Though Maryland head football coach Michael Locksley boldly stated before the season that his team was ready to compete for a Big Ten championship, the Terps still needed to prove their ability in competing toe-to-toe with Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State.
The first test against one of the Big Ten East’s top three teams came on Oct. 7 when Maryland faced No. 4 Ohio State. The Terps battled against a top-five team, but Ohio State (5-0) overpowered Maryland (5-1) with a big fourth quarter en route to a 37-17 win.
Some early mistakes by the Terps came back to bite them in the end. Here are the biggest momentum-swinging plays from Maryland’s first loss of the season.
Ohio State’s botched fake punt
Maryland won the coin toss and deferred, giving the Buckeyes the ball first. The Terps forced a three and out, leading to a risky fake punt by Ohio State. Maryland read the play perfectly, and running back Antwain Littleton II made the tackle to set up the Terps from the Buckeyes’ 30-yard line.
Maryland took a 7-0 lead with wide receiver Kaden Prather’s one-handed touchdown grab, showing that Ohio State would not be able to steamroll Maryland as it had in the past.
Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa’s first interception
The Terps jumped out to a 10-0 lead and fully controlled the game, but then Tagovailoa made his first mistake. Deep in his own territory and facing a third-and-5, Tagovailoa threw to the wrong shoulder of Tyrese Chambers. Buckeyes safety Josh Proctor moved in front of Chambers and intercepted the ball. Proctor took off and scored, swinging momentum to the Buckeyes.
“That’s a communication error,” Locksley said. “… Taulia is a veteran player, played a lot of football for us and we’ll win and lose with him. And I’ll take my chances because he’s a competitor.”
Botched clock management at the end of the first half
Maryland had a chance to score at the end of the first half and on the first possession of the second half, but the Terps made a mistake with no timeouts remaining. With 12 seconds left and inside field goal range, Tagovailoa should have taken a shot to the end zone or to the sidelines. Instead, Tagovailoa threw a pass to Littleton up the middle for a short gain. The Terps did not have time to line up and spike the ball before halftime, leaving three points on the field.
“We had a chance, it’s almost déjà vu a week ago,” Locksley said. “We’re down in field goal range in the first half and we don’t execute our end-of-the-half plays the way they should be executed.”
The Terps’ first drive out of halftime
Coming out of halftime, Maryland put together a strong drive that featured some explosive plays. Running back Roman Hemby started off the drive with a 17-yard rush. Late in the drive, Tagovailoa found wide receiver Jeshaun Jones for a 23-yard completion down the left sideline. Two plays later, Tagovailoa ran in for the score to give the Terps a 17-10 lead.
Tagovailoa’s second interception
After Ohio State tied the game up on its next possession, Maryland drove down the field. On a big third-and-10 from his own 43-yard line, Tagovailoa faced heavy pressure from the Buckeyes’ defensive line. A scrambling Tagovailoa tried to make a play, but safety Lathan Ransom intercepted the ball. The Buckeyes turned that interception into a field goal.
“[It was] third down, trying to make an explosive play and just trying to force it in there,” Tagovailoa said. “He made a nice play on it.”
Tagovailoa had his worst game of the season, completing 21 of 41 passes for just 196 yards, the first time this season he has not thrown for more than 200 yards.
Ohio State’s second-and-33 completion
Early in the fourth quarter, Ohio State was leading 20-17 but some self-inflicted wounds created a second-and-33, giving the Terps a prime opportunity to force a punt. Except Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord threw a perfect dime to wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who made the catch along the right sideline.
The Buckeyes scored a touchdown on the very next play, increasing their lead to 10. Harrison had a huge game, with eight receptions for 163 yards and a touchdown.
In the second half, the Terps’ defense left a lot of receivers wide open. McCord exploited it, as Ohio State generated several big second-half passing plays.
“We’ve got to read our keys right, communicate right,” safety Beau Brade said. “There’s a lot of communication errors out there [that contributed to the big plays].”
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