Maryland football crumbles in 51-15 loss to No. 9 Penn State

Michael Locksley said before Maryland football’s contest with Penn State the team’s winning formula was being explosive on offense and winning the turnover battle.

Against the Nittany Lions, his team badly lost the turnover battle and had its second-worst yards per play mark of the season — including a combined -6 yards from his running backs.

The Terps (5-4) were outplayed and outclassed by No. 9 Penn State (8-1) on their home turf, losing 51-15.

“They were able to have their way with us today,” Locksley said.

Maryland’s defense had no answers for the Nittany Lions. They moved the ball seemingly at will, getting to the red zone nine times — six trips turning into touchdowns — while only punting twice.

Drew Allar had a clean pocket nearly all game — and because of it, he torched the Terps’ secondary to the tune of four touchdowns and 240 yards with a 74% completion percentage. His top receiver, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, reeled in 95 of those yards on eight catches.

On the other side of the ball, Taulia Tagovailoa did all he could while the run game provided virtually nothing to the offense. The quarterback finished with 286 yards and two touchdowns, not turning the ball over until an interception and a fumble in garbage time.

“He’s a baller. That’s our leader, that’s our guy,” receiver Tai Felton said. “We’re going to keep trusting him, keep believing in him and we’ll try to bounce back next week. 

Maryland made it clear early it was playing to win. That came back to bite the team at times.

On Maryland’s very first drive, facing fourth-and-1 inside its own territory, offensive coordinator Josh Gattis dialed up a run-pass option designed to free up tight end Corey Dyches in the flat. But Penn State read it the whole way, and multiple defenders met him short of the sticks to give the Nittany Lions the ball.

Penn State turned the short field into points. A meticulous eight-play, 44-yard drive was topped off by an incredible one-handed catch in the corner of the endzone by redshirt senior Dante Cephas, barely keeping his foot in while fighting through cornerback Ja’Quan Sheppard to finish the catch. 

Felton jump-started the ensuing Maryland drive with a 30-yard catch over the middle of the field on a free play. But the junior ended it just as quickly, fumbling the ball back to Penn State three plays later.

Despite the lackluster output — only one of Maryland’s first half drives ended in points — Taulia Tagovailoa put on a show. He completed 22 of 25 passes for 211 yards and a score in the half, setting a career-high and tying the NCAA-high this season for consecutive completions to start a game with 17.

It was needed, as the running game was virtually nonexistent. The Terps’ only sustained drive before halftime — a 13-play, 75 yard endeavor that ended in a Hemby receiving touchdown — featured three runs for a combined -3 yards.

“We didn’t cover people up and the running game didn’t ever get started,” Locksley said.

Colby McDonald, who is averaging over seven yards per carry on the season and was the team’s leading rusher a week ago, did not touch the ball until late into garbage time.

Maryland went into the locker room down 21-7. Penn State opened the second half with the ball and wasted no time moving downfield. An 11-play drive culminated in a chip-shot field goal to make it a three-score game.

The Terps desperately needed an explosive play to create momentum for themselves. It never came — they had just one pass of over 15 yards in the third quarter, which was immediately followed by three incompletions and a punt.

By the fourth quarter, a 17-point lead was insurmountable. Cephas closed out his best game of the season with his second touchdown, reeling in a dime from Allar to put the game to bed at 31-7 with less than 14 minutes left in the game.

The Terps responded with a strong drive that ended in a Jeshaun Jones touchdown, but it was too little too late. That was the last noise it would make on offense — its next two drives were turnovers.

Over a month ago, Maryland was 5-0 and needed one more win to become bowl-eligible. It’s still waiting for that win, and only has three more games to make it happen.

“We’ve got to … understand that the only people that can fix this are us,” Locksley said. “We’ve got to make a decision that we’ll keep going to work.”