NEW YORK — In a city that never sleeps and a stadium built by icons, quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa and Maryland delivered a dominant performance in a 54-10 victory over Virginia Tech in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl to secure their first bowl victory since 2010 and first winning season in seven years.
The temperature at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, dropped by the second, but Tagovailoa, a redshirt sophomore who has represented stability for a program hungry for success, stayed hot. He made big play after big play, tormenting the Hokies defense to finish 20-for-24 passing for 265 yards and two touchdowns and lead a Terps offense that totaled 481 yards and handed Virginia Tech its worst loss since 1982.
In the win, Maryland (7-6) set a school record for most team passing yards in a season (3,823 set in 1993), and Tagovailoa tied Scott Milanovich’s single-season passing touchdown record (26). The Terps’ 54 points are also the most in a bowl game in school history, and the 44-point margin of victory is the Big Ten’s second-biggest ever in a bowl game.
Tagovailoa spent the majority of the first quarter throwing short passes, but he unleashed a bomb in the second. Tagovailoa, the brother of former Alabama star and Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, launched a 70-yard pass to senior receiver Darryl Jones for his first career receiving touchdown, giving the Terps a 14-3 advantage with 9:13 remaining in the half.
On their next drive, Tagovailoa threw a 28-yard pass to receiver Brian Cobbs, who made a one-handed grab that set up a 4-yard rushing touchdown by freshman running back Antwan Littleton II with six minutes to go in the second.
After Virginia Tech (6-7) quarterback Connor Blumrick, who was making his first career start, cut Maryland’s lead to 21-10 with a 3-yard keeper, Maryland was pinned at its 14-yard line with a minute left. Tagovailoa completed five consecutive passes to set up a Joseph Petrino’s 44-yard field goal that extended the lead to 24-10 at halftime.
Maryland was up 27-10 with under seven minutes in the third when, on a fourth-and-4 at the Hokies’ 32-yard line, Tagovailoa surveyed the field until he found Jones wide open for a 32-yard touchdown pass to make it 34-10. Jones, who entered the game with zero touchdowns in his four-year career, had 111 yards and a pair of scores on four catches.
During the final seconds of the third quarter, Tagovailoa ran for 22 yards, setting up a 2-yard rushing touchdown by freshman Roman Hemby to extend the lead to 41-10.
As Tagovailoa was giving Virginia Tech fits, Maryland’s defense shut down the Hokies, pitching a second-half shutout and holding them to 63 total yards. Fittingly, the defense added to the lopsided score with a touchdown of its own early in the fourth quarter. Junior safety Nick Cross sacked Blumbrick, forcing a fumble, and senior Greg Rose recovered it and ran 11 yards for a score that put the Terps up 47-10.
Maryland set the Pinstripe Bowl’s single-game scoring record, which was previously held by Duke (44 points in 2015). The Terps’ record-breaking performance was jump-started by sophomore cornerback Tarheeb Still, who scored on a 92-yard punt return to give the Terps a 7-0 lead with 12:44 remaining in the first. The punt return was the longest in school history and the first in the bowl’s 11-year history.
