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Maryland football seemed to find its place at 10-7 early in the second quarter of its College Park clash against undefeated Iowa No.5 Hawkeyes, but things on the pitch turned from bad to worse in the blink of an eye. eye. eye.
Senior wide receiver Dontay Demus Jr. missed a kickoff return in possession of Iowa, which led straight to the Hawkeyes’ second touchdown of the night almost immediately. Helped by glaring errors from the Maryland offense, Iowa then added two more quick touchdowns to boost their lead to an unattainable 31-7 margin.
Maryland conceded 31 straight points in the second quarter, which was ultimately enough to put them away permanently, as the Terps lost 51-14 Friday night at Capital One Field in Maryland Stadium.
After starting 4-0 for the first time since the 2016 season, Maryland finally met their game on their own home ground. The Terps’ first loss of the season takes them to 4-1 this season, as Iowa remains perfect with a 5-0 record.
In what was to be a clash of forces between Maryland’s third-scoring offense and Iowa’s highest-ranked defense in the Big Ten, it was the Hawkeyes’ high school that caused problems for Maryland from the start. , something that was a constant thorn in the side of the Terps all evening.
After both teams made their first offensive attacks, the Terps looked to use a quick offense to try and fight off Iowa’s ever-reliable defense. However, after a false start pushed Maryland back to a third and a 6, quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa attempted to throw near the left sideline, but the junior was knocked out by the leader of the l Big Ten interception defensive back Riley Moss with 9:16 left in the first quarter to put Iowa in business.
After Tagovailoa’s second interception of the season, Iowa shed blood first. The Hawkeyes managed 27 yards in seven plays and were stopped on the record in part because of Tarheeb Still’s two pass breakages, but they eventually hit a 41-yard field goal with just over seven minutes to go. in the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead.
Maryland’s generally effective offense, which got off to a slow start similar to what it had last week against Kent State, offered a quick response after falling behind. Demus added two back-to-back catches for 26 yards and 22 yards to put Maryland in striking distance with just over three minutes left in the opening frame. Next, senior tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo capped the Terps’ 69-yard run with a nine-yard touchdown, his third in 2021, to give Maryland a 7-3 advantage.
It was an encouraging workout from the passing game from Maryland who seemed to go for short throws from less than five yards early on, but the Terps’ third offensive possession of the game saw more of an aggressive attack down, which seemed to have l ‘Iowa on its heels for now.
Maryland’s four-point lead was short lived, however, as Iowa roared in the race that followed to regain the lead in the opening stages of the second quarter. Quarterback Spencer Petras led the Hawkeyes 59 yards onto the field and ended the run by diving into the one yard end zone to give Iowa a 10-7 lead.
It was right after that moment when one of Maryland’s offensive stars got injured, which inevitably turned the tide of the contest. On the return from the kick-off that followed, Demus returned the ball about 10 yards, then twisted as it was tackled and returned the ball into Iowa’s possession. Shortly after Demus left, Petras threw an eight-yard touchdown to bring Maryland’s deficit to 10 with just over 14 minutes left in the first half.
And while the Terps’ hopes quickly dwindled 17-7, things got worse very quickly.
In Maryland’s first game of its next offensive attack, Tagovailoa was forced into his second interception of the day, putting Iowa back in the driver’s seat near the red zone. It didn’t take the Hawkeyes long yet to capitalize. With the help of another three-yard quarterback from Petras, Maryland found themselves very quickly down by a significant margin.
To put the Hawkeyes’ offensive explosion into perspective, Maryland led 7-3 early in the second quarter. With less than 11 minutes to go into halftime, however, the Terps suddenly trailed 24-7 in what was an abrupt turn of events that fell directly in favor of Iowa.
Tagovailoa, who was a star in Maryland’s first four games, looked like a shell of himself against the teeming Iowa defense. The junior kicked off his third halftime pick with about 10 minutes left in the second quarter, again spotting the Iowa offense in Maryland Territory.
Two back-to-back passing interference and an unsportsmanlike call were then reported to the Terps, which saw Iowa push their way to their fourth touchdown of the day as Maryland were down 31-7. The Hawkeyes scored three more points just before half-time to take a 27-point lead before the break.
Maryland’s collapse spread directly into the first part of the third quarter. Petras found running back Tyler Goodson on a road in midfield and sprinted into open space for a possible 67-yard touchdown to make it 41-7 in favor of the Hawkeyes.
After Iowa scored a basket to further extend their lead, Maryland’s offense finally rained a glow at the end of the tunnel halfway through third frame. For the second time in the entire game, Tagovailoa had the Terps walk over 20 yards in a single practice. Tagovailoa finished Maryland’s eight plays and 75 yards with a seven-yard strike to second wide receiver Rakim Jarrett for the team’s second touchdown of the night.
The fourth quarter saw the same for the Iowa side who dominated just about every minute of Friday’s showdown. The Hawkeyes took their lead with Petras’ third pass touchdown early in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 51-14, which ended up being the game’s final score.
The last time Maryland allowed at least 50 points in a game was in 2019 when they gave up 54 points to Nebraska in late November.
Three things to know
1. Maryland star receiver Dontay Demus Jr. came out early on injury. When Maryland was down 10-7 at the start of the second quarter, it looked like it would be a pretty close contest the rest of the way. However, Demus, the Big Ten’s leader in receiving yards per game over four games, then suffered an apparent leg injury on a kickoff return after twisting. Demus has easily been one of Maryland’s most influential offensive factors in five games and his injury is a bad sign for the Terps. Without a healthy Demus, Maryland’s passing game is likely to be downgraded in the future, and only time will tell how severe the extended star’s injury is.
2. Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa had his worst performance of the season. After racking up 10 passing touchdowns and the Big Ten’s highest quarterback completion percentage in four games, Tagovailoa fell apart against the best defense in the conference. Tagovailoa recorded three interceptions in the first half alone en route to his 16-29 matchday. He finished with just 157 yards and didn’t show the improved decision-making he showed before. Friday’s game.
3. Maryland’s discipline faltered when it mattered most. In the first half alone, the Terps had eight different penalties against them. Five of those first half flags were on defense, three of which were passing interference. The offense also had three false starts against her. Maryland were as unruly as they were all season long and ended the game with a grand total of 10 penalties for 86 yards. It’s safe to say the Terps gave the Hawkeyes a significant amount of yards through flags en route to the first loss on the schedule of the season.
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