East lansing MI,— Spartans vs Maryland have so far played every game this season on their home-field, but they’ll have to hit the road on Saturday. They will take on the Michigan State Spartans at 3:30 p.m. ET at Spartan Stadium. Maryland know how to get points on the board — the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past three contests — so hopefully Michigan State like a good challenge.
Maryland must be getting used to good results now that the squad has five straight wins. They took their match at home on Friday with ease, bagging a 42-14 win over Virginia. The score was all tied up 14-14 at the break, but luckily Maryland were the (much) better team in the second half.
QB Taulia Tagovailoa looked great while leading his team to the win, throwing for 342 yards and a touchdown. Tagovailoa wound up with a passer rating of 170.1. The team also got some help courtesy of RB Colby McDonald, who rushed for 75 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 45 points the game before, Michigan State faltered in their match on Saturday. They took a serious blow against Washington, falling 41-7. Michigan State were in a tough position after the first half, with the score sitting at 35-0.
Looking ahead, Maryland are the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 7.5 points. This will be their first time playing on the road this season.
“We talked all week long and for the last couple of weeks about getting off to a fast start, and that’s what we’re able to do,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said. “Defense came up big early on with the turnovers. We were able to convert those to scores. Anytime you come up with turnovers like we did today, it really helps you on the offensive side of the ball.”
Tagovailoa, who completed 21 of 36 passes for 223 yards, led the Terrapins (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) to touchdowns on three of their four first-half drives and a 21-3 halftime lead. He had scoring throws of 1 yard to Sean Greeley and 12 yards to Tyrese Chambers before plowing up the middle on a 1-yard touchdown run. Tagovailoa added a 31-yarder to Octavian Smith Jr. late in the fourth quarter.
Michigan State has dropped its first two games under interim coach Harlon Barnett.
UP NEXT:
Maryland: Hosts Indiana on Saturday.
MSU: At Iowa on Saturday.
