Taulia Tagovailoa added one more accolade to his accomplished Maryland career after posting 361 passing yards on 24-of-31 passing in a 42-24 win vs. Rutgers, setting the new Big Ten all-time passing yard record with 11,256 career yards.
“It’s just a blessing. It was awesome that, for us seniors, that we kind of ended the season the right way,” Taulia Tagovailoa said following the win. “We came [into] New Jersey on a mission and we came through. It was a whole team effort, so it was just awesome to hear everyone happy out there.”
“I know he’d be the first to tell you that he didn’t do it by himself. He’s had a bunch of teammates along the way that have contributed to it, but for a guy that came here under the shadow of a huge last name to make his own mark here at Maryland, but also in the Big Ten I think speaks volumes of the type of character that this kid has and I’m really proud of what he’s done in helping us elevate this program,” head coach Mike Locksley said of his star quarterback.
“Just having that guy as a leader, having that guy is honestly a blessing,” receiver Tai Felton said of Taulia after recording a career-high 140 receiving yards in the win.
It didn’t take long for Taulia to break the record, either, doing so on a six-yard reception by WR Jeshaun Jones, who became the eighth player in program history to eclipse 2,000 career passing yards. After recording his third consecutive 3,000-yard season last week, Taulia notched the Big Ten record by completing passes to ten different receivers.
“We always have really great talent on the board and having to see the young guys get in and get some catches. I mean, you see it in practice every week,” Tagovailoa added. “Everyone’s getting in there and that gets each other better.”
“We knew that we didn’t have to work harder than the record because we just executed our system. It takes care of itself. Results take care of themselves based on the process and they put a lot of work in this week,” Locksley added. “Our offense did a great job in timing and the execution on offense was probably the best it’s been in the first half of this game probably in about a month. It’s great to see us finish on a note like that, which now allows us to continue to develop some of these younger players. And as we are going prep for our bowl game, this is where you will start seeing some of the dividends of some of the young players that we played throughout the year.”
Following the win, Taulia watched a video with his parents and older brother congratulating him on the new record.
What a football family
The Tagovailoa’s greet Taulia after be became the Big Ten’s all time leading passer pic.twitter.com/kn02P1Kcvn
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) November 26, 2023
“My family’s everything. That’s an awesome blessing to I have my family there supporting me. They’re there every step of the day,” Taulia said with his mother, father and sisters in attendance. “That’s what I do it for.”
Taulia opened the game by connecting on all but one of his first eleven passes, finding the endzone three times as Maryland built an early 28-3 lead. “That was good for us to start the game off fast and continue to keep the lead.”
Maryland turned to Billy Edwards Jr. for the final two touchdowns, including a game-sealing touchdown with 84 seconds left to give the Terps their seventh win of the regular season.
“It’s fun to watch. I’m happy we get it every time. So definitely something to take pride in,” Taulia added.
“Especially last week, three times at the one [yard line] and this week we got two more opportunities for me so just grateful they have trust in me and obviously props to the other guys on the field because my job is pretty easy when it comes to those situations. Good fun, though. Definitely excited that I got an opportunity in the short yardage package and I was able to take advantage of it.”
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