The Maryland football team (3-0, 1-1 Big Ten) bounced back against Michigan State (2-3, 0-2) on Oct. 1 and earned its first conference win of the season.
This win marks the first time the Terps have defeated the Spartans since 2016, when they topped the Spartans, 28-17.
Maryland will have another home game next week when they take on Purdue at noon on Oct. 8, but first, here are three standouts from the game against Michigan State:
Maryland’s Defense
Maryland’s defense pitched a shutout in the second half of the game. Michigan State’s last touchdown came near the end of the second quarter, when senior quarterback Payton Thorne found senior receiver Jayden Reed in the corner of the end zone. After that, the Terps’ defense held the Spartans to a missed field goal, four straight punts and a failed fourth-down conversion.
“This is the third game in a row where our defensive staff led by [defensive coordinator Brian Williams] does a tremendous job of making the necessary adjustments at the half,” head coach Michael Locksley said.
“The coaches really challenged us to get after them in the second half,” junior cornerback Tarheeb Still said. “I feel like guys accepted the challenge and then we really wanted to just dominate, so that’s what we did.”
Maryland held the Spartans to 8 total yards in the third quarter. The Spartans’ time of possession in the third quarter was only 3:26 and 23:44 for the game. Maryland finished at 36:16.
“It’s [very] important,” redshirt senior linebacker Ahmad McCullough said of forcing quick three-and-outs. “When you get off the field you eliminate injuries, you can preserve your defense, and less plays. And it gives the offense more time to have the ball, so there’s more opportunity for us to score and win the game.”
Antwain Littleton II
Redshirt freshman running back Antwain Littleton II had the hot hand against the Spartans. He outpaced redshirt freshman Roman Hemby 19-9 in carries.
Littleton finished the game with 120 rushing yards and a touchdown, averaging 6.3 yards per carry. He was close to scoring twice after a 68-yard run to put the Terps at the Spartans’ 2-yard line. However, a goal-line stand by Michigan State left the Terps without points.
“They didn’t have any defensive end over there. It was just a corner but he shot very wide so I knew if I kept it skinny I was going to break out,” Littleton said of his 68-yard run.
“I think it starts with his size and power,” Locksley said of Littleton. “Minus the four cracks we had at the 1-yard line after the long run, [Littleton] has played really good football for us and he kind of had the hot hand today.”
Littleton now has six touchdowns this season. He has scored in six straight games dating back to last season, tying former Terps running back Lance Ball’s streak from 2005-2006.
Taulia Tagovailoa
After a rough performance against No. 4 Michigan, Maryland redshirt junior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa showed why he is one of the best quarterbacks in program history.
Tagovailoa finished the game 32-for-41 for 314 yards, marking his 10th career game with 300-plus yards. He also threw one passing touchdown to junior receiver Rakim Jarrett.
Tagovailoa moved up to third in the program’s all-time passing list and now sits at 6,261 career passing yards. He passed Boomer Esiason (1981-1983) during the game.
The performance comes a few days after his brother, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, suffered a scary head injury during a “Thursday Night Football” game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“The injury to his brother was heavy on his mind and we did a good job of surrounding him but I really liked the way that he was able to kind of compartmentalize and lean on his brothers,” Locksley said. “I think the one thing that was able to settle him down was he was finally able to get a FaceTime with [Tua] and to basically say, ‘Hey, I’m fine,’ and go play.”
The offensive line did its part as well, allowing only one sack against the Spartans, who lead the Big Ten in sacks. Tagovailoa was able to extend several plays for the Terps. On two separate drives, Tagovailoa’s ability to extend a play led to touchdowns at the end of the drive.
On the Terps’ second drive, Tagovailoa was provided valuable time to find redshirt sophomore tight end Corey Dyches for a 44-yard gain, which led to a rushing touchdown run by sophomore running back Colby McDonald. On another drive, Tagovailoa bounced out the pocket and found redshirt senior Jeshaun Jones for a third-and-10 conversion.
“The development of our offensive line really gave us the ability to have complementary offense where we can run the ball to go with a passing game that everybody knows we would be pretty efficient at,” Locksley said.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics