Lifeless Terrapins lose fourth straight in rout by No. 9 Penn State

COLLEGE PARK — For Maryland, an awful October has now spread into a no-good November, putting a potential third-straight bowl trip in serious jeopardy.

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar looked every bit of the highly-touted talent he’s been heralded as, carving up a beleaguered Maryland defense for four touchdowns, including three in the first half, as the No. 9 Nittany Lions jumped on Maryland early in a 51-15 rout Saturday.

“They were able to have our way with us today,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said. “They came in and kicked our butts, and we got outplayed and outcoached.” 

Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa was high on accuracy, starting the game 17-of-17 — the longest such streak of his career — and completing a career-high 22 first-half passes. But he was sacked six times by the Big Ten’s leading team in that category, and never looked comfortable as he scrambled on most of his dropbacks. He exited in the fourth quarter with the outcome in hand, finishing 29-39 for 286 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

“It definitely is a frustration because everybody wants to win, obviously,” Maryland wideout Tai Felton said. “We practice hard. We do this to win. But, obviously, it’s a frustration. It’s a team game. We’ve just got to keep practicing. Keep going hard, and keep believing.”

Maryland’s offense was also severely hampered by an inability to do anything on the ground. Including sacks, the Terrapins finished with negative-49 yards rushing. Remove the stats from the quarterbacks, and it’s even worse: Negative-6 yards on a combined seven carries for Roman Hemby, Colby McDonald and Antwain Littleton.

“When we tried to run the ball, it just seemed like guys were unblocked inside and you’re trying to establish the run. And sometimes what happens is you get spooked out of it,” Locksley said. “But we’ve got to continue to coach those guys through it. We got to continue to have a better plan to figure out how to efficiently run the football.”

Tagovailoa and Allar combined to only throw six incomplete passes in the first half. The Nittany Lions’ signal-caller, though, was better protected, not sacked, and barely hurried by Maryland’s defensive front the entire game, finishing 25-of-34 with 240 yards passing. Wideout Dante Cephas caught two of Allar’s four scores, and running back Kaytron Allen finished with 91 yards rushing and a touchdown.

“They are as advertised … but I don’t think they’re 51-15 better than us. And so to me, that’s where I don’t think we played to our potential. And when you don’t play to your potential, the first place you look is at me, and I have no problem with owning that. And my job is to get us to play to our potential,” Locksley said. 

The losing streak for Maryland (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten) has reached four games, the longest since a seven-game skid to end coach Mike Locksley’s first season in 2019. The Terrapins haven’t won since beating Indiana Sept. 30.

“It’s not going to be an easy task,” Locksley said of reversing Maryland’s recent fortunes. “We’ve gotta rally the troops. We’ve gotta remain really close-knit as a team and understand that the only people that can fix it are us.”

After Maryland failed to convert a fourth-down conversion on the game’s opening drive, the Nittany Lions (8-1, 5-1) used heavy doses of running back Allen on their opening drive to move into goal-to-go territory. Cephas finished it off with an over-the-shoulder catch at the side of the end zone that was initially ruled incomplete but overturned after a review.

Maryland drove its next possession into Penn State territory, but its momentum was snuffed out after Felton had the ball stripped by Adisa Issac at the 37.

“I hadn’t made a play before that,” Felton said of his effort to try and grind out a few more feet as the ball was stripped. “That was me just trying to make a play and try to put the team in a good position.”

Following the takeaway, Allar orchestrated another impressive drive, finding top receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith for 45 yards on two plays to get the ball past midfield.

“When you bringing zero pressure, the goal is to force them to throw the fade, force them to throw the ball outside. And we lost leverage a couple of times early, which allowed big plays,” Locksley said.

Allar’s second touchdown pass — a shovel pass from the 2 to Theo Johnson after Allar took a reverse pitch from reserve QB Beau Pribula — was unconventional but produced the same result and a two-score lead after one quarter.

Maryland found life on its only scoring drive of the half in the second quarter, helped by the Nittany Lions. Tagovailoa was sacked for the third time on the drive, and the Terrapins were set to punt, but a 15-yard roughing the punter penalty extended the drive.

Five plays later from the Penn State 7, Tagovailoa, flushed left, hit a wide-open Hemby on the sideline for a walk-in touchdown. It would prove to one of few bright spots for Maryland in front of the first sold-out crowd at SECU Stadium — helped by a strong showing from visiting fans — since playing these same Nittany Lions in 2019.

Things didn’t change much for Maryland after halftime, punting on its first three drives of the half. Cephas’ second touchdown came on Penn State’s subsequent drive, its longest of the game and bridged the third and fourth quarters. Allar threw him another beautiful fade, this time to the left corner of the end zone, and Cephas beat Terrapins corner Tarheeb Still for a 15-yard score. 

Down 31-7 at that point, Maryland momentarily found an energy it lacked most of the game. Tagovailoa only needed seven plays and 2:28 to score Maryland’s second touchdown, a 1-yarder to Jeshaun Jones. By that point, however, it was far too little and far too late for the Terrapins.