Maryland football dominates Towson 38-6 in season-opener

On Maryland’s opening drive of the second half, Taulia Tagovailoa dumped off a screen pass to Corey Dyches. The athletic tight end then scampered for a 14-yard gain, setting up the Terps in the red zone. 

Maryland scored its fifth touchdown on the next play, pushing the Terps’ lead up to 35-3 and putting the game out of reach for the Tigers. 

Dyches finished with a career day, corralling six passes for a personal-best 108 receiving yards and a score. Dyches was the main beneficiary on offense, but he repeatedly set his teammates up to make big plays and kept the chains moving for the Terps. 

“[In] summer training Corey has been one of those guys that we’ve identified as a playmaker,” coach Mike Locksley said. “So what we saw Corey do today was things he did all camp long and you know, it started last year with him in terms of the value he gives us in the passing game.”

Maryland (1-0) dominated Locksley’s alma mater, defeating Towson (0-1), 38-6, to kick off their 2023 campaign on Saturday at SECU Stadium.

Tagovailoa found Dyches wide open up the seam on Maryland’s opening drive of the game for a 44-yard completion. The catch extended Dyches’ streak of 16-straight games with a reception, the longest streak of any Terps.

The Terps faced a second-and-10 in Tigers territory two plays later. Then their quarterback dazzled with his legs, escaping the pocket right and scrambling for a 23-yard touchdown. The run capped off a seven-play, 87-yard drive in just three minutes to kick off the afternoon’s scoring.

Tagovailoa found Dyches again in the middle of the field on Maryland’s next offensive possession, who absorbed a big hit from a Towson defender before stretching the ball over the goal line for a 23-yard score. Dyches’ first touchdown of the season gave Maryland a 14-0 lead with 4:29 left in the first quarter. 

“It’s one of those plays where it’s into the perfect look that we want and Dych did a good job of doing his job and on the touchdown he stayed skinny and right off the break [I] threw it,” Tagovailoa said. “Just a good job of everyone doing their job.”

The Terps scored on back-to-back possessions to go up three scores in the first quarter. Jeshaun Jones came back to a Tagovailoa pass near Towson’s 10-yard line, shook a defender off and waltzed into the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown.

A questionable pass interference call on Cincinnati transfer Ja’Quan Sheppard allowed Towson to reach the red zone to open up the second quarter, but the Terps’ defense held strong and forced the Tigers to just three on a 36-yard field goal by Keegan Vaughan. 

The Terps executed a 15-play, 91-yard drive on their final possession of the first half, capped off by a Kaden Prather 13-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone. Prather’s score pushed Maryland ahead 28-3 at halftime.

“Adversity,  you know, like it doesn’t make you, it reveals who you are,” Prather said regarding dropping a pass earlier on the drive. “So if you let that one little drop get to you then you know you’re weak minded. Lia is a confident quarterback, I dropped the ball and he came right back to me.”

Maryland relied heavily on its aerial attack in the first half, with 71.1 percent of its plays resulting in a pass. Tagovailoa recorded a career-high 32 passing attempts in the first two quarters alone and reached the 200-yard mark for the ninth time in his career.

“Going into it we want to start off fast. Our quarterback is our strength and I’m gonna keep talking about we have to play to our strengths,” Locksley said. “Our offense’s strength is the type of quarterback we have and the receivers we develop.”

The Terps’ defense held the Tigers to under four yards per play and particularly excelled in the secondary. Towson completed just five passes the entire first half.

Towson’s offense continued its struggles with a three-and-out to kick off the second half. Maryland switched up its philosophy and put the ball on the ground seven of eight times on its next offensive drive, all of which were handled by redshirt sophomore Roman Hemby. He capped off the possession with a nine-yard score for the Terps’ fifth touchdown of the day.

Redshirt junior Nathan Kent kept Towson’s ensuing drive alive by scrambling for two first downs on multiple dropbacks. But after 16 plays and nearly eight minutes, the Tigers settled for a field goal. 

Tagovailoa’s day was done when redshirt sophomore Billy Edwards Jr. replaced him with just over a minute left in the third quarter and the Terps up 35-6. He ended the game 22-33 with 260 passing yards and four total touchdowns. 

Edwards and the Terps grinded out a 17-play drive resulting in a chip shot 24-yard field goal for senior Evan Johnson. Maryland then predominately moved the ball on the ground to burn the clock and put the game away. 

The Terps won their 12th-straight non-conference season opener and did so with an explosive offense and smothering pass defense. The Terps will be back at SECU Stadium for its Sept. 9 matchup against Charlotte. 

“Usually see your best jump from game one to game two, and I’m looking forward to getting us prepared for that,” Locksley said.