COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Taulia Tagovailoa threw three touchdown passes and Maryland capitalized on four West Virginia turnovers to defeat the Mountaineers 30-24 here at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium this afternoon.
Tagovailoa, a former Alabama transfer, threw long touchdown passes to Dontay Demus Jr. and Rakim Jarrett, and hooked up with tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo on an 18-yard screen pass for another score late in the first quarter.
In all, he completed 26 of his 36 pass attempts for 332 yards.
Demus and Jarrett both went over 100 yards receiving, Demus totaling 133 on six grabs and Jarrett getting 122 on his six catches. Tayon Fleet-Davis completed Maryland’s 100-yard trifecta with 123 yards rushing on 18 carries.
West Virginia (0-1) got 289 yards passing from quarterback Jarret Doege, who completed 24 of his 40 aerials, but he threw a pair of picks and WVU also lost two fumbles, one from Leddie Brown late in the third quarter and the other from Winston Wright Jr. on a muffed punt.
WVU’s rushing attack mustered just 39 yards on 22 rushes for a 1.8-yard-per-carry average – 73 of those coming from Brown on 17 attempts. Doege was sacked three times for a loss of 27 yards.
Maryland (1-0) came out using tempo to build an early 17-7 lead. Tagovailoa connected with Dontay Demus Jr. on a 66-yard touchdown strike down the far sideline, and later found Okonkwo behind a wall of blockers on a screen pass for an 18-yard score.
Senior place kicker Joseph Petrino began the game with a 45-yard field goal and ended the first half scoring with a 21-yarder.
All three of West Virginia’s first half touchdowns were scored by Leddie Brown. He took a pass out in the flat and tight-roped the far sideline for a 20-yard touchdown on WVU’s opening possession of the game.
His second score, a 2-yard run, was set up by Winston Wright Jr.’s 96-yard kickoff return down the far sideline. A hustling Deonte Banks was able to get past lead blocker Isaiah Esdale to trip up Wright before he was able to get into the end zone.
Brown’s third score of the first half occurred with 11:30 left in the second quarter when he broke free from the line of scrimmage and jogged in from the 9 on a third-and-goal draw play.
The defense bailed out West Virginia twice following turnovers. After Tagovailoa was pulled down by VanDarius Cowan for an 8-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 play from the WVU 42, Doege gave the ball right back to Maryland when his deep pass down the near sideline was picked off by Maryland’s Nick Cross.
Cross stepped out of bounds at the 30 on the return and Ami Finau was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct. A quick three-and-out possession required Maryland to punt from its own 16, but Wright Jr. muffed Anthony Pecorella’s punt and Gereme Spraggins recovered the ball at the Mountaineer 34.
Maryland got to the WVU 23 before Dante Stills pulled down Tagovailoa for a 13-yard loss, requiring Petrino to try a 51-yard field goal. His kick hit had plenty of distance but hit the right upright.
West Virginia, without any timeouts, was unable to burn much time off the clock, enabling Maryland, with all three of its timeouts, to march 66 yards in just 1:31 to set up Petrino’s 21-yard field goal.
Following a scoreless third quarter, Maryland retook the lead with 9:16 remaining in the game when Petrino’s third field goal, a 26-yarder, culminated a 14-play, 58-yard drive that took 5:53 off the clock.
Another long Wright Jr. kickoff return, this one for 48 yards when he abandoned his blocking wall to the left, set up Doege’s 39-yard pass to Sam James down the far sideline that put the ball at the Maryland 13. But two plays later, Doege’s pass intended for James was intercepted in the back corner of the end zone by Jakorian Bennett.
Bennett’s pick preceded Tagovailoa’s third touchdown pass of the afternoon, a 60-yarder to Jarrett, who got behind the WVU defense.
West Virginia rallied late, driving 69 yards in 14 plays to get a Casey Legg 23-yard field goal with 3:32 remaining, but Maryland was able to put away the game with a couple of runs, one coming from Tagovailoa on third and 2 at the Maryland 32 for four yards, and the other Fleet-Davis’ 53-yard burst that moved the ball to the WVU 9.
Two Tagovailoa kneel downs ran out the clock to end the game.
Today’s victory was Maryland’s second against West Virginia in the last 11 games, and its first since a 37-0 victory at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in 2013.
West Virginia opens its home season next Saturday afternoon against Long Island, which lost 48-10 to Florida International on Thursday night. That game will kick off at 5 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+.
Maryland remains at home to play Howard next Saturday night.
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