Maryland football’s chances to pick up its third win of the season looked bleak late in the fourth quarter, needing to travel over 80 yards trailing by seven as time ticked down in the fourth.
Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa gathered himself and the offense, putting behind him the struggles that had led to his offense scoring just 10 points through more than 55 minutes of football.
Tagovailoa orchestrated a clinical drive, shredding apart the Illinois defense by finding his marquee weapons. In desperate need of a touchdown to have a chance to send the game to overtime, Tagovailoa delivered a pass to running back Tayon Fleet-Davis who ran it in for ten yards and the score, tying the game at 17 with two minutes and 13 seconds to go.