Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa watched his older brother Tua stretchered off the field Thursday night after a violent hit. Less than 48 hours later, Taulia was on the football field leading the Terrapins to a 27-13 win over Michigan State.
Tagovailoa completed 32-of-41 of his passes for 314 yards and a touchdown. Following the win, Maryland head coach Mike Locksley, who also coached Tua in college at Alabama, said Taulia was able to talk to Tua on FaceTime. Seeing his brother allowed Taulia to settle down mentally where he could play Saturday’s game.
“I think the one thing that was able to settle [Taulia] down was, he was finally able to get a FaceTime with Tua, and Tua basically said, ‘Hey, I’m fine, man. Go, play. I’m looking forward to seeing you go, play and win a game,'” Locksley said, per Wesley Brown of InsideMDSports.
Taulia’s energy perked during last night’s team dinner after speaking with Tua, which ultimately eased the team’s emotions heading into the Michigan State game.
Tua Tagovailoa is the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins. Four days after hitting his head in a game against the Buffalo Bills, the older Tagovailoa suffered head and neck injuries after being slammed to the ground on a sack by a Cincinnati Bengals defender. Tua noticeably went into a fencing posture.
Tua got transported to a nearby Cincinnati hospital via ambulance. The Tagovailoa parents were in attendance and were later by Tua’s side at the hospital. The hospital discharged him later in the night, and he was able to fly back to Miami with the Dolphins. He is now in the NFL’s concussion protocol.
Taulia saw his brother was doing relatively well during their FaceTime conversation. That allowed the Terrapins QB to approach his game with some ease. Taulia, himself, entered Saturday’s game hobbled with knee and rib injuries. Tagovailoa picked apart the Michigan State defense using precise accuracy.
Taulia completed 21-of-26 passes in the first half. He also surpassed Boomer Esiason for third on Maryland’s all-time passing yards list. Taulia’s performance Saturday was a positive finish to a tumultuous week for the Tagovailoa family.
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