Taulia Tagovailoa has to have a short memory
This past Friday night was arguably the worst passing game of Taulia Tagovailoa’s time in a Maryland uniform. The 2nd quarter was the kind of meltdown that shakes a quarterback’s confidence to the core. It was also an aberration. Taulia has been one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the nation. He needs to forget this performance and remember his body of work this week, prior to the Terps hitting the road to Columbus. As ugly as the Iowa game was, a solid performance on the road at the shoe would be a huge step toward getting back on track and getting one more game closer to bowl eligibility. Given Taulia’s work ethic, I’m looking forward to a bounce-back performance of epic proportions.
The defense has to have a short memory
Simply put, the defense was a shell of the unit that’s garnered 16 plus sacks through four games this season. They were pushed around by an Iowa Hawkeye offense that had been pretty pedestrian going into this past Friday. While Ohio State poses no less of a challenge upfront, the Terrapins have a chance to take that momentum back with a solid performance on Saturday. They’ll need to really focus on shutting down an always potent running game in order to force CJ Stroud (or another of the Buckeye QB rotation) to beat them. Getting some of our linebacking corps back would be a step forward for that outcome, but it starts with the line.
Our fanbase needs to have a short memory
This one is gonna be hard…Can our fanbase put aside the disappointment of this outing to really get behind this program’s push for bowl eligibility? The road doesn’t get any easier, with Penn State, Michigan State, and Minnesota among the teams waiting in the wings for the terrapins in the 2nd half of this year’s Big 10 schedule. In the past, a loss like this would be the harbinger of an eventual downward spiral of close games, losses, and injuries for the team. The injury bug bit in a huge way this past Friday night, taking one of the biggest deep threats in the Big 10 off the board for the foreseeable future. How terps football performs on the road may very well impact the morale of a fanbase that’s had this main course on more than one occasion, and doesn’t like the taste of it.