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University of Maryland Athletics

Terps Defense
31
Winner Penn St. PSU 6-3 , 3-3
14
Maryland UMD 5-4 , 2-4
Winner
Penn St. PSU
6-3 , 3-3
31
Final
14
Maryland UMD
5-4 , 2-4
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
PSU Penn St. 7 0 7 17 31
UMD Maryland 0 6 0 8 14

Game Recap: Football |

Maryland Suffers Defeat To No. 22 Penn State

COLLEGE PARK, MD -- No. 22 Penn State handed Maryland a 31-14 defeat on Saturday afternoon at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. The loss dropped the Terps to 5-4 overall and 2-4 Big Ten while Penn State moved to 6-3 to 3-3 in conference action. 

Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa continued his strong play with 371 passing yards, on the heels of a career-high 419 passing yards last week. He completed 41-of-57 with a touchdown. The 41 completions are the second-most in a game school history and the 57 attempts are tied for the third-most in a game in history. 

Chigoziem Okonkwo set career-highs with 12 catches and 85 receiving yards. Rakim Jarrett had career-high tying six catches for 70 yards. Marcus Fleming had a career-high tying five catches for 38 yards. Challen Faamatau totaled 54 yards from scrimmage and scored a touchdown. 

The defense was stout for much of the game. Jordan Mosley led the Terps with career-high 13 tackles. Greg Rose had two sacks and Tyler Baylor added the first of his career.  
After the Terps rallied to tie the game, Penn State quickly regained the lead on an 86-yard strike from Sean Clifford to Jahan Dotson, making it 21-14. The Nittany Lions added a field goal and returned an interception for a touchdown to seal the game. 

Maryland tied the game at 14-14 on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Tagovailoa to Corey Dyches and converted the ensuing 2-point conversion as Okonkwo caught a pass from Tagovailoa, four seconds into the fourth quarter. 

The Nittany Lions took a 14-6 lead midway through the third quarter on a 21-yard pass from Clifford to Dotson. 

Penn State led 7-0 after the first quarter. A defensive stand gave the Terps the ball with just under three minutes remaining where Tagovailoa took them down the field, highlighted by two catches each by Okonkwo and Tai Felton. Faamatau punctuated the drive with a two-yard touchdown run, but a missed extra point kept the score at 7-6 in favor of Penn State at the half. 

From The Coach

"As always, give credit to our opponent. They played and competed. We had plenty of opportunities to win the game today. As we continue to say each and every week, it's still about more what we do than it is what our opponents are doing or what our opponents have done. The good news is it's correctable, it's something that we need to continue to get corrected. I thought the fight was there for our kids, [we] competed for four quarters but we just continue to make mistakes at the most inopportune times. We had five opportunities in the red zone, [but] only come away with two touchdowns and turnovers down there. [We] couldn't get off the field on third down. But we had opportunities and you know, the challenge for us is, you know, our players that we feel are play makers for us have to find a way to make plays when they're available, and we didn't get that done today. So we're back to work tomorrow. We got a great challenge. On the road against a good Michigan State team. Guys will continue to will continue to correct this stuff. We'll put in a good week of work in to get that sixth win." 


Taulia's Torrid Play 
  • Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa threw for 371 passing yards on Saturday for his sixth career 300-yard passing game and fifth this season. 
  • Tagovailoa stands second to Scott Milanovich (1992-95) for most 300-yard passing games in a career as Milanovich posted 10 300-yard games for the program record. 
  • Five of Tagovailoa's six career 300-yard passing games have happened this season (previously with 419 vs. Indiana, 384 vs. Kent State, 350 at Illinois and 332 vs. West Virginia), the most in the Big Ten this season and tying Milanovich (1993) for most in a single-season. 
  • Tagovailoa's updated season totals stand at 2,755 passing yards on 239 of 339 with 18 touchdowns.
  • On the single-season charts, Tagovailoa is now third in passing yards moving ahead the following: No. 4 Dan Henning (1986) 2,725, No. 5 Scott McBrien (2003) 2,672, No. 6 Scott Zolak (1990) 2,589, No. 7 Sam Hollenbach (2005) 2,539, No. 8 Chris Turner (2008) 2,516, No. 9 Scott McBrien (2002) 2,497, No. 10 Stan Gelbaugh (1985) 1,475, No. 11 Danny O'Brien (2010) 2,438, No. 12 Scott Milanovich (1994) 2,394. Next on the list at No. 2 is John Kaleo (1986) 3,392. Milanovich holds the single-season record with 3,499 in 1993. 
  • On the single-season charts, Tagovailoa is now third in completions moving past the following: No. 4 Scott Milanovich (1994) 229, No. 5 Scott Zolak (1990) 225, No. 6 Chris Turner (2008) 214, No. 7 Sam Hollenbach (2005) 203. Next on the list at No. 2 is Milanovich with 279 in 1993. John Kaleo holds the single-season record with 286 in 1992. 
  • On the single-season charts, Tagovailoa is now tied for fifth in touchdown passes with Boomer Esiason (1982) 18. Milanovich holds the single-season record with 26 in 1993. 
  • Tagovailoa also moved up the career charts as he is now 12th in career yards with 3,766; tied for 11th in career completions with 239. 
  • Tagoavailoa completed 41 passes, second-most in school history, behind Milanovich's record of 46 set in 1993. His career-high entering the game was 34 at Illinois (10/17/21). 
  • Tagaovailoa has now thrown a touchdown pass in 12 consecutive games, every game of his Maryland career. 


Getting Chiggy With It
  • Chigoziem Okonkwo set his career-high in receptions with 12. His previous career-high was five on two occasions, most recently at Ohio State (10/9/21). 
  • With 12 catches, he tied for the sixth-most in a game in school history, tying DJ Moore, who was the last with 12 receptions vs. Northwestern in 2017. 
  • His 12 catches are the most by a Maryland tight end since Frank Wycheck had 14 in 1990 vs. Virginia Tech. 
  • He also had a career-high in receiving yards with 85, surpassing his old high of 56 at Ohio State this season.

Felton Feeling It
  • Freshman Tai Felton had two catches for 34 yards, for his first multi-reception day of his young career. That included a career-high 20-yard catch that keyed the Terps' first scoring drive of the game. 

Mosley, A Tackling Machine
  • Jordan Mosley led the Terps with 13 tackles. It was his third-career game with double-figure tackles. His career-high was 12 at Indiana (11/28/20). He also had 11 against Minnesota (11/30/20). 

Sackin' Success
  • The Terps racked up three sacks of Penn State on Saturday with sacks by Greg Rose, Tyler Baylor.  That comes on the heels of posting seven sacks at Penn State last season. 
  • It was the fifth time this season Maryland has had three or more sacks. The Terps had a season-high six at Illinois (9/17/21). 
  • Entering the game, Maryland ranked 19th in the country and fourth in the Big Ten with 23 sacks through eight games, an average of 2.88 per game. 
  • The Terps 23 sacks were the most through the first eight games of a season since totaling 26 in 2015. DL Sam Okuayinonu has five solo sacks on the season, tied for most in the Big Ten. Okuayinonu's 45 sack yards are also the fourth-most in the Big Ten and 32nd-most in the country. 

Notables
  • Jakorian Bennett had his 11th and 12th pass breakup to give him 1.5 per game, the most in the Big Ten. 
  • Colton Spangler boomed a 58-yard punt for his sixth of 50 or more yards this season. He has 11 punts of 50-plus yards in his career. 
  • Anthony Pecorella had two punts of 51 yards and now has 10 this season of 50-plus yards and 16 in his career. 
  • Junior Tyler Baylor, who is a converted tight end, had the first sack of his career, in the second quarter. 
  • Freshman CJ Dippre collected his first two catches in his Maryland career for 15 yards.

Up Next
  • Maryland will head to No. 5 Michigan State, which is ranked No. 3 in the College Football Playoff, to play the Spartans next Saturday, Nov. 13. The game time and television designation will be announced later on Saturday. 

 
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