James Franklin details what impresses him about Taulia Tagovailoa

The Penn State Nittany Lions have plummeted to fourth in the Big Ten after a terrific start to the year after three consecutive losses to Iowa, Illinois and Ohio State. James Franklin must now plan for another middling Maryland team led by Taulia Tagovailoa.

On paper, Maryland looks to be supremely outmatched by Penn State, though Franklin would never admit that. What he did admit — and what is evident in Maryland’s performance to-date — is when Tagovailoa can find success, so too can the Terrapins.

Maryland is a program that has struggled to find consistent quarterback play for the greater part of the last decade. In that span, Maryland had 11 quarterbacks start at least one game and eight that started at least seven games, which included a walk-on and a linebacker-turned-quarterback. That all changed when, in 2020, Tagovailoa took over under center, transferring from Alabama where he was one of several backups to his brother, Tua.

Though the Terrapins have been far from perfect, Tagovailoa — who has made a fair share of mistakes himself — has still looked, at times, like the saving grace for the once-quarterback-less program, and Franklin understands what he’s capable of accomplishing.

“He’s a really talented guy,” Franklin said of Tagovailoa. “He can make plays with his arm, he’s made some big-time throws and he can extend plays and make plays with his feet. He does a really nice job with that as well. And I think their scheme does a good job of taking advantage of both of those things, too. So, I’ve been very impressed with him.

“I think, like we all kind of deal with at this level, you look at some of the plays that he’s been able to make in the games that the’ve won, and you look at some of the challenges and issues that he’s had that we’re all working through. But, overall, I’ve been really impressed with him over the last couple of years and what he’s been able to do.”

Tagovailoa this season has completed just over 70 percent of his pass attempts, good for 2,384 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Plus, the former four-star recruit can get it done on the ground, as Franklin mentioned; the stats may not show Tagovailoa to be much of a scrambling quarterback, but his ability to extend plays with his feet has allowed Maryland’s offense to keep plays alive — even when they seemed destined to fail.

“They’re a talented, fast, athletic team and [Tagovailoa] does a good job of getting the ball to players in space pretty consistently, so I think it’s going to be a real challenge,” Franklin continued. “I know our coaches and players are excited about the opportunity, but it’ll be a real challenge.”