COLLEGE PARK — For the second-straight week, Maryland fell behind early by 14 points. And for the second-straight week, Maryland mounted a wild comeback, this time scoring 42 straight points to beat Virginia 42-14 Friday night.
“I think I have enough proof that we’re a team that’s built to overcome adversity, and I don’t think I need to see us down 14-0 anymore to know that that we’re capable,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said.
Much like they did last Saturday against Charlotte, the Terrapins’ defense gave up a chunk play and two touchdowns early in the first quarter, but would get the last laugh against Virginia quarterback Anthony Colandrea.
Colandrea orchestrated the Virginia offense to the tune of 263 yards on 23-of-39 passing, but Maryland’s defense picked off the freshman on three straight passes in the fourth quarter — two of those by Tarheeb Still — leading to three Terrapins touchdown drives to seal the win. After renewing their rivalry with the Cavaliers for the first time in a decade, the win is Maryland’s biggest over Virginia in 37 years.
“The start of fourth quarter we blacked out the lights, it’s just an amazing atmosphere,” said Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa of the “blackout” crowd and new-this-season flashing lights at SECU Stadium, “and it really drives our our team to want to finish out the game strong, and we did so.”
Tagovailoa threw for 342 yards and a touchdown on 19-of-30 passing, the 13th time he’s thrown for more than 300 in his Terrapins career. Reciever Jeshaun Jones led Maryland with 96 yards on five catches and the 12th touchdown of his career, while running back Roman Hemby added two rushing scores for the Terrapins.
“Traditionally we’ve been a fast start offense and for whatever reason these last two games we haven’t been. There’s some things we’ll get done this week to try to figure out a way to get us playing better in the first quarter, especially on offense,” Locksley said.
Colandrea, making his second-straight start for the Cavaliers over the previously injured Tony Muskett, used a flea-flicker and found receiver Malik Washington for a 49-yard gain on the Cavaliers’ first offensive play. Two plays later, Virginia running back Perris Jones ran untouched off the left side for a 13-yard touchdown.
After the Terrapins missed a 55-yard field goal attempt, Colandrea promptly led the Cavaliers downfield again, carving up a Maryland secondary that was without talented defensive back Beau Brade due to injury. The freshman found running back Kobe Pace on a wheel route to the right, floating a pass to the goal line as he was falling down for a 19-yard Virginia score.
“We blow a coverage again on the flea flicker, on offense we come in and we’re not we’re not in rhythm. And that’s why I said there’s some things that I can do better to get us in rhythm on offense because traditionally, we’ve been a fast start offense,” Locksley said.
The black-clad crowd at SECU Stadium had fallen quiet. What jolted it back to life came from an unexpected place.
Instead of Octavian Smith, who had seen primary returning duties on kickoffs in Maryland’s first two games, freshman Braeden Wisloski got the nod against Virginia.
“We know Wiz,” Tagovailoa said, smiling. “He actually played running back in high school, and he plays receiver now, but he can do it all. We know we have a lot of playmakers, and that’s one of the ways he gets the ball in his hands.”
A high school state champion track star in Pennsylvania, he left everyone in his wake on a one-cut, 98-yard kickoff return touchdown. The first Maryland kickoff return for a touchdown in four seasons blunted Virginia’s momentum.
“The kid has tremendous speed, tremendous heart, and I was glad to see him finish it and make a play. It was much needed and I think a jumpstarted us as a team,” Locksley said
Maryland would get back even with a gutsy, late-second-quarter drive. Bookended by two conversions — Tagovailoa to Corey Dyches for 14 on third-and-10 from the Maryland 2, and Tagovailoa to Jones for 6 on fourth-and-2 from the Virginia 8 — the Terrapins marched 98 yards in 14 plays. Hemby punched it in from 3 yards out to level the game at 14 going into halftime.
After a punt on Virginia’s first drive of the third quarter, Maryland took the lead for the first time. While rolling to his right on second-and-8 from his own 28, Tagovailoa unleashed a dime of a pass, finding a streaking Jones in-stride down the right sideline for a 64-yard touchdown and a 21-14 lead. The grab by the sixth-year senior was the 12th score of his Terrapin career.
“We were trying to isolate the corner on Jones. We know Jones is a really good route runner, and he ran a great route, a come back and go, and it was perfect,” Tagovailoa said. “I’m happy that we caught our momentum going into the half, and we just took over.”
Virginia still had fight, with Colandrea still slicing and dicing the Maryland secondary on a 74-yard drive that bridged the third and fourth quarters. With the Cavaliers at the Maryland 12, however, the defensive backs got a measure of revenge.
“Really it was just tighten up on coverage, be more aggressive, know your job, and then communicate so guys are in the right spot and then showing them different looks,” Still said of the adjustments Maryland made on defense. “You can’t just show him the picture pre snap and let them get a good read out of it.”
On third-and-10, Colandrea pushed his luck a bit too much while trying to find Malik Washington on the right side of the end zone. The underthown ball fell right into the hands of a waiting Still, who had been targeted all night by the Cavaliers.
“We showed a look a single-high [safety] look, and they thought they could take advantage of it. But I made a good play. Preparation, seen it on film. But not really trying to jump the play, just playing it honest, and it worked out to my advantage,” Still said.
The interception was a game-changer, with Maryland using the momentum to put the Cavaliers to bed.
“We had just moved him into the nickel position because he hadn’t played a lot of slot corner for us all year. We moved him in there and he made a tremendous play in the end zone which couldn’t have come at a bigger time for us,” Locksley said.
Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis dialed up a tight-end-heavy package on Maryland’s next drive. Tagovailoa hit Dyches and Preston Howard on two plays for a combined 43 yards, with Hemby five plays later scoring his second touchdown of the game and fourth of the season.
Colandrea would throw interceptions on Virginia’s next two drives and his next two pass attempts, both in Cavaliers territory. Lineman Donnell Brown caught a tipped and bobbled ball for his second pick in as many weeks, and Still grabbed his second of the fourth quarter and third of his career.
Both ensuing Maryland drives were punctuated by running backs. Antwain Littleton and Colby McDonald scored back-to-back touchdowns from inside the 2-yard line, and the Terrapins once again had a come-from-behind victory.
His end-of-game mistakes aside, Colandrea impressed again a week after throwing for 377 yards and two touchdowns in a last-minute loss against James Madison.
“He reminds me of a young Taulia Tagovailoa,” Locksley said. “I mean, the thing about this guy, and it was frustrating for me and I was kind of going crazy on the headsets, is that they wanted to get him out the pocket for a reason. I mean, he’s maybe vertically challenged a little bit as a quarterback so to get the ball out on the edge, he’s dangerous.”
Maryland has scored at least 38 points in three-straight games for the first time since 1994. The slow starts, however, continue to hound the Terrapins as their season shifts to Big Ten play next week at Michigan State.
“Obviously we’re not playing our best football. And for me, you know, there’s some things I can do better to help us get off to a faster start, and I’ll get those things done here this week as we go head up into conference play,” Locksley said.
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.