The 2022 season for Maryland football was a clear sign of progress for the Terrapins, but their 8-5 record was hardly perfect.
Let’s examine the positives and negatives of the season, before looking at one of the big questions for the program going forward.
The simplest way Maryland made progress in 2022 was in the win column. After going 7-6 in 2021, they improved to 8-5 in 2022 after beating NC State in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on December 30.
Even before the bowl game, their 7-5 regular season marked the first time they had put together back-to-back winning seasons since joining the Big Ten in 2014. In fact, it was just their third winning record in eight seasons of non-pandemic Big Ten play.
Their 7-5 regular season also included their best finish in the Big Ten East since 2014, ending the year in fourth with a 4-5 conference record. While a fourth-place finish in a seven-team division doesn’t feel that inspiring, it’s still a respectable accomplishment given that the three teams above them either made the College Football Playoff or won the Rose Bowl.
Winning the Mayo Bowl also gave Maryland just their seventh season with eight or more wins in the 21st century, a landmark they had last reached during a 9-4 campaign in Ralph Fridgen’s final season as head coach.
The celebratory mayonnaise bath earned by Mike Locksley after winning that bowl marked another notable milestone for the program: back-to-back bowl victories for the first time since the 2003 season.
Is winning the Pinstripe Bowl and Mayo Bowl less prestigious than winning the Peach Bowl and Gator Bowl? Probably, but it still meant that Maryland ended the year on a positive note in consecutive years for the first time in nearly two decades. Randy Edsall was 0-2 in bowls and D.J. Durkin was 0-1, but Locksley is now 2-0 after just four years on the job.
Maryland not only made progress by winning games but also by keeping two of their losses much closer than expected: Michigan and Ohio State.
After Maryland beat Michigan in 2014, the Wolverines won their next six meetings against the Terps by an average of 33.7 points. Meanwhile, Maryland’s average margin of defeat against OSU in Big Ten play had been 37.9 points entering 2022, and that’s even with their one-point loss in 2018. From 2014 to 2021, it would be fair to say Maryland had played exactly one close game against each school.
So, it was quite a pleasant surprise that Maryland played competitive games against both schools in the same season for the first time since joining the Big Ten.
In Maryland’s 34-27 loss against Michigan, their main downfall was allowing big plays on the ground.
Michigan’s Blake Corum had a 33-yard touchdown run in the first half and then added a 47-yard touchdown run in the second half on his way to picking up a career-high 243 rushing yards against the Terps.
In addition to a shoddy rush defense, Maryland’s chances to pull off the upset were also hurt by Taulia Tagovailoa throwing a pair of interceptions. That was the only regular season game where he threw multiple picks, so it was certainly unfortunate timing that the turnovers came in a near upset.
Meanwhile, red zone execution haunted Maryland in their 43-30 loss against the Buckeyes.
Maryland kicked two first-quarter field goals from inside Ohio State’s 20-yard-line, potentially leaving eight points on the board in a game where they were major underdogs. Their second field goal of the first quarter was especially frustrating, getting the ball just three yards away from the end zone before opting to send out kicker Chad Ryland on fourth down.
While the losses to Michigan and Ohio State were encouraging battles against tough opponents, other losses contained many fewer positives, such as their trip to Madison.
Wisconsin is traditionally one of the most reliably solid programs in the Big Ten and entered 2022 having won 70 percent of their games in the 21st century, good for an average record of 9.1 wins and 3.8 losses. However, 2022 was a down year for the Badgers, firing their head coach after a 2-3 start.
When Maryland visited Camp Randall Stadium, Wisconsin was 4-4 and certainly looked like a more vulnerable team than what was expected in the preseason.
However, none of Wisconsin’s struggles mattered against Maryland.
Tagovailoa failed to pass for 100 yards and completed under 50 percent of his passes, while Maryland’s rush defense allowed two different Badger running backs to pick up over 100 rushing yards on their way to losing 23-10 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score. Perhaps the most damning stat from that game was the Terps had nine first downs compared to eight punts.
They couldn’t move the ball and they couldn’t stop the run against the first Wisconsin team to have a losing record in Big Ten play since 2008. The Terps had a chance to win, or at least be competitive, against a good program having a down year and absolutely failed to take advantage of it.
Maryland’s 30-0 loss to Penn State was a similarly ugly affair, but at least Penn State ended the year with an 11-2 record and a victory in the Rose Bowl.
Meanwhile, their loss to Purdue doesn’t feel like an especially noteworthy loss in a positive or negative direction for the program.
It was a 31-29 defeat against the Big Ten West champions that included a decisive blocked extra point in the fourth quarter. Purdue put together a respectable 8-4 regular season before losing in the Big Ten title game and getting beat 63-7 in their bowl against an LSU team that beat Alabama. I think it’s fair to say the Terps and Boilermakers were evenly matched this year where a close loss is a frustrating but ultimately acceptable outcome.
As for the future of the program, there’s one big question that at least has been answered for 2023: what comes after Tagovailoa?
On Wednesday, he confirmed he’d be returning to Maryland for next year. However, the Terps will eventually need to look to replace someone who has set numerous program records for passing.
When looking at the current college landscape, it seems increasingly likely that the next starting quarterback after Tagovailoa will not be someone who committed to Maryland out of high school.
Of course, Tagovailoa himself was a transfer from Alabama looking for playing time, but the 2022 season saw several examples of starting QBs at a Power Five school transferring to another Power Five school to get a change of scenery.
Bo Nix appeared in 34 games at Auburn before heading to Oregon, where he picked up over 4,000 total yards and 44 total touchdowns in a 10-3 season for the Ducks. Elsewhere in the Pac-12, former Indiana starter Michael Penix Jr. put together an excellent season at Washington, finishing second in the country with 4,641 passing yards as the Huskies went from 4-8 to 11-2. Meanwhile in the SEC, Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels helped LSU win their division in Brian Kelly’s first season as head coach.
The trend of starting QBs in the Power Five changing places has continued this offseason, most notably with Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman going to Notre Dame. Hartman threw for 12,967 career yards as a Demon Deacon and now the Fighting Irish will get to see what he can do. Also, former five-star recruit D.J. Uiagalelei will be leaving Clemson for Oregon State.
The ability for schools to find QBs who already have valuable starting experience can help, but it hardly has a success rate of 100 percent.
Former Florida QB Emory Jones going to Arizona State ended in a 3-9 season and the firing of head coach Herm Edwards, while Pitt wasn’t quite able to repeat as ACC champions after getting Kedon Slovis from USC to replace Kenny Pickett.
Whoever Maryland picks to replace Tagovailoa could have a huge impact on the future stability of the program. If it’s a transfer, let’s hope they’re closer to Bo Nix than Emory Jones.
BSL Analyst
Rose Katz is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland’s journalism school, where she worked for The Diamondback as the online managing editor and a sports blogger. As a student, she spent almost all of her time on campus in The Diamondback’s newsroom or at Xfinity Center, Ludwig Field and Maryland Stadium. Rose gained intern experience with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN).