Maryland football’s disheartening defeat to No. 9 Penn State continued its season collapse

Just over a month ago Maryland football cruised to 5-0 start and coach Michael Locksley’s lofty goal of contending for Big Ten championships seemed like a real possibility. 

The last time the Terps began a season that well was in 2001, when they finished the season at 10-2. But this season, Maryland has collapsed. It’s dropped four straight games and currently stands at 5-4. Contending for a conference championship is out of the question and there is a real chance the Terps drop their final three games and fail to become bowl eligible. 

Maryland’s first loss occurred on the road against No. 3 Ohio State and the Terps continued to unravel from there. They crumbled to inferior opponents Illinois and Northwestern, and most recently were trounced by No. 9 Penn State.

“The only thing we should be worried about is just trying to get a win, get out [of] the gutter,” Donnell Brown said. And we will do everything we can to get out [of] the gutter, but it’s hard, especially in this league.”

All of the Terps’ flaws were on full display against the Nittany Lions. The offensive line failed to protect Taulia Tagovailoa and couldn’t open up any lanes in the running game. Penn State recorded six sacks — two of which occurred on third downs — that shattered drives. It also held Maryland to negative yards rushing. 

The Terps ran the ball just five times in the second half. Their running backs attempted just two carries for -5 yards.

“What we can’t do is abandon the run,” Locksley said. “And again, we’ve got to continue, when we tried to run the ball and it seems like guys are unblocked inside you’re trying to establish the run and sometimes what happens is you get spooked out of it.” 

Tagovailoa did everything he could to keep Maryland in the game, but completing 17 straight passes and a career best 22 in the first half wasn’t enough. 

The 17 straight completions tied South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler for the most in the nation to start a game this season. Still, the Terps entered halftime down two scores and Tagovailoa’s stat line was unrecognizable in comparison to each half. 

The Terps’ quarterback was 22-25 for 211 yards and one passing touchdown over the first two quarters. He went just 7-14 for 75 yards with one passing touchdown, an interception and a fumble after halftime.

“I would just say it’s cleaning up mistakes and just really paying attention to the small details,” Tai Felton said regarding the offense’s continued struggles. “It’s just the little things that keep coming back to bite us in the butt but there’s not really much to it.” 

Even Maryland’s lone touchdown drive in the first half was only made possible by three Penn State penalties. A roughing the punter penalty kept them on the field, and two penalties on the same play later in the drive set the Terps up in the redzone. 

Maryland’s defense — which was adept at forcing turnovers over the first five games — has recorded just one turnover over the last four contests. It’s allowing 37 points per game over its last four games — a far cry from the 13.2 mark in the first five games.  

The Terps’ collapse has been met with plenty of distractions. But with games on the road against Nebraska and Rutgers left on the schedule — along with a battle against No. 2 Michigan — Maryland looking to get back on track for at least one of those contests. Otherwise, it won’t avoid falling short of bowl eligibility.