Taulia Tagovailoa, the Maryland Terrapins quarterback and brother of the Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, had a dominant game on Friday night against Minnesota. The sophomore led his team to a shocking comeback and an overtime win. After a disappointing defeat, last week at the hands of Northwestern, Tagovailoa looked unstoppable.
Tagovailoa completed 26 of 35 pass attempts for 394 yards and three touchdowns. Additionally, the young signal-caller rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns on eight attempts. The Terrapins got off to a hot start after Tagovailoa ran for a 39-yard touchdown, putting them up two scores.
However, Minnesota went on a mid-game tear led by running back Mohamed Ibrahim and wide receiver Chris Atman-Bell. The Terps were down 17 points coming into the fourth quarter, which is where they came alive. Tagovailoa led Maryland on three scoring drives to tie the game at 38. In overtime and down six points, Tagovailoa scrambled into the end zone for a two-yard score, which ended up being the game’s winning touchdown.
In an offensive affair, Taulia Tagovailoa was wildly impressive. Tagovailoa looked like the top prospect he was expected to be right from the start. After transferring from Alabama, Tagovailoa was granted immediate eligibility at Maryland. He won the starting job this summer and looks like he will maintain that for the foreseeable future.
Tagovailoa showcased his dynamic athleticism last night against the Golden Gophers. He was continually making throws on the run outside of the pocket look easy. Because of his dominant performance, Tagovailoa becomes the first Maryland quarterback to throw for over 300 yards since Caleb Rowe in 2013.
The Terrapins will soon face the toughest challenges in the Big Ten. In the next two weeks, they are scheduled to play Penn State and Ohio State. If Tagovailoa impresses in these games as well, we may be talking about another top quarterback for the class of 2022.
The Tagovailoa family has had a big week. Taulia logged his first FBS victory as a starter with a fantastic performance. Meanwhile, Tua will draw the start tomorrow for Miami against the LA Rams. Hopefully, Taulia will feed off this momentum and continue to dominate at the college level.
