With 1:02 left in the first half, Maryland got the ball back at midfield after Indiana failed to convert on fourth down.
The Terps marched down the field, and quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa eventually found wide receiver Tai Felton slanting across the field and into the end zone. Felton caught the 9-yard pass, securing his third receiving touchdown of the game to put Maryland up 27-3.
Felton’s effort was part of a 44-17 victory against the Hoosiers as Maryland moved to 5-0 for the first time since 2001. It’s also the first time the Terps have started 2-0 in the Big Ten. Maryland’s 44 points set a new season high, as the Terps continued their streak of scoring 31-plus points and winning by 18-plus points this season.
“I thought today was probably the most complete game that we played in all three phases,” head coach Michael Locksley said. “… Usually if you play to the standard we usually end up with the wins.”
Maryland got out to a fast start for a second straight week, marching 75 yards on just three plays during the first drive of the game. Tagovailoa found wide receiver Jeshaun Jones on a busted coverage for a 62-yard catch on the first play from scrimmage. Jones had a big game, finishing with six receptions for 121 yards.
Felton then scored on a 13-yard touchdown on a screen pass for his first score of the day.
“It was just me trusting myself and trusting the process and training I had this week over practice and watching film,” Felton said.
Indiana do-it-all running back Jailyn Lucas returned the ensuing kickoff 56 yards, giving the Hoosiers great field position on Maryland’s side of the field. The Terps’ defense forced Indiana to settle for a field goal, then shut down the Hoosiers for most of the day after that.
The Terps scored 21 points in the first quarter, as Tagovailoa had one of the best games of his Maryland career. Tagovailoa completed 24 of 34 passes for 352 yards and accounted for all six Terps touchdowns (five through the air and one rushing). Tagovailoa became the first Maryland quarterback to throw five touchdown passes since Scott Milanovich did it in 1994.
Hoosiers punter James Evans struggled, giving Maryland short fields throughout the game. Entering the game, Evans was averaging 46.8 yards a punt, second-best in the Big Ten. James’ punts only averaged 36.6 yards against Maryland, giving the Terps an average starting field position of their own 40-yard line.
Despite having the ball for 38 minutes, Indiana mostly struggled on offense. The Terps’ defense suffocated the Hoosiers’ offense, including three straight first-half drives that produced minus-9 yards. Maryland’s defense held Indiana to 194 yards of offense through three quarters.
It was clear the Hoosiers had no chance of catching up when they could not convert on fourth-and-6 from the Terps’ 14-yard line in the second quarter and as such came up empty-handed on a 15-play, 79-yard drive. Three Indiana drives ended with failed fourth-down attempts. Maryland’s defense sacked Indiana’s quarterback Tayven Jackson three times.
“We know that our offense was clicking a lot this game, so we wanted to do everything we can to give them the ball back,” linebacker Ruben Hyppolite said.
Wide receiver Kaden Prather caught Tagovailoa’s record-breaking fifth touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter, padding a dominant victory before Maryland’s toughest challenge yet in No. 4 Ohio State on Oct. 7.
“I think this team is just young and dumb enough to show up and play like they are capable of playing,” Locksley said. “We’ll see what happens.”
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