The Bronx, NY — With a little less than six minutes to go at the New Era pinstripe bowl, Maryland football took a 17-point lead with the ball at Virginia Tech's 32-yard line. The Hokies' defense nearly finished fourth and fourth and Terps decided to go for it.
Quarterback Towel Tagovailoa received the snap, turned around the pocket and found an open wide receiver in senior Darryl Jones, who was 10 yards away. Jones made the catch and reached the end zone to take his second career touchdown and the second half of the day. As Jones exited the end zone, Tagovailoa leapt up to him and gave him a big hug to celebrate the achievement as the lights flashed across Yankee Stadium, signaling a touchdown.
Exactly a year and a half later, Maryland took to the field as Maryland's Mighty Sound played the Terps' fight song to celebrate their 54-10 win over Virginia Tech, a turning point for the program that saw its first run since 2010. Won the Bowl. ,
“I really want to talk about our class of 2018, how we came to be, that was our goal… kinda turn this program around so that we accomplished what we did… it’s the first step for many We helped us get to this step," Jones said. "Then next year, seven, eight wins, and more bowl games—it's just going to be built on top of each other and the sky's the limit."
The Terps hadn't won a bowl game in over a decade as they did in a 51–20 against East Carolina in the Military Bowl. In head coach Michael Loxley's first bowl game as head coach, the Terps were experiencing excitement for the first time, with none of the players on the roster having played in a bowl game prior to the 2021 New Era Pinstripe Bowl.
The roster has experienced a slew of adversities together, from losing a teammate and friend in Jordan McNair in 2018 to coaching changes early in his time in Maryland to the changing coronavirus pandemic last season. The bowl game victory meant not only that Terps finished above .500 for the first time since 2014, but that the program was in the midst of a turning point.
And Maryland made a quick start to show that it was in place to jump.
After forcing the defense to three-and-out for Virginia Tech, cornerback Tarib still got ready for a punt return. While the ball was hanging in the air, still came back to the eight-yard line, caught the ball and began running down the field. He ran to his right, picked up the pace and made it to the end zone for a 92-yard touchdown to top the Terps 7-0.
“My people blocked it for me for real, so I would have been a fool not to return it,” Still said.
Still's touchdown became the first punt return for a touchdown in pinstripe bowl history and broke the previous event record for the longest punt return in school history, breaking the previous record set by a Dick Nolan 90-yard return in 1953 .
On Virginia Tech's next drive, it pushed the ball a bit further, picking up a couple of first downs. However, a false start penalty at Virginia Tech brought about a third and -12, which it could not convert, forcing the special teams to punt again, something it would do three times in three consecutive drives.
To start the second quarter with a 7-0 lead, Terps couldn't get enough of anything and soon after Virginia Tech came on board.
After another three-out for the Hokies, he came into punt formation, but instead of getting rid of it, punter Peter Moore kept the ball and ran for eight yards for the first down. In the second play of Fresh Down, Virginia Tech's Conor Blumrick completed a 42-yard pass to widen Jaden Payout to advance deep into Maryland's field. After not being able to punch it in the end zone, Virginia Tech settled for a 36-yard field goal to reduce Maryland's lead to 7-3.
After running back Roman Hemby returned the ball 28 yards to Maryland's 30-yard line, taking only 14 seconds for Terps to find the end zone again on the ensuing drive.
"We have some really talented young players," Locksley said. "Our coaches did a really good job, 15 drills, 14 drills, although many it was really about developing these guys and I think it really paid off."
Tagovailoa dropped back and threw a pass to Jones, who caught it at Virginia Tech's 28-yard line and raced to the end field for a 70-yard touchdown, giving Maryland a 14-3 lead. The score marked Jones' first collegiate touchdown.
Virginia Tech had another short drive that ended in a punt and got to work Tagovailoa and Terps.
In five plays in the span of one and a half minutes, Tagovailoa led Maryland 60 yards down the field and back into the end zone. Running behind the Entwen Littleton II, the freshman had his first two carries of the day to book the drive. In the middle, Tagovailoa completed a seven-yard pass to wide to Rakim Jarrett and a 28-yard pass to wide receiver Brian Cobbs, who extended an arm to catch. Littleton's four-yard touchdown closed the drive and extra points from kicker Joseph Petrino made it a game 21-3.
On the next drive, the Hokies punched in his first touchdown.
After 13 plays lasting five minutes, Blumerick kept the ball and drove it three yards down the middle for a touchdown. Extra points closed Maryland's lead 21-10 with a minute remaining in the first half.
Maryland moved quickly to get the ball over the 34-yard line as Tagovailoa completed five straight passes. With four seconds on the clock, Virginia Tech called a timeout as Petrino lined up and broke out of the break, the kicker holding a field goal to give Terps a 24-10 lead at halftime.
Tagovailoa put on a strong first half, completing 14 of his 15 attempts for 192 yards and a touchdown, and didn't take his foot off the gas to start the second half. In 11 plays, Tagovailoa took the Terps from 63 yards off the field. The drive included a 26-yard reception from Jarrett and a 27-yard run from back to Tyone Fleet-Davis, but Maryland could not cross into the end zone, resulting in a 30-yard field goal from Petrino to score 27–10. Gone. ,
On Maryland's next drive, Tagovailoa took Terps down the field, going for fourth, and Jones got to give Maryland a 34–10 advantage.
"Man, it's been a long time," Tagovailoa said. "When you see Darryl walking the path, it pops up in front of you."
A scoop from Greg Rose and the score, which came from a big hit from Nick Cross, forced the ball loose, and a speedy touchdown driving Colby McDonald back in the fourth quarter extended Maryland's lead. Because it coasted to victory.
Tagovailoa finished the game by completing two touchdowns with 20 passes and four rushes for 42 yards out of his 24 attempts for 265 yards.
"I hope this calms some of the critics and maybe gets a little bit of the respect I think he deserves as a quarterback. Feel like we have one of the best quarterbacks in the league, if not all." country,” Locksley said.
Three things to know
1. Maryland showcased some of its young talent. As advertised by Terps last month, taking these drills up to the bowl game was meant to develop young players. Loxley talked about how impressed he was with the effort and skill displayed by this small part of the roster and he hoped to be able to play some of them in this matchup. Against the Hokies, Littleton made two carries in the first half, including the first touchdown of his collegiate career. McDonald's also added a touchdown to give fans what the next few seasons can see.
2. Maryland seniors were dispatched the way the program expected them to be. In addition to the opportunity for a ball game to be a chance for Maryland to start the 2022 season on a positive note and get more practice in, Locksley and team stressed the importance of not only getting a bowl game, but the seniors out. Won to send. on a high note. Seniors Cobbs and Jones took four catches for 62 yards and two for 75 yards respectively in the first half. Jones also added a touchdown. On the defensive side, seniors Jordan Mosley, Lottez Rogers, Rose and Ami Finau also put on a strong performance in the first half, making six tackles, three, two and two tackles respectively. In the second half, Fleet-Davis got the first touch of the day, including a large 27-yard rush in the first drive of the frame. In the second half, Rose had her scoop and score and the seniors continued to contribute heavily on their way to victory, which the team hoped to send them throughout the season.
3. Maryland set itself up for the 2022 season. This season was one of the best for the program in a long time and it showed promise for what the future could hold. A few weeks ago, star senior wide receiver Deontay Damas Jr. announced that he would be returning for the season and that Maryland took the first day of the initial signing period as well as several strong players from the transfer portal. Loxley discussed leading up to the game that instead of the end of the 2021 season, the Pinstripe Bowl was the start of the '22 season and if that is the case, the Terps started on a strong note. With the win, the Terps earned a winning record for the first time in five years and continued to progress as a program they talked about as goals throughout the season.
"This season was a huge step forward for our schedule," Locksley said. "But I still believe, again, that