Stopping Taulia Tagovailoa more than a passing problem for Michigan State football

EAST LANSING — From one big-time quarterback to the next, Michigan State football faces another QB with a history of shredding the Spartans' defense through the air.

Though the Spartans’ mission this week against Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa is a little different than the one they failed to complete against Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. last week.

“Taulia, man, this dude is all over the place,” acting head coach Harlon Barnett said Tuesday. “He's running all over the place. He's different in that manner. He'll move out of the pocket, he'll throw the ball from anywhere. Whereas I think Penix was more of a pocket guy.”

And the difference, linebacker Aaron Brule said Thursday, is in how MSU (2-1) pursues Tagovailoa when the Terrapins (3-0) arrive Saturday (3:30 p.m., NBC) for the Big Ten opener for both teams.

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“We gotta capture this guy because he scrambles, he's quick, he's elusive. And he does a really good job at what he's doing,” Brule said on Barnett’s weekly radio show. “We definitely got to get him down. …

“I think this week is a statement game that we're still here and ready to compete with anybody.”

“Capture or kill” is how Barnett and defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton have labeled their approach to quarterbacks. Pocket passers like Penix must be made uncomfortable with pressure. Scramblers who do more on the move, like Tagovailoa, require containment from multiple defenders to prevent him from taking off and running or extending plays.

“Although we'd known (Penix) to be a runner years ago at Indiana and all that kind of stuff, he's trying to stay in a pocket a little bit longer and throw from the pocket,” Barnett said. “Where Taulia, he wants to be in the pocket — all of them do — but he doesn't mind getting out, running around and still throwing it. He's going to be a challenge just trying to capture him and get him on the ground. That's the challenge.”

Nothing worked last week against Penix, who had 375 yards and all four of his touchdown passes by halftime and finished 27-for-35 for 473 yards. The Huskies’ 536 passing yards in MSU's 41-7 loss to Washington tied Aidan O’Connell’s 2021 performance at Purdue for the most allowed in MSU history.

Washington's 713 total yards last week are the most by any opponent in Spartan history. It came less than a week after head coach Mel Tucker was suspended, though Maryland coach Mike Locksley cautioned his players to ignore what the stats showed.

“Obviously, they've lost their head coach,” Locksley said. “And when you watch tape, as I told them, what you saw against Washington will not be the team that shows up Saturday. … I expect them especially with what they've been through to kind of take that us-against-the-world mentality that we've seen around here. And that's why, for us, we better be prepared that this won't be the team that you saw against Washington.”

This season, Tagovailoa is among the Big Ten’s elite, completing 66 of 99 passes (66.7%) for a conference-leading 889 yards plus five touchdowns and two interceptions. His efficiency rating of 154.7 ranks third, behind Ohio State’s Kyle McCord (183.2) and Michigan's J.J. McCarthy (194.1).

And like Penix, Tagovailoa has a history of strong performances against the Spartans.

The fifth-year senior completed 29 of 48 passes for 350 yards with two touchdowns and an interception but was sacked four times in MSU's 40-21 win at Spartan Stadium in 2021. Then last season, Tagovailoa went 32-for-41 for 314 yards and a passing touchdown as the Terps defeated MSU, 27-13, in College Park, Maryland. The Spartans had just one sack in that loss.

This season, MSU’s 250 passing yards allowed per nonconference game ranks 97th out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision schools and 12th in the Big Ten. The Spartans have allowed 500 or more total yards eight times in their last 24 games. Since Hazelton took over as defensive coordinator in 2020, MSU has allowed at least 300 yards passing 13 times — including three games by Penix and two by Tagovailoa — and given up 350 or more passing yards nine times since 2021.

“They always have a good defense, like a bend-don't-break type of defense,” Tagovailoa said this week. “Very athletic on the secondary, and they got good size and strength in the box with the front seven. Like every week in the Big Ten, you're always going to be presented with a good challenge. And we need to do a good job of starting fast and controlling the tempo of the game and finishing strong.”

With Tagovailoa in his third year as Maryland’s starting quarterback, the Terrapins lead the Big Ten (and rank 22nd in the nation) at 480 total yards per game. They lead the Big Ten (and are 13th nationally) with a 53.7% third-down conversion rate, and their 39.3 points rank third in the conference and 26th nationally. Maryland also averages 176 yards rushing per game.

That could make for a tough bounce-back attempt after the thrashing MSU's defense received from Washington a week ago.

“We're always talking about being a professional,” Barnett said. “All these guys want to play in the NFL. You gotta be a professional about it. OK, understand, we got our butts kicked. How do we learn from it, get better from it and improve from it? And then that's the focus now, the discipline of everything and doing everything the right way.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football hopes to stop Maryland QB Taulia Tagovailoa