Maryland football won seven games in the regular season for the first time since 2014, but its 2022 campaign isn’t finished. The Terps have one more battle on the docket: a date with No. 23 NC State in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte on Friday.
“Making a bowl game … that’s a special opportunity,” quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa said. “Kind of like a celebration for the season.”
Maryland’s regular season saw its share of ups-and-downs, which was often encapsulated by the Terps’ signal caller’s personal performance.
The star redshirt junior started out hot, with an 8:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio in Maryland’s 3-0 start to the season. However, Tagovailoa suffered a leg injury early in conference play — and his performance on the field took a tumble as a result. Against Wisconsin and then-No. 14 Penn State in early November, he finished with a combined completion percentage under 50% and threw for just 151 combined yards, along with an interception.
However, Tagovailoa was superb in Maryland’s final two games of the regular season. Against Rutgers and College Football Playoff semifinalist No. 4 Ohio State, Tagovailoa finished with 635 passing yards, four total touchdowns and zero interceptions — a stark difference to his previous two outings.
The program leader in career passing yards and touchdowns will be without multiple weapons against the Wolfpack. Junior wide receivers Rakim Jarrett and Jacob Copeland, and senior wide receiver Dontay Demus all declared for the 2023 NFL Draft and will forgo the bowl game. Sophomore tight end CJ Dippre will miss the bowl game as he entered the transfer portal on Nov. 30— and just recently announced he will be headed to Alabama.
That should allow for younger receivers, such as sophomore Tai Felton and freshman Octavian Smith, to get valuable playing time in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
“They’re all sponges, they all ask a lot of questions and want to learn … that’s the great thing about it,” redshirt senior wide receiver Jeshaun Jones said. “They’re looking forward to how they can get better and how they can help this team.”
On the defensive side, the Terps will be missing redshirt junior defensive back Deonte Banks and redshirt senior linebacker Ahmad McCullough. Banks announced he will not participate in the bowl game and will enter the 2023 NFL Draft, while McCullough entered the transfer portal and will miss the bowl game. The two accounted for a total of 83 tackles, eight pass break ups and one interception this season.
Maryland’s bowl victory over Virginia Tech a season ago gave the Terps momentum entering the 2022 campaign, which continued as they got off to a 3-0 start. The goal in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl is the same.
“We look at this bowl game not as the finish but actually the start of our ‘23 campaign,” coach Mike Locksley said. “Usually the bowl game for us is a precursor for what it looks like in the future.”
NC State reached the eight-win mark for the third straight year, going 8-4 in the regular season. The Wolfpack won five of their first six games, but played .500 ball down the stretch as they battled quarterback issues.
Redshirt junior Devin Leary guided NC State to a 5-1 start, but suffered a season-ending injury against Florida State. The Wolfpack started three different quarterbacks over their remaining six games — graduate student Jack Chambers, and freshman MJ Morris and Ben Finley.
Chambers’ lone outing was a 24-9 defeat to Syracuse. Morris went 2-1 before suffering a lower-body injury, which forced him to miss the final two games of the regular season. Finley took over and went 1-1.
Leary entered the transfer portal and just recently committed to Kentucky.
No matter who starts at quarterback for the Wolfpack, they’ll be without redshirt junior wideout Devin Carter, who entered the transfer portal and will miss the bowl game. Carter finished this season with 406 yards, second-most on NC State.
The bowl game brings back an old ACC rivalry, as the schools met annually from 1956-2013. Maryland and NC State haven’t matched up since the Terps left the ACC for the Big Ten, and the all-time series history sits dead even at 33-33-4.
“They’re a decent team but I feel if Maryland shows up, then we’ll get the job done,” sophomore defensive back Dante Trader said. “That’s not to discredit anything they’ve done all season. We’ve lost some guys, they’ve lost some guys. We’re just gonna go out there and play our style of football.”
The Duke’s Mayo Bowl will kickoff at noon and will take place at Bank of America Stadium.
