Terp, Kyle, leading their program and has built that program the way that I’d love to build this one and so Kellan fits right in with some of that stuff. He’s a tremendous competitor. He loves football, he’s a football guy. When we talk about guys that play the game the right way. He’s one of those guys. But it’s not surprising because when you look at Spalding and the job Kyle has done down there with his program, it’s not surprising why they win championships and why guys Kellan ends up being the type of player he’s been for us.” Spalding defeated McDonogh, 40-7, to win the MIAA A title game at Towson last weekend. "I talked to my former coordinator. I talk to him a lot, at least once or twice during the week and they came in really prepared. They really knew that they were going to win the game," Wyatt added. Related Links
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