Taulia Tagovailoa leads Maryland past Virginia Tech in Pinstripe Bowl

Taulia Tagovailoa put on quite the show Wednesday afternoon in a record-setting day at the 11th annual Pinstripe Bowl.

The Maryland redshirt sophomore quarterback completed 14 of 15 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown in the first half and finished 20-for-24 for 265 yards and two touchdowns to propel the Terrapins to a 54-10 win over Virginia Tech in front of 29,653 fans at Yankee Stadium.

Tagovailoa added four carries for 42 yards and was named the Pinstripe Bowl MVP, as the Terrapins outgained the Hokies 481-259.

Does the last name sound familiar? If it does, perhaps it is because Taulia is the younger brother of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

"He’s not the finished product and I think you’ll continue to see him get better," Maryland head coach Mike Locksley said of Taulia. "Maybe we can get him a little bit of respect in terms of being one of the top quarterbacks in the country."

The 54 points set a Pinstripe Bowl record, breaking Duke’s record of 44 points against Indiana in a 44-41 overtime thriller in 2015. It was the first time Maryland played in New York City since Oct. 24, 1936, when it beat Syracuse, 20-0 at the Polo Grounds.

The Terrapins (7-6) wasted no time putting points on the board. Virginia Tech went three and out on its first possession and on the fourth-down punt, Tarheeb Still caught the ball at his own 8-yard line and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown.

"We talked in our pregame meeting how special teams during bowl games becomes really important and is a way to possibly steal points," Locksley said.

Tagovailoa connected with Darryl Jones for a 70-yard score with 9 minutes, 13 seconds remaining in the second quarter and Antwain Littleton scored three minutes later on a 4-yard TD run to put Maryland ahead 21-3.

Virginia Tech (6-7) answered with a 13 play, 75-yard drive that was capped by Connor Blumrick’s 3-yard TD run to bring the Hokies within 11.

With 1:02 remaining before half, Tagovailoa completed five consecutive passes and set up Joseph Petrino for a 44-yard field goal as time expired, giving Maryland a 24-10 halftime advantage.

"We were just trying to get whatever we could. I think everyone was doing their job that entire drive, and coach put us in a good position," Tagovailoa said. "There were some blitz pickups that our running backs and offensive line picked up well and that gave me time to throw the ball."

Following a field goal on its opening possession of the second half, Tagovailoa connected with Jones on a 32-yard TD pass on fourth-and-4 with 6:48 left in the third quarter to put Maryland ahead 34-10. Jones caught four passes for 111 yards and two scores.

Roman Hemby rushed for a 2-yard score with 18 seconds left in the third to give the Terrapins a 31-point lead.

"For me, personally, it was good to play against an ACC team," Tagovailoa said. "I’m going to head into spring ball and offseason training with a lot of confidence. A win like this can be used as a building block for this program moving forward."