Penn State loses to Maryland for 1st time in 5 years, stays winless | TribLIVE.com
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Penn State loses to Maryland for 1st time in 5 years, stays winless

Associated Press
| Saturday, November 7, 2020 7:38 p.m.
AP
Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker breaks up a pass intended for Maryland wide receiver Rakim Jarrett in the second quarter Saturday.

UNIVERSITY PARK — Taulia Tagovailoa competed 18 of 26 passes for 282 yards and three touchdown passes, and Maryland beat Penn State, 35-19, on Saturday.

Rakim Jarrett caught five passes for 144 yards with a pair of touchdowns, Dontay Demus caught another and Jake Funk added 80 yards rushing and a score for the Terps (2-1, 2-1 Big Ten), who won for just the third time in the 44-game series and first since 2015.

Sean Clifford completed 27 of 57 passes for 340 yards with two interceptions and three touchdowns for the Nittany Lions, who fell to 0-3 for the first time since 2001. They had outscored Maryland, 163-6, over the last three meetings.

The Terps flipped the script this time thanks to Tagovailoa and a defense that tortured Penn State all night.

A week after he turned in one of the best passing performances in Terrapins history, Tagovailoa didn’t hesitate to attack Penn State’s reeling defense. He completed 14 of his first 19 throws, including a pair of long touchdowns to Jarrett on two first-quarter possessions that gave the Terps a lead they didn’t relinquish.

Tagovailoa hit Jarrett on a short slant route, and the wideout outran Penn State’s defense 42 yards into the end zone to open the scoring. Maryland went back to the play as the first quarter drew to a close, and this time Jarrett went 62 yards untouched to put Maryland up 14-0.

Funk capped an 8-play, 62-yard drive with a 38-yard touchdown run through heavy traffic early in the second quarter before Clifford cut the lead to 21-7 with a 20-yard touchdown to Dotson.

Tagovailoa gave Maryland a 28-7 lead when he found Demus running uncovered down the sideline for a 34-yard score.

“When you haven’t been successful the first couple of games, I don’t think you underestimate anyone,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “But obviously there are things we’ve got to get fixed and there are things we’ve got to improve. … We need to get it fixed and we need to get it fixed fast.”

It got worse for Penn State. Maryland got the game’s first turnover to start the third quarter.

Nick Cross blasted Clifford and jarred the ball loose on Penn State’s first second-half possession. Linebacker Chance Campbell scooped up the fumble and returned it 44 yards to give Maryland a 35-7 lead.

Clifford threw a pair of touchdown passes to Parker Washington in the fourth quarter.

For the third straight week, the Nittany Lions have little to feel good about. They were gashed on the ground early, burned on third down regularly, gave up huge chunks on intermediate passing plays and couldn’t get anything going on offense.

Penn State visits Nebraska on Saturday.


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