The Terps take on the Nittany Lions in College Park
Maryland Terrapins played against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Nov. 3 at Maryland’s SECU Stadium. (Cam Andres/The Diamondback)
The anticipated clash between red and white with the opposition’s blue and white has officially concluded. The Maryland Terrapins played the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday Nov. 3 at 3:30pm.
The matchup history between these two teams began in 1917 in University Park, Pennsylvania. However, the matchup record has not been in Maryland’s favor. The record reads: 4-48-1. Maryland has only beaten Penn State once at home - back in 1961. The rivalry still stands for bragging rights between the two teams.
These two schools share a common border and were founded only a year apart from one another. University of Maryland was founded on March 6, 1856 and Pennsylvania State University was founded on Feb. 22, 1855. Both schools were founded as agricultural schools. Not too long after opening their door to prospective students, football was added to these institutions.
The Terrapins established their first football team in 1892 when Will W. Skinner was the quarterback and head coach. Maryland has their 37th head coach in Michael Locksley. Locksley became the head coach in December 2018 after working under University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban three years prior.
The Nittany Lions started their football team in 1887 with no head coach at the helm for the first five years, according to the Centre County Historical Society. It wasn’t until 1892 when football player George W. Hoskins stepped into the role of head coach, according to Onward State. Since then, Penn State is now on its 16th head coach, James Franklin, who was appointed in January 2014.
Although the two universities were relatively close to each other, their “border war” was simply a small rivalry: the Terrapins were originally in the Atlantic Coast Conference but joined the Big Ten in 2014. Penn State established their dominance in the Big Ten in 1990 and won their first Big Ten championship in 1994. From there, the two universities became conference rivals.
Last Matchup
These two teams last saw each other on Nov. 11, 2022. Penn State felt comfortable at home as they sent the Terps back on the bus thinking about an 0-30 loss. There were over 108,700 fans to witness the loss.
As a team, Penn State had 21 first downs compared to Maryland’s 11. They also rushed for 256 yards and held Maryland to 116. Penn State’s offense ran for 413 yards while their defense only held Maryland to 134.
At the time, Maryland’s starting quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa had 11 completions on 22 attempts but only gained 74 yards. He was sacked a total of seven times. Roman Hemby only ran for 68 yards, CJ Dippre had two receptions for 21 yards and Rakim Jarrett had three receptions for 30 yards.
On Penn State’s side, former starting quarterback Sean Clifford had 12 completions on 23 attempts tied to 139 yards. Current starting quarterback for the blue and white, Drew Allar had 3 completions tied to 18 yards. Both quarterbacks were not sacked during this game. Standout running back Nicholas Singleton ran for 123 yards along with 2 touchdowns and former tight end Brenton Strange had three receptions tied to 34 yards.
Terps Crushed the Lions
The last time Maryland beat Penn State was on Nov. 11, 2020 at University Park. Maryland was able to send the Nittany Lions back to the locker room pondering a loss to the Terps, 35-19. Tagovalioa had 18 completions for 282 yards and was only sacked three times. Meanwhile Clifford had 27 completions for 340 yards and was sacked seven times.
Isn’t it great to be home…
Even though this year’s game took place at the SECU Stadium, the last time the Terps took on the Lions at home was on Nov. 6, 2021. At the time, the stadium was called the Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. The Terps were chewed up by the Lions as they lost 14-31. This game Tagovalioa had 41 completions, threw for 371 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Maryland's offensive line only allowed him to be sacked three times. However, Clifford held a stat line of 27 completions on 363 yards and 3 touchdowns. Penn State’s offensive line only allowed him to be sacked three times.
Unfortunately, a name change proved to not help the Terps when it came to this Saturday’s embarrassing loss to the Lions. The scoreboard held 15-51, Penn State. Maryland was -49 in total rushing yards. Tagovailoa was sacked six times but had 29 completions and threw for 286 yards. Meanwhile Allar was sacked zero times, 25 completions and threw for 240 yards.
A Look Ahead
As the power five conferences are changing in the 2024 season and the PAC-12 slowly falls apart, the Big Ten will see the addition of University of Oregon, University of Washington, University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles. This means that matchups may look a little different come the next five years and beyond. Maryland will travel back to Beaver Stadium next year on Nov. 30. The team will come back to College Park in 2026 and go back to University Park in 2027. The teams won’t see each other in the years 2025 and 2028. A lot can change in the coming years, but for now, the red and white is looking to salvage any part of their current season in hopes to qualify for a bowl game.