Turnovers, miscues doom Maryland in rout by No. 5 Iowa

A “blackout” crowd at Maryland Stadium showed up and brought energy early, ready for the prime-time lights of Big Ten Conference football and the highest-ranked opponent to visit College Park in 14 years.

The Terrapins, however, were not.

“We still sit here…with us not playing the type of football that I want us to play and that we expect to play,” said Maryland coach Mike Locksley.

Maryland committed multiple miscues, including seven turnovers and a season-high 10 penalties, as No. 5 Iowa resoundingly backed up its top-10 ranking with a 51-14 dismantling of the Terrapins.

“We made some poor decisions which hadn’t shown up all year long,” Locksley said.

Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa was challenged by the top defense in the Big Ten and struggled, throwing for a season-low 157 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions. Only two of Maryland’s 14 drives made it into Iowa territory, and backup quarterback Reece Udinski replaced Tagovailoa early in the fourth quarter after his fifth interception.

“I think the big thing for him is just keeping his confidence,” Locksley said of Tagovailoa, who made “a couple of early throws” and was trying to force some plays when Maryland got behind.

“He was pressing a little bit after the first couple interceptions and wanting to go play well,” Locksley said.

The Terrapins (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) lost most of their energy when wide receiver Dontay Demus left early in the second quarter with an apparent leg injury and fumble sustained on a kickoff return. The standout senior had 61 yards receiving — all in the first quarter — when he exited. 

Locksley didn’t have an immediate sense of how severe the injury was after the game. He said an X-ray was taken and he’ll await the results of an MRI before knowing more.

“(Demus is) the best player on our team, so when that happens, it’s bound to affect our team,” senior tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo said. 

Maryland’s defense came into the game fourth in the Big Ten in scoring, but was exposed by Iowa’s (5-0, 2-0) deliberate, methodical attack

“Maybe we just got believing too much of the hype that was given to us,” Okonkwo said.

Hawkeye quarterback Spencer Petras had his best performance of the season, completing 21 passes for 259 yards, three touchdowns, and rushing for two scores. The Hawkeyes tallied 428 yards of total offense. And after punting on their initial drive, they scored the next nine times they had the ball.

“We’ve got to clean up little stuff, we’ve got to stop the penalties,” Maryland defensive back Tarheeb Still said.

Iowa has now won its last 11 games dating back to last season, and the 51 points are the most by the Hawkeyes since a 63-0 thrashing of Illinois in 2018.

“Give Iowa credit,” Lockley said. “They took full advantage of the opportunities we presented them.”

Tagovailoa started the game with a mix of quick, short passes, but each of Maryland’s first two drives were stunted by the type of mistakes Locksley is looking to flesh out of his team. The miscues were a harbinger of what was to come.

First, a fourth-and-one attempt at Maryland’s 44 yard line turned into a fourth-and-six and a Terrapin punt after a false start on right guard Johari Branch.

Then, on Maryland’s second drive, Branch committed another false start, this time on a third-and-one. On the ensuing play, Tagovailoa came under pressure in the pocket and was picked off by Iowa’s Riley Moss.

Iowa picked up 27 yards on the subsequent drive, but a pass break-up by Still forced a 41-yard Caleb Shudak Iowa field goal and the first points of the game.

Tagovailoa opened up the passing game on Maryland’s third drive, hitting Demus for two big completions of 26 and 22 yards to get the Terrapins into the red zone. Then the Hawaii native called his own number on a key third down, picking up four yards to the Iowa nine. Tagovailoa found Okonkwo on a play-action screen pass to the right to give Maryland their fonly lead, 7-3.

The game and spirit of the Maryland Stadium crowd of 45,527 turned in a matter of minutes at the beginning of the second quarter.

After Petras finished off Iowa’s third drive by punching it in himself for a one-yard touchdown, disaster struck on the ensuing Maryland kickoff return as Demus’s left leg was hit by Iowa’s Sebastian Castro. Castro wrapped and tried to tackle Demus, which appeared to cause his right leg to get stuck and twisted in the turf, forcing him to drop the football. 

The District native remained down on the field for a few minutes before walking to a cart to be taken to the locker room. 

“It more so hurts me for him with how great of a season he’s been having,” Okonkwo said. “He practices like a first-rounder, he treats everyone with respect, he’s a great guy to be around.”

Iowa converted two plays later, a Petras eight-yard pass to Arland Bruce for their second touchdown in 53 seconds and a 10 point lead, 17-7.

Tagovailoa then threw interceptions on two of his next three passes — a tipped ball that was picked off at the Maryland 44 by Iowa’s Jack Koerner and an under-thrown ball nabbed by Dane Belton at the Maryland 45. Both led to Iowa touchdowns. 

“I don’t think anybody could have seen that coming,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “Their guy’s done a great job protecting the football.”

Tagovailoa’s final pick of the half came on a 44-yard heave that was grabbed by Iowa’s Terry Roberts as time expired. 

“It’s not all on [Taulia],” Locksley said, “it’s on us as coaches, it’s on his teammates to be where they need to be.”

“I still have a lot of faith in him as a quarterback”

The half was one of the most dismal in recent memory: Maryland committed eight penalties for 71 yards, turned the ball over five times, only made it into Iowa territory once, and was outscored 31-0 in the second quarter. That sapped most of the electricity and atmosphere out of the crisp, early fall night in College Park.

“I’m disappointed for our fans because they sure showed up for us when we needed them,” Locksley said. “I just hope that they don’t let one game define them just like we won’t let it define us.”

The Big Ten doesn’t get any easier for Maryland, as its next heads to Columbus to take on No. 11 Ohio State, who it has not beaten in six tries.

“Throw this game in the trash, forget about it,” Okonkwo said. “We have many more games to play, we have many more opportunities to get back and show people who we really are.”