Grading Maryland football’s position groups after its loss to Northwestern
Here’s how each of the Terps’ position groups performed Saturday.
Maryland football’s season continued to spiral Saturday when it dropped its third straight game in a shock defeat at Northwestern, 33-27.
The Terps surrendered 24 points in the opening half, and despite having a chance to take the lead late in the game, couldn’t complete the comeback.
Here’s how each position group performed in the game.
Quarterback
Having a very skilled quarterback is great. Having a player who makes the smart plays that win football games is significantly more valuable.
Taulia Tagovailoa completed 30 of 47 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns. That looks good on paper, but he continued to make more costly decisions than winning plays.
Tagovailoa had a chance to tie the game on a scramble on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line, but instead threw the ball across his body for an incomplete pass. And with a chance to take the lead in the waning moments of the game, he overthrew Corey Dyches for the loss-sealing interception.
Grade: D+
Running back
Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ reluctancy to run the ball is nothing short of bewildering.
Roman Hemby was in line to take the next step this year after an outstanding redshirt freshman campaign. It’s tough to do that when you are allowed just four rushing attempts. Combined, Maryland’s running backs saw only 14 carries, averaging close to six yards per carry.
The unit will get a solid grade because of its efficiency and Hemby’s play in the receiving game — he caught six balls for 41 yards and a score. Per Pro Football Focus, Hemby had the top receiving grade on the team.
Grade: C+
Wide receiver
With the running backs seeing little action and Tagovailoa throwing the ball 47 times, inflated stats were aplenty in the wide receiver room.
Jeshaun Jones and Tai Felton combined for 13 catches, 122 yards and two touchdowns. But it was also them who made crucial mistakes.
Felton couldn’t hold onto a ball that would’ve put the Terps near the 10-yard line with under a minute to go and Jones should’ve corralled a would-be 32-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.
Grade: C-
Tight end
Corey Dyches was the only tight end to see a target, getting thrown toward 10 times. He caught six of those for 46 yards.
However, Dyches came up with zero catches on three red zone targets. He has just one touchdown on the season.
The junior was also abysmal in pass-blocking situations, rattling off a lowly grade of 33.8, per PFF.
Grade: C-
Offensive line
Northwestern ranked dead last in the conference with 10 sacks entering Saturday’s game.
It sacked Tagovailoa six times.
According to PFF, all five starters had run blocking grades of over 65, so it again begs the question of why the coaching staff didn’t play to something that was working.
Grade: D-
Defensive line
Statistically, Northwestern’s offensive line is the worst in the Big Ten, but it took until the second half for the Terps to put the pressure on.
Tre’Darius Colbert had two sacks and Taizse Johnson and Donnell Brown each had one. But four of those five came in the second half.
The defensive line was stout defending the run all game long, however, limiting the Wildcats to 2.5 yards per carry.
Grade: C
Linebacker
Forget the stats — they weren’t anything to write home about.
Maryland committing three dead-ball penalties is indefensible. Each coming from the same position group is incomprehensible.
Fa’Najae Gotay and Jaishawn Barham were each flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, while Riayd Wilmot was called for a hit after the whistle.
Undisciplined football is losing football, and gifting an offense three first downs will more often than not come back to haunt you.
Grade: F
Secondary
The returns of Tarheeb Still and Dante Trader Jr. were supposed to help the team immensely. Instead, the secondary had its worst showing of the season.
Trader Jr. and Still specifically struggled. They were targeted a combined five times, and surrendered a catch on each attempt.
Northwestern had scored at least 24 points just twice coming into the game, but was able to accomplish that feat by halftime. Backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan had a field day, posting 265 yards and two touchdowns on 16 completions.
Glendon Miller and Gavin Gibson were Maryland’s highest-rated defensive backs.
Grade: F
Special teams
While Northwestern’s coverage teams were able to limit big returns, Maryland’s could not.
Northwestern’s Coco Azema returned three kicks for a total of 94 yards, none more backbreaking than the second-half kickoff, which he returned for 61 yards to set up the Wildcats’ offense in plus territory. Maryland averaged 11 fewer yards per return than Northwestern.
Positively speaking, both punter Colton Spangler and kicker Jack Howes looked good. Howes made both his field goal attempts and Spangler pinned Northwestern inside its own 20-yard line thrice.
Grade: C
Coaching
Are the 16 missed tackles the fault of the coaching staff? Maybe not, but red zone play-calling and the unwillingness to run the ball is.
The team was finally healthy after the bye week and had faced enough adversity over the past two games to know what to improve. Instead, the Terps fell flat against an inferior opponent.
Grade: D
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