Maryland football suffered a heartbreaking loss its last time out against Purdue, losing by two after not converting a two-point try at the end.
Now, the Terps head to Bloomington in a key Big Ten East matchup against Indiana.
“We’ve flushed it, [although] this one was a little tougher,” coach Mike Locksley said.
Maryland struck first against Purdue, but back-and-forth scores resulted in a 10-10 tie early in the second quarter. Included in the scoring was Chad Ryland a 46-yard field goal, who was a perfect 5-5 entering the Michigan State game two weekends ago. Since then, the Eastern Michigan transfer has gone 3-5 as his leg hasn’t been the same as of late.
Down by seven with under a minute left in the half, Tagovailoa found Corey Dyches for a 68 yard score, as Dyches displayed unreal strength as he dragged a Boilermaker the final 15 yards to the endzone.
Dyches finished with 106 yards, a new career-high. Dyches and Tagovailoa have formed a dynamic duo this season, as the big-bodied pass catcher for Tagovailoa leads the Terps in receiving yards (322) and touchdowns (three).
Despite securing three turnovers on Purdue’s first three drives of the second half, Maryland scored no points in the third quarter. Included in the turnovers was a fumble recovery from linebacker Jaishawn Barham.
Barham, a true freshman, played the best game of his career thus far. Barham registered five tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery against Purdue. Barham was awarded Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his performance.
“As soon as I seen him in fall camp I knew he was gonna be special,” defensive back Jakorian Bennett said.
Maryland found the endzone midway through the fourth quarter for the first score of the second half. However, Ryland’s point-after-attempt was blocked, keeping Maryland’s lead at six.
The blocked extra point was met with controversy, as on replay, it appeared the blocker jumped offsides before the play began. Nevertheless, Maryland still led by six.
Two Purdue touchdown drives in the fourth gave the Boilermakers a 31-23 lead with 1:20 left.
Tagovailoa and company marched down the field beautifully, needing just 37 seconds to find the endzone. The Terps converted on the two-point try but an ineligible man downfield penalty resulted in a re-try. The Terps were unable to convert the second time, and they lost their second conference game of the season in a crushing 31-29 defeat.
“It’s just like every other week: good, bad, ugly, … watch the film, learn from it,” Tagovailoa said. “Throw the game away and focus on the next opponent.”
Indiana, like Maryland, enters with a 1-2 conference record. Indiana lost 31-10 against No. 5 Michigan its last time out, its third consecutive defeat this season.
Despite being tied at halftime, the Hoosiers collapsed in the second half. The Wolverines outscored them 21-0 in the final two quarters, a week after Nebraska outscored the Hoosiers 14-0 in the second half after being tied at halftime.
The second half collapses the past two weeks for Indiana have come as a surprise, as the Hoosiers had outscored their opponents in the second half in each of the first four weeks of the season.
As a unit, Indiana has severely struggled on defense. The Hoosiers rank last in the Big Ten in points allowed per game (30.5). The Terps average 34 points per game, fifth in the Big Ten, but that number could go up following this week given the favorable matchup.
On offense, Indiana hasn’t fared much better. The Hoosiers sit 11th in the Big Ten in points per game (24.3), and have the fourth fewest touchdowns in the conference (17).
Hoosiers signal caller Connor Bazelak has been prone to turn the ball over this season, as he enters tied for the second-most interceptions (six) in the conference. Maryland has registered just three interceptions this season, second-fewest in the conference, setting up a weakness-on-weakness matchup.
Indiana’s biggest playmaker on offense is wideout Cam Camper, as his 457 receiving yards is fifth-best in the conference.
“A quality opponent that has our attention,” Locksley said. “They’re fourth in the nation in tempo … and so for us, we’ve got to do a really good job on the defensive side of the ball of getting ourselves lined up, a really good job of communicating and making sure that we’ve got everybody on the same page as they try to play fast.”
The game on Saturday will start at 3:30 p.m. and will take place at Indiana University Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
