Taulia Tagovailoa Projected to Lead Maryland to Successful 2021 Season

Maryland football hasn’t had a winning season since their first year in the Big Ten in 2014, but oddsmakers think that may change in 2021.

WynnBET has the win total for Maryland set at 5.5, but the over is the heavy favorite at -348. Now that the college football season will return to a normal 12-game schedule, Maryland will need to surpass its projected win total by a game and a half to achieve their goal of a 7-5 season.

Leading the Terrapins will be Taulia Tagovailoa, brother of current Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Taulia was formerly teammates with his brother at Alabama, but transferred to Maryland after Tua declared for the 2020 NFL Draft.

He put together a solid 2020 season with the Terrapins, throwing for 1,011 yards and seven touchdowns in four starts. If he wants to take the next step forward, he’ll need to focus on limiting his turnovers as he threw seven interceptions in 2020.

Tagovailoa has a plethora of weapons around him, including Dontay Demus Jr. and Rakim Jarrett at wide receiver. Last year, Jarrett became the first Maryland true freshman to record over 100 years and two touchdowns since Stefon Diggs achieved the feat in 2012.

If Maryland wants to capture that elusive winning season, it will need to improve on the defensive side of the football. The Terps allowed 32 points per game in 2020 which ranked 79th in the country. They also allowed teams to put up an average of 429.2 yards per game against them, which was 84th in the country.

Maryland’s secondary was a strength of its defense in 2020, only allowing 6.1 yards per pass attempt which ranked seventh in the country. What it will need to fix will be the run defense, as the Terps allowed 4.8 yards per carry. Five-star recruit Terrence Lewis may be forced to start at linebacker as a true freshman to try to give the Terps a boost in their run defense.

There’s a lot things to be excited for as a Maryland fan, especially compared to recent years. Don’t expect the Terrapins to compete with the likes of Ohio State, but they’ll be interesting to watch in the Big Ten in 2021.

Maryland’s odds to win the Big Ten East are set at +500 on WynnBET.