Michigan State preparing for another dangerous QB in Maryland’s Tagovailoa

East Lansing, Mich. – After imploding at home against Washington last weekend, Michigan State (2-1) will face another high-powered offense in its Big Ten opener against Maryland on Homecoming on Saturday. For the Spartans, the start Big Ten play presents an opportunity to bounce back from a bad loss that spiraled out of control due to a lack of discipline and execution in all phases of the game.

Maryland (3-0) ranks just outside the Top 25 in scoring offense (39.6) coming off a 40-14 win over Virginia last weekend. The Terps have one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten in Taulia Tagovailoa, who is averaging just under 300 passing yards per game with five touchdowns and two interceptions this season.

Tagovailoa is a different type of quarterback than Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., and has fewer weapons at the wide receiver position. He is, nonetheless, a potential headache for the Spartans.

“Another excellent quarterback coming in here,” Michigan State interim head coach Harlon Barnett said. “He moves around in the pocket a lot, and it is going to be a challenge for us.”

After playing undisciplined football on offense, defense, and special teams against Washington, Barnett and his staff are urging their football team to focus on execution and discipline in the Big Ten opener. To contain Tagovailoa, Michigan State must play with great discipline on defense.

“Taulia, man. This dude is all over the place,” Barnett said. “He’s different in that he’ll move around and throw from anywhere. Penix is more of a pocket guy. Although we’ve known him (Penix) to be a runner from years ago at Indiana, he is trying to stay in the pocket a little bit longer and throw from the pocket. Taulia wants to be in the pocket, all of them do, but doesn’t mind getting out, running around, and still throwing it. He is going to be a challenge, trying to capture him and get him on the ground.”

Barnett acknowledged during his press conference on Tuesday that Michigan State’s first two games against Central Michigan and Richmond did not adequately prepare his football team for the Washington passing offense, which ranks first in the FBS averaging just under 500 yards per game. Having faced the Huskies last weekend, Barnett is hopeful that the Spartan defense will be better prepared to face a Maryland offense that features a talented quarterback, quality wide receivers, and several rushing threats.

“We knew what Washington was because we played them last year, so it’s not like we were surprised,” Barnett said. “The preparation of it and then how good those guys really are, because we did have some guys that played in this year’s game that didn’t play in last year’s game. They got a chance to see the real deal, so it does help us for this week.”

In addition to being one of the better passing outfits in the Big Ten, Maryland also has a competent rushing offense. The Terps rank just outside the Top 50 in the FBS in rushing yards per game (176.0) and average a healthy 5.3 yards per carry. Although Maryland averaged just 3.94 yards per carry last weekend against Virginia, The Terps did manage to score four rushing touchdowns in the win.

Sophomore Roman Hemby, junior Colby McDonald, and sophomore Antwain Littleton II have combined for more than 400 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns this season. Hemby leads the group in carries (40), rushing yards (254), and rushing touchdowns (4) ahead of this weekend’s game at Michigan State. Hemby is also the top receiving threat for Maryland out of the backfield.

Jeshaun Jones and Kaden Prather lead Maryland wide receivers with two touchdowns apiece. Tight end Corey Dyches leads The Terps with 16 receptions entering Big Ten play.

“There are some similarities, maybe not as many chuck them down the field,” explained Barnett comparing Maryland’s passing offense to Washington. “They will throw them down there and they have some long receivers that can run and go and get the ball. And like I said (Tagovailoa) stays alive. He is a capture guy. We always talk about if a quarterback is a capture or a kill quarterback. He is a capture quarterback. We have to understand that we have to stay on his up-field shoulder and not let him get out of the pocket. Make him stay in the pocket, where we can have bodies around him and get him down on the ground.”  

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