James Franklin details challenges of facing Taulia Tagovailoa
The Penn State Nittany Lions have another exciting matchup in Week 10. On Saturday, the Nittany Lions and head coach James Franklin will travel to College Park, MD, to take on Taulia Tagovailoa and the Maryland Terrapins.
Before their showdown on Saturday, Franklin shared some kind words about the Terrapin signal caller while detailing the challenges of facing him and Maryland’s high-octane offense.
“Really good player,” said Franklin. “Statistically, he’s number one in every category at the University of Maryland; they’ve had some good quarterbacks all the way back to Boomer Esiason, Frank Reich and a ton of guys that play there. The thing that makes him challenging is not only his decision-making as a passer and the weapons they have around him but also his athleticism, his quickness, and his ability to improvise. Those are the things that become most challenging.
“Whenever you got a guy that’s played as much football as he has, that’s why I think there was so much confidence with Locks and those guys coming into the season and why they’re confident now. They’ve got a veteran, experienced, proven quarterback.
This season, Tagovailoa has Maryland sitting at 5-3 on the year and 2-3 in the Big Ten. The younger brother of Miami Dolphins star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been impressive this season and throughout his tenure at Maryland. This season, the senior quarterback from Ewa Beach, HI, has completed 63.9 percent of its passes for 2200 yards, 19 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He has also been more of a dual threat this year, with 45 carries for 84 yards and four rushing touchdowns.
Franklin details special playmaking of Daequan Hardy
Daequan Hardy has been at Penn State since 2019, but is currently having quite the breakout season for the Nittany Lions as a redshirt senior.
Hardy hasn’t only been making an impact as a versatile defensive back in the Nittany Lions defense, but has also established himself as one of the best punt returners in the nation. So much so that Penn State head coach James Franklin was asked why Hardy wasn’t returning punts for the blue and white sooner.
“I think that the hard part and the challenging part sometimes is the number one priority when you put somebody back as a punt returner, no matter what, is gotta be the consistency of catching the ball. That’s gotta be priority number one,” Franklin said. “Number two obviously is the ability to make explosive plays. The challenge for coaches all the time, and for players, is how much live do you go on special teams with a punt returner who’s also our starting nickel and corner?”
It’s hard to be an effective returner without first catching the ball, which sounds like an area Hardy struggled in early in his career.