The Maryland Terrapins tamed the Penn State Nittany Lions 35-19 at a stunned Beaver Stadium.
Penn State was favored by 28 points but it was the Terps (2-1 Big Ten) who disregarded the lack of respect while jumping out to a 28-7 lead at the break and never looked back.
Maryland new starting quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa finished the game 18 of 26 for 282 yards and three touchdowns.
His first scoring pass was to freshman sensation Rakim Jarrett who took a crossing pattern 42 yards to the house making the score 7-0 with 12:27 to go in the first quarter.
Penn State countered with a nice drive but instead of going for a field goal in the redzone they tried a fade pattern in the back on the end zone on fourth and three and failed.
That would prove costly as the Terps turned the defensive victory into another touchdown as Tagovailoa hit Jarrett again on the same pattern for a 62 yard scoring strike and a 14-0 lead with 19 seconds to go in the first quarter.
Jarrett had a breakout game finishing with five receptions for 144 yards and two big scores.
For his efforts he won Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
Maryland struck again in the second quarter when running back Jake Funk burst through the line for a 38-yard scoring dash giving the Terps a 21-0 lead with 11:49 to go in the second quarter and all but silencing the Lions.
Funk finished the game with 16 carries for 80 yards and one touchdown.
Penn State got on the board with a 20-yard TD pass from quarterback Sean Clifford to wideout Jahan Dotson making the score 21-7 with 6:32 to go in the second quarter.
Maryland kept the pedal to the metal when Tagovailoa found wide receiver Dontay Demus Jr. in the back of the end zone for a 34-yard scoring strike and a 28-7 lead with 45 seconds before halftime.
The crowd of 1500 due to the Pandemic was in shock and awe.
These games usually meant a big Penn State victory like last year’s 59-0 beatdown but not in 2020 when nothing is the same as it used to be.
In the third quarter the Maryland defense got into the act when linebacker Chance Campbell returned a Clifford fumble 34 yards for a touchdown and a commanding 35-7 lead with 12:55 to go in the quarter.
The Maryland defense rose to the occasion recording seven sack while harassing Clifford into 25 of 57 passing with two interceptions and one fumble. He passed for 340 yards and three touchdowns.
The Nittany Lions rallied for two fourth quarter touchdowns with both two point conversions failing making the final score 35-19.
Penn State outgained the Terps 434 yards to 405 yards and had 30 first downs to Maryland’s 16 but the Terps won the scoreboard battle.
Demus Jr. finished with six catches for 86 yards and one touchdown while Maryland freshman running back Peny Boone finished with 20 yards on four carries.
Dotson finished the game with nine catches for 123 yards and one touchdown. Penn State was led in rushing by Devyn Ford who ended the game with nine carries for 36 yards in a losing effort for the (0-3 Big Ten) Nittany Lions.
