Maryland’s first Power Five matchup of the season comes at home against old foe Virginia in a game that will be the Terrapins’ final nonconference game of 2023. This week’s Terps Top Three notebook looks at the quick turnaround for Maryland, who is emerging on the offensive line, and a coach’s comparison of the brothers Tagovailoa.
Settling the trenches: Besides the renewed rivalry implications against the Cavaliers (Friday, 7 p.m., FS1), the game offers one more look at the linemen contending to fill out Maryland’s primary offensive line unit going into Big Ten play.
After Terrapins coach Mike Locksley cycled in “eight to nine” players along the line in Week 1, a group of six emerged with the lion’s share of the snaps in Week 2 against Charlotte.
Tackle D.J. Glaze (the line’s lone returning starter), tackle Conor Fagan, guard Corey Bullock and guard Amelio Moran all played at least 85% of Maryland’s 74 offensive snaps, per Pro Football Focus. At center, the distribution was closer to even, with Aric Harris taking 44 and Elon transfer Mike Purcell taking 30.
Gottlieb Ayedze is the one Terrapin whom Locksley and others are still waiting to see. The Frostburg State transfer was expected before the season to slot in at right tackle opposite Glaze but has been hampered due to injury. After being out against Towson and available but not used against the 49ers, it will be interesting to see if he’ll see action against Virginia.
Something that bodes well for Maryland’s group up front is Virginia’s porous defense, which is allowing 227 rushing yards per game. That’s the second-worst mark among all FBS teams behind only the Deion Sanders-led Colorado Buffaloes.
Friday blues: Mike Locksley hates Fridays. OK, that’s a bit too strong. Specifically, the Maryland coach hates playing on Fridays.
“No,” Locksley said when asked about playing on a night normally reserved for high school, not college football. “The players lost a day of rest. Where typically Sunday’s their day off, they’ll go 13-straight days before they get a break, which will be this Saturday.”
This week posed the worst of those short turnarounds. Locksley said he didn’t get to sleep until 4 a.m. Sunday — “just in time to wake up and go to church “ — after the late Saturday night win over Charlotte. Add to that a condensed practice schedule, and one can see why Friday nights are less popular from a coaching perspective.
“I am a creature of habit as most coaches are, but I understand the benefit of it. So, do I like it? No. Do I understand the benefit of us playing on Friday night, national TV? Yeah. So, the benefits outweigh maybe some of the things that it affects in terms of how we prepare,” Locksley said.
In past seasons, Locksley had considered the Friday assignment a scheduling slight by the Big Ten, which started playing conference games on that day in 2017. The Terrapins played two such games in 2021 (win at Illinois, loss vs. Iowa) before avoiding the day in the regular season last year. Ironically, when the 2023 schedule was announced, this game was originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 16, but was moved back a day in April.
The brothers Tagovailoa: When you have two family members playing the same sport — let alone the same position — constant comparisons can be hard to avoid.
Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa gets a few of those types of questions each year asking about his brother, Tua, the former Alabama star now off to another sensational start with the Miami Dolphins. But it was their mutual coach who was asked this week and gave one of the more enlightening answers about the two.
“They’re two totally different personalities,” Locksley said. “Tua’s one of those guys that’s a people pleaser. He’s a guy that he’s gonna play really well when he knows that the people around him … relationships are important. And not for [Taulia] as if he doesn’t care about relationships, but Lia is a whole different type of animal. Lia’s really emotional, aggressive.”
Locksley helped recruit both to Alabama as an assistant on Nick Saban’s staff before Taulia followed Locksley to Maryland.
“Two different personalities, but when you look at the quarterback play of those two: both really accurate passers, both great footwork, both have the ability to extend plays,” Locksley said. “I think Lia is maybe able to scramble around a little bit better and maybe extend plays a little better and become more of a runner, whereas Tua is one of those guys that gets it out quick and he extends plays in the pocket.”
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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