This week’s “Terps Top Three” looks at Maryland football’s diversified run game, a family reunion for the Tagovailoas, and one of the area’s finest coming home.
RUN DMV: Among many positive observations from last Saturday’s Maryland win at Charlotte, one that could pay dividends later this season is seeing the full complement of Terrapin running backs all getting their hands on the ball.
Starter Roman Hemby, along with Antwaine Littleton, Colby McDonald and Ramon Brown tallied a combined 22 carries for 176 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, with Littleton’s lone carry being a 59-yard score near the end of a 21-point first quarter.
Both Maryland coach Mike Locksley and offensive coordinator Dan Enos emphasized repeatedly during fall camp that fans would see all four of the backs getting action during the season. Hemby and Littleton are at the forefront of that group, but it’s one that can see duties fluctuate based on performance and situations.
With Big Ten play just around the corner, having all four backs getting substantial time may help Maryland close the gap ever so slightly with the other teams in the conference.
FAMILY TIES: It’s rare to have two siblings become highly-successful athletes at the collegiate and professional levels. It’s rarer still to have them play the same position, in the same state, on the same weekend.
The quarterbacks Tagovailoa get to have that experience, as Taulia and the Terrapins play Saturday night in College Park against Southern Methodist, and Tua and the Miami Dolphins kick off some 30 miles up I-95 against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Taulia said it will be the first time he and his brother will be in the same state playing, and that he’ll be at Tua’s game Sunday. The weekend will serve as a family reunion around football, with plenty of relatives coming to attend both games.
“I think my whole family, my sisters … I think my grandparents are gonna be there too,” Taulia said earlier this week. “I haven’t seen them in a long time. It’s gonna be exciting. Hopefully [Tua] can come to our game too.”
BIG FOE HOMECOMING: Another visitor this weekend is tennis star Francis Tiafoe, who will be back home for Saturday’s game following his summer on the come-up. The Hyattsville native broke through for his first Grand Slam semifinal appearance at the U.S. Open this month, earning him a career-high No. 19 world ranking.
He never forgets his area roots on the world stage, often sporting a Terrapins football “Locked In” wristband during matches. Earlier this month, Locksley said he sees himself “as a mentor” to Tiafoe, and that Frances’ rise can mirror what his football program is trying to do.
“You know, he was looking for an opportunity to have a breakthrough win,” Locksley said of Tiafoe’s upset of 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in New York. “I kind of see us in that same trajectory.
Tiafoe’s next matches will be at the Laver Cup team competition event next week in London. He’ll be replacing the injured John Isner on Team World against Team Europe. It will also be the final competition for tennis legend Roger Federer, who announced his retirement from the sport on Thursday.
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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