Maryland’s offense began Saturday firing on all cylinders against Ohio State as quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa connected on his first two passes before finding Kaden Prather for his third completion and first touchdown pass.
Taulia finished the day 21-of-41 for 196 yards and one touchdown, but his first interception is what gave Ohio State life as the Terps’ limited a stagnant Buckeye offense. With Maryland ahead, 10-0, five minutes into the second quarter, Ohio State safety Josh Proctor took advantage of a QB-receiver miscommunication to tally a 24-yard pick-six as Taulia added he put the throw “on the wrong shoulder.”
“When you watch the tape, the receiver [is] supposed to turn inside. He turns outside. That’s a communication issue,” Locksley added. “The ball should have been thrown inside. We should have a receiver inside.”
After an Ohio State 36-yard field goal tied the game at ten, Maryland took over at their own 25 with 92 seconds left before halftime. Taulia would connect on four of his next five throws, driving the offense to the Ohio State 48. A ten-yard completion got Maryland into field goal territory, but after Taulia connected with Jeshaun Jones on a four-yard catch for a first down, a roughing the passer gifted Maryland prime field position with 12 seconds remaining. With no timeouts at the Ohio State 18, Tagovailoa found Antwain Littleton over the middle before the clock ran out, blowing a chance to take a 13-10 lead into the locker room as head coach Mike Locksley called it “almost deja vu [to] a week ago.”
“We’re down in field goal range, scoring range in the first half and we don’t execute our end of the half plays the way they should be executed. To check the ball down, we wanted to take a shot in the end zone. We had 12 seconds on the clock. You take a shot. If it’s not there, you kick the field goal. What you don’t want to do is check it down in that situation, which we did,” Locksley added.
“It’s just bad situational football and I’ve gotta be better,” Tagovailoa said following the loss. “Knowing me, I have all this experience and those are situations that I gotta be ahead of the game with. Just throw it or dirt the ball down, walk away with points on the board.
Maryland took advantage of its opening possession in the second half as Taulia capped off a nine-play, 75-yard drive with a nine-yard rushing touchdown, taking the lead back with the score 17-10. Taulia’s touchdown proved to be the last points of the game as Ohio State scored 27 unanswered en route to Maryland’s first loss, but it wouldn’t be for a lack of trying.
After Ohio State responded with their lone rushing touchdown on a two-minute drive to tie the game at 17, Taulia Tagovailoa tossed his second interception of the day as the Buckeyes turned it into their first lead of the day.
“The second interception, third down, just trying to, we need explosive play and just trying to force it in there,” Taulia added. “[Lathan Ransom] made a nice play on it.”
Maryland’s passing offense generated just 52 yards in the second half, despite Taulia finishing 7-of-13 over the final 30 minutes.
“Coming into a team like this, you always want to make big plays and explosive plays what coach always talks about. I think I’ve got to give them a chance more, especially those one-on-one plays, 50-50 balls. Just give them a chance. I know my guys are gonna make a play on it. We didn’t do that the second half.”
After tossing his fourth and fifth interception of the season, along with the first-half blunder, Taulia Tagovailoa had his worst game of the season one week after arguably his best performance in a Maryland uniform. As the Terps look to regroup back at home against Illinois next weekend, Taulia reviews his mindset during the loss to the Buckeyes.
“When you make a mistake like throwing the interception, the only thing you can think of is the next play. I think that’s the mindset mentality that we have. I think if you continue to harp on the interception, things aren’t gonna go good for you,” Tagovailoa added. “But as a quarterback, leader of the team, it’s all about next play mentality. I think after the first one, we had a good two-minute drive. We just didn’t finish with our situational awareness. We started out hot in the second half. We’ve just got to continue to continue to keep playing.”
There’s little doubt about what Taulia Tagovailoa knows he needs to do better going into week seven.
“You said it right there, two interceptions. Obviously, taking care of the football. We got to play complimentary football. When the defense gives us the ball, we’ve got to get points on the board.”
Everything Mike Locksley said after Maryland’s 37-17 loss vs Ohio State