Maryland’s struggles against the Big Ten’s best over the years, particularly Penn State, continued on Saturday afternoon as the Terps fell to No. 14 Penn State, 30-0.
Maryland has now lost 42 of its 46 games against the Nittany Lions and seven of nine since joining the Big Ten.
It was never a competitive contest as Penn State was clearly the better group, exploiting Maryland’s weaknesses en route to a dominant home victory.
When Maryland lost to Penn State at home, 59-0, in 2019, it was clear head coach Mike Locksley’s program had a ways to go to become relevant in a conference it had struggled in since it entered in 2014. In Locksley’s four years at the helm, the program has made tremendous strides, and has achieved relevancy with two straight bowl appearances.
However, on Saturday night, against the same opponent on a different field, it sure didn’t feel like it as Maryland failed to score a point for the first time since that 59-0 defeat to Penn State three years earlier.
Let’s get to some takeaways from the loss.
Maryland’s November is becoming one to forget.
Following Maryland’s bye week, the Terps were sitting at 6-2 with a brutal three game stretch on the horizon. Locksley proclaimed that college football teams get remembered for what they do in November. For Maryland to have a November to remember, it was going to be a tall task. Through two games in the month, Maryland’s November is quickly becoming one to forget.
The Terps’ most difficult three-game stretch of the season was the first three games in the final month of the college football regular season. It started with a road game against Wisconsin, by far the ugliest and most disappointing game of Maryland’s season.
In windy and rainy conditions, Wisconsin bullied Maryland. It was Maryland’s first game, and most winnable, of the arduous stretch of opponents it was about to face. But instead of picking up a win to start November, or even competing against a perennial Big Ten West contender, the Terps looked ill-equipped for the conditions.
On Saturday, Maryland lost its second game of the stretch to a Penn State team that looked light years ahead of Maryland in every facet. Maryland had no chance of competing in Happy Valley from the opening kickoff and was embarrassed, dropping its record to 6-4.
Now, following consecutive losses — Maryland’s first two-game skid of the season — the Terps must prepare for their toughest task of the season when No. 2 Ohio State comes to College Park next Saturday. Maryland’s inevitable three-game losing streak will put it at 6-5 heading into the regular season finale against Rutgers.
“Now is not the time to panic, but it’s time that we, starting with myself, take a deep look at everything we’re doing,” Locksley said.
A season filled with expectation and promise after a few weeks of the season has taken an ugly turn. Although Maryland will still compete in a bowl game for the second straight season, and has a chance to improve its win total from last season, the “next step” that many fans expected the Terps to take this season with their talent and experience by beating the Big Ten’s best did not materialize.
Maryland competed against Michigan earlier this season, leading many to believe a step forward was brewing. Instead, as the season progressed, Maryland took a step backwards, exhibited with a blowout loss to regional rival Penn State.
For the second consecutive week, Maryland got dominated in the trenches.
Maryland’s offensive line has been applauded as an improved unit, and they have certainly showed that throughout the season. However, there is no better barometer for progress than facing two of the best lines in the conference, and perhaps country. Against Wisconsin last week, Maryland’s offensive line was embarrassed as it struggled to protect Tagovailoa and establish any holes in the running game.
Offensive lineman Mason Lunsford missed both games against Penn State and Wisconsin with a concussion. Coltin Deery started in his place. While Lunsford is a key part of the unit, his absence should not trigger a huge fall in production.
“It’s just a matter of us covering people up in the run game,” Locksley said. “Sometimes your back has to make a guy miss.”
Penn State’s defense put immense pressure on Tagovailoa, sacking him seven times and suffocating the Terps’ rushing attack. On the other side of the ball, Maryland’s defensive line had no answer for the opponent’s run game, a theme the Terps have seen all season.
Penn State’s game plan was surely to exploit Maryland’s run defense with its star running backs, and they executed it brilliantly. Penn State finished with 249 rushing yards, while Maryland had just 60.
If Maryland can’t stop the run and establish it against high-caliber opponents, the step to competing with the league’s best is farther than originally anticipated.
Maryland’s offense has lost its spark.
Maryland’s defense struggling to stop the run isn't much of a surprise, given the Terps’ defensive line is thin and it is the weakness of the team. However, a surprising development since Maryland returned from its bye week is its inability to consistently move the ball down the field.
Maryland’s offense was considered one of the best in the conference earlier this season, and deservedly so. With a quarterback that possesses the capabilities Tagovailoa does, a talented wide receiver and tight end room, an improved offensive line and the emergence of running back Roman Hemby, this offense has all the ingredients for a successful recipe.
However, against Wisconsin and Penn State, they have been abysmal. It certainly has to do with the competition, but there is plenty of blame to go around for Maryland’s lackluster offensive showing in recent games.
Tagovailoa has been a shell of himself in recent weeks. He looks indecisive and inaccurate. Part of that is likely due to his knee injury that kept him out of the Northwestern game on Oct. 22. Nevertheless, the record-breaking, electric quarterback Maryland fans have come accustomed to watching is nowhere to be found. He has just 151 yards and a 46.5 completion percentage in the last two games.
“It’s always easy to say the quarterback because he has the ball in his hand, but I think it takes not just our quarterback to play great, it takes the players around him, it takes calling things that we can get executed,” Locksley said.
As previously mentioned, the offensive line has taken a major step backward. Offensive coordinator and play caller Dan Enos likes to establish the run early in games, but Maryland has had an ineffective run game with the offensive line failing to create holes for the running backs.
Lastly, maybe the biggest disappointment for the Maryland offense has been its wide receivers. Projected as one of the best receiver groups in the country, Maryland’s star-studded group in Dontay Demus Jr., Rakim Jarrett, Jacob Copeland and Jeshaun Jones have not only failed to live up to expectation, but have fell so short of it that not a single Maryland receiver ranks in the top 12 in the Big Ten for any statistical receiving category.
The coaching staff deserves criticism as well for the lack of creative play calling that contributes to the disappointing, and surprising, offensive output. Maryland has the offensive talent to compete with elite defenses in the conference but has failed to show that the last two weeks.
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