Penn State Football: causes for concern vs the Maryland Terrapins

After last week’s dominating win at Indiana, Penn State Football returns home this week to take on a Maryland program that is 2-2 in Beaver Stadium since joining the Big Ten.

The Nittany Lions are double digit favorites for the second consecutive week, but there’s still reason to believe Maryland could make this game interesting; or perhaps even win. After all, they only lost by seven points at Maryland back in September.

Let’s go over three causes for concern as Penn State Football looks to pick up their eighth victory of the season.

Taulia Tagovailoa

Is he the best quarterback Penn State has faced this year? No, but any time you have one of the best at their position in the conference at the most important position in the sport, you give yourself a chance in just about any game. Well, that’s exactly what Maryland has in Taulia Tagovailoa.

The Terps’ third-year starter at quarterback struggled mightily last week in inclement weather, but overall, he’s had a solid season and has had a lot of good moments throughout his career.

Tagovailoa is third in the Big Ten in completion percentage (69.9%), fourth in passing yards per game (259.8), fifth in touchdown passes (14), and also fourth in passing efficiency. He’s a seasoned quarterback with a lot of starts under his belt, so he should be up for the challenge of facing Penn State’s talented secondary in front of more than 100,000 fans.

Regardless, the Nittany Lions’ pass rush and secondary should be more than equipped to shut down Tagovailoa and the Maryland passing attack, but if Maryland were to win this game, a big day from the Terps’ veteran quarterback would likely be one of the reasons why.