CHARLOTTE, NC -- Maryland came out on top in a defensive battle in Bank of America Stadium on Friday afternoon, besting No. 23 NC State 16-12 to win the Duke's Mayo Bowl. The Terps won bowl games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since winning the Peach Bowl after the 2002 season and Gator Bowl following the 2003 season.
Neither team had much luck finding the end zone as both defenses shined and the teams combined for seven field goal makes. The Terps notched the lone touchdown of the day as Octavian Smith Jr. made a terrific leaping catch in the corner of the end zone — a 19-yard score that proved to be the difference in the game.
The Wolfpack got the ball down 16-12 with 2:34 remaining, but, as they did all game, the Maryland defense came up big when needed as Jakorian Bennett, playing in his final game as a Terp, ripped the ball away from a NC State receiver to secure an interception and the victory. Bennett was named the game's MVP.
Kicker Chad Ryland connected on three field goals, coming from 45, 42 and 33 yards. It was the seventh time in his career he made three or more field goals in a game.
After his 221-yard day on 19-of-37, quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa now holds every major passing record in Maryland football history as he set the school record for total touchdowns (59) and passing completions (665) in a career.
Tai Felton posted career-highs in receptions (four) and receiving yards (69). Jeshaun Jones had four catches for 79 yards while Smith Jr. snagged three balls and totaled 34 yards. Corey Dyches capped off his impressive season with a four-catch, 45-receiving yard day.
The Terps' defense was stout, limiting NC State to 296 overall yards, and just 27 rushing yards. The Wolfpack had just 93 yards in the second half. Maryland held the Wolfpack to just 5-of-18 on third-down conversions. Beau Brade led the Terps with seven tackles.
NC State was only able to muster four field goals. The last time the Terps held an opponent without a touchdown in a bowl game was the 2002 Peach Bowl, when Maryland beat Tennessee, 30-3.
The win brought the Terps to an 8-5 final record, marking the first time Maryland won eight games in a season since 2010. The Wolfpack also finished 8-5.
Breaking Down The Action
Billy Edwards Jr. led the Terps down the field on the game's opening drive, but the Wolfpack came up with a goal-line stand on fourth down. The Maryland defense came up with a strong response as Fa'Najae Gotay came up with his first-career interception on a deflected ball to give the Terps the ball back at the NC State 23-yard line.
NC State got on the board first with a 38-yard field goal after a Tagovailoa interception in the end zone.
The Terps tied it up on the ensuing drive as Chad Ryland, playing in his final game as a Terp, connected on a 42-yarder. The drive was keyed by a 41-yard kickoff return from Octavian Smith Jr., followed by a Tagovailoa scramble for 25 yards.
Maryland took a 10-3 lead with 8:07 remaining in the half as Octavian Smith Jr. came up with a beautiful grab on a fade route in the back corner of the end zone.
On the ensuing drive, the Wolfpack drove down the field, but the Terps forced three consecutive incompletions from the two yard line to hold them to a field goal. NC State added a second field goal just before halftime as the Terps went into the locker room up 10-9.
A 33-yard field goal from Ryland was the only scoring in the third quarter and Maryland led 13-9 entering the final 15 minutes of play.
The Wolfpack added a field goal to cut the deficit to one, but Maryland responded with a long drive resulting in another kick through the uprights for Ryland, pushing it back to a 16-12 lead that would hold for the rest of the game.
Taulia The Record Setter
Coming into today's game, Tagovailoa needed just five completions and one touchdown to officially hold every major passing record in Maryland history.
With a 26-yard completion to Tai Felton in the second quarter, he broke the school record for completions (surpassing Scott Milanovich's former mark of 650 completions).
He set the total touchdown record midway through the second quarter when he connected with Octavian Smith Jr. for a 19-yard touchdown, giving him 59 overall.
Now, Tagovailoa stands as the Terps all-time leader in passing yards (7,879), passing touchdowns (51), total touchdowns (59), completion percentage (68%), , total offense (8,067) and completions (670).
Single-season wise, Tagovailoa went over 3,000 passing yards in the season on a 30-yard completion to Corey Dyches. He's the first Terp to have two seasons of 3,000 or more yards with 3,860 last season.
You Can't Spell Maryland without Ryland
Kicker Chad Ryland, the top NFL Draft kicking prospect, connected on three field goals for the second time in as many games and seventh time in his career. The first five came during his time at Eastern Michigan.
He finished his lone season as a Terrapin making 19-of-23.
He made his last 10 field goals in a row.
Terps' Bowl History
The Duke's Mayo Bowl is Maryland's 29th bowl appearance all-time as the Terps are now 13-14-2 in bowl games.
This was the Terps' second consecutive bowl win, with the previous one coming last season when Maryland defeated Virginia Tech 54-10 in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl behind 481 yards of total offense. It marked the first time the Terps won back-to-back bowl games since 2002-03. Maryland won the 2002 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl 30-3 over Tennessee on Dec. 31, 2002 and the 2004 Toyota Gator Bowl, 41-7 over West Virginia on Jan. 1, 2004.
The Duke's Mayo Bowl marked the third-straight bowl game against an ACC team (2016, Boston College).
Series History
Coming into the game, the series between the Terps and the Wolfpack was deadlocked at 33 wins apiece with four ties.
Now, the Terps hold a 34-33-4 advantage through 71 total meetings. The 71 matchups are the most previous meetings in any bowl matchup since the 2016 Poinsettia Bowl between Wyoming and BYU (77).
Beating Ranked Teams
In beating No. 23 NC State, the Terps won their first game over a ranked team since beating No. 21 Syracuse, 63-20, on Sept. 7, 2019.
Non-Conference Coasting
The Terps are now 10-1 in non-conference games under Locksley and have won seven straight non-conference games.
Streaks Extended
Spencer Anderson started on the offensive line in his final game as a Terp, bringing his consecutive number of starts to 31.
The safety duo of Beau Brade and Dante Trader Jr. started all 13 games this season.
Corey Dyches extended his number of consecutive games with a catch to 14.
The Terps have won the past 19 games where they've led after the third quarter.
Notes and Nuggets
The Terps used two quarterbacks in the game with Billy Edwards Jr., drawing the start, his third of the season. Edwards also started against Northwestern (Oct. 22) and Wisconsin (Nov. 5) this season, his first with the Terps.
Edwards' 45-yard pass to Jones, on the first reception of the game, was the 16th Maryland offensive play of more than 40 yards this season.
Jakorian Bennett had his second interception of the season and fifth of his career. He now 28 pass break-ups over the last two seasons, the most in FBS.
Smith Jr.'s touchdown in the second quarter was the second of his career - with both coming in Charlotte as he also scored for the first time in the Terps' game at Charlotte on Sept. 10.
Gotay had the first interception of his career, playing in his 29th career game.
Colton Spangler tied his career-long with a 63-yard punt and had his 13th punt of 50 yards or longer with a boomer in the third quarter.
Joseph Bearns and Smith Jr. both made their first career starts.
The seven combined field goals from both sides set the Duke's Mayo Bowl record for most in a game.
Several players donned new numbers for the game, Corey Coley Jr., wore No. 3; Shaleak Knotts wore No. 5 and Tai Felton in No. 7.
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