After trading blows with Charlotte in the first quarter, the Maryland football team asserted its dominance as the game wore on and won, 56-21.
The Terps’ offense could not be stopped in the early going, scoring on its first five drives before redshirt junior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa threw his lone interception of the game.
Maryland will return home to face Southern Methodist at Maryland Stadium Sept. 17, but first, here are three standouts from the game against Charlotte:
Taulia Tagovailoa
After not throwing a touchdown against Buffalo, Tagovailoa threw a career-high four touchdowns in the first half alone against Charlotte. He also rushed for another touchdown in the third quarter.
“I felt like we made the most of our opportunities, not just me but us as an offense,” Tagovailoa said.
Tagovailoa was taken out of the game after getting up gingerly when he slipped following his fourth career rushing touchdown.
“It was humid out there,” Tagovailoa said. “Throughout the drive, I was cramping in my right calf. And then I had to run the ball. You know how that goes. Everything just locked up. Happy I got in the end zone before it did.”
“If I keep it PG-13, I was like, ‘Holy –‘” head coach Michael Locksley said.
Tagovailoa spread the ball all over the field on this afternoon, with 11 different receivers catching at least one pass from the quarterback.
Tagovailoa completed 87 percent of his passes (27-of-31) on his way to throwing for 391 yards. This was the highest single-game completion percentage in Maryland program history.
“He’s his own animal,” junior wide receiver Jacob Copeland said. “When he gets in his mode and he’s feeling good about the situation or the game he’s going to make the best of it.”
Jacob Copeland
Copeland led all receivers with 110 receiving yards and added two touchdowns. Redshirt senior wideout Jeshaun Jones had two touchdowns as part of his 71-yard effort as well.
Copeland scored the first touchdown of the game, a 39-yard touchdown catch, and dominated the game after that. The 110 yards and two touchdowns came before the second half began.
“Every week isn’t going to be your call or your number and today was my call and my number,” Copeland said. “I felt real confident about everything and my teammates were confident in me.”
Situational Defense
Maryland’s defense got off to a rough start, allowing the 49ers to drive down the field to score a touchdown on their first drive of the game. The drive included three fourth-down conversions.
The Niners’ drive also featured untimely penalties by the Terps — including defensive pass interference on senior defensive back Jakorian Bennett and illegal use of hands by sophomore defensive lineman Tommy Akingbesote — that extended the touchdown drive.
Charlotte quarterback Xavier Williams threw his second touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter. The Terps’ defense held the 49ers to zero points from that point until halfway through the fourth quarter.
Maryland’s defense held Charlotte to 9-of-25 on third and fourth downs combined.
“Defensively, though it wasn’t pretty, we held them to 5-of-18 on third down, so we played good situational defense,” Locksley said.
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