‘Let ‘er rip’ – Maryland Challenges Start with Containing Tagovailoa
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Taulia Tagovailoa is the catalyst. Indiana knows it. Coaches plan for it. Defensive players work for it. Limit Maryland’s veteran quarterback and Saturday’s victory chances soar.
Don’t and it likely will be a tough trip home.
“He’s a real instinctive player,” linebacker Aaron Casey says. “He’s a guy who controls the offense, who can move around the pocket, scramble well, and get the ball where it needs to go. We’ll harp on containing him.
“We’ll get after him, get in his face and affect him a little bit.”
Tagovailoa directs the Big Ten’s second-highest scoring offense with a 37.3-point average. He has 11 Maryland records, including career passing yards (8,991), passing touchdowns (59), total touchdowns (69), completion percentage (67.0), and 300-yard passing games (13). He’s led the Terps (4-0) to consecutive bowl victories and consecutive wins over Indiana (2-2), by 38-33 and 38-35 scores.
When facing him, Casey adds, it’s important to focus on the defensive keys and not get distracted by “eye candy.”
“It’s about doing our jobs and trusting each other. Can we do that? If we do our responsibilities, stay disciplined and not let eye candy things affect us in the wrong places, we’ll be very effective on defense. We have to do it for a full 60 minutes.”
Tagovailoa doesn’t run to gain yards -- he has 11 carries for 53 yards and two touchdowns this season -- as much as extend passing plays. He completes 64.4 percent of his passes for a Big Ten-leading 1,112 yards, eight touchdowns, and three interceptions.
“He’s experienced,” co-defensive coordinator Matt Guerrieri says. “He has familiarity with the system and has seen a lot of defenses. That makes him hard to rattle.
“He’s a really talented guy. He can run it. He can throw it. He does off-schedule scrambling. He can do a bunch of good things. He’s a talented player who has played a lot of snaps.”
A big challenge is pressuring Tagovailoa while keeping him contained in the pocket.
“It starts with design,” Guerrieri says. “What is the intention of the game plan and what is the amount of pressure and risk involved? What’s the design and how well is it executed to get the result you want?
“We know we have a big challenge. We have to be really disciplined in the way we contain him.”
Head coach Tom Allen is well aware of the challenge. Tagovailoa has only been sacked three times on 135 passing attempts.
“He’s very elusive. He hasn’t been sacked very many times because he’s hard to get on the ground.
“We’ve got to specifically drill for him. I’ve got to do a great job of simulating that. We’re going to have to make some adjustments.”
Maryland has tweaked its approach to reduce the number of hits Tagovailoa takes in a game.
“You can see it was an emphasis by them,” Allen says. “He’s getting the ball out faster. It’s the depth of his drop. He’s quick to move around and avoid things. He’s putting himself less in harm’s way.
“They’ve run earlier and better. That takes off pressure. They’ve stayed out of third and long, and played better football earlier in downs.”
One key to containing Tagovailoa could be rotating defensive players to ensure everyone is fresh for 60 minutes and possibly beyond. During IU’s four-overtime win over Akron, several defensive players had a high number of snaps. Casey reached 90.
“I wasn’t sure how many snaps I played,” Casey says. “I was shocked to hear it was 90. I wasn’t too banged up. I focused on doing my responsibilities. I stayed healthy. I felt it the next day, but that’s pretty much every game.”
Guerrieri says the high snap numbers weren’t intentional.
“It starts with guys earning the right to play in practice. You can commit to a pre-plan rotation no matter what happens in the game, but what happens sometimes is the game is tight and you leave guys in for too many snaps.
“We talk about that a lot. If guys have earned the right to play, they need to play.”
Allen doesn’t want a repeat.
“We had too many guys play too many snaps,” he says. “We didn't play enough guys at certain positions. I want to us see us play more guys at linebacker, more guys in the secondary. I talked to those coaches.
“With as many snaps as some of those guys played, for them to finish the way they did with the energy they did was impressive. It means they’re in good shape. But I don’t want them doing that each week.”
Inconsistency the last two weeks has IU pushing for a complete game as well as a victory.
“It’s a long season,” Allen says. “This team has a lot to it, a lot of character, a lot of resiliency. We have to do a great job of growing our team and growing a young quarterback (Tayven Jackson) and help him be successful.
“It’s Big Ten football the rest of the way. I’m excited for this opportunity. It’s always hard on the road. We are playing a very good team. Athletes all over the place.
“I’ve gotta coach better. We have to coach better. We have to do a great job of getting our guys ready to play. Make sure they take advantage of this moment and be at our best this Saturday. This team needs to get better. We need to be a team on the rise.
“We’ve got to let ‘er rip. Give our guys a chance to make plays. We have to find a way to win."