Maryland left no doubt and showed no mercy at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. The result was a bowl victory for the first time since 2010.

Taulia Tagovailoa threw for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns while completing 20-of-24 pass attempts and Darryl Jones had 4 receptions for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns, leading Maryland to a 54-10 win over Virginia Tech in the Pinstripe Bowl. It’s the first time the Terrapins have been victorious in a bowl game since the 2010 Military Bowl.

Mike Locksley’s bunch was locked in and ready from the opening kickoff. After the defense forced Virginia Tech into a 3-and-out on the opening drive, Tarheeb Still returned a punt 92 yards for a touchdown to give the Terps an early 7-0 advantage.

It was the first punt return for a touchdown in the history of the Pinstripe Bowl and the longest in program history for Maryland.

Early in the second quarter, the Hokies were able to piece together a 10-play, 65-yard drive that resulted in a 36-yard field goal from John Parker Romo to cut the Maryland lead to 7-3. But that was really the last sign of hope Virginia Tech had in the game.

On the next possession, Tagovailoa needed just 1 play to hit Jones for a 70-yard touchdown strike to put Maryland ahead by two scores. The Terps piled on with a touchdown on the next possession, with Antwaine Littleton II scoring on a 4-yard run to cap a 60-yard drive.

Virginia Tech scored a touchdown on its final possession and Maryland was able to sneak in a field goal as time expired to close the half. The score heading into the locker room was 24-10.

Joseph Paterno added a field goal to Maryland’s total on the first possession of the second half and the Terrapins iced the game with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Tagovailoa to Jones on a 4th-and-4 play to make the score 34-10 in favor of the Terps.

Maryland also got fourth quarter touchdowns from Roman Hembry on a 2-yard run and a scoop-and-score from Greg Rose after Nick Cross delivered a vicious hit on Connor Blumrick to jar the ball loose.

Colby McDonald closed out the scoring for the Terps with a 20-yard touchdown run with just over a minute to play.

Entering the 2021 season, expectations weren’t particularly high for the Terrapins after back-to-back losing seasons. But the Terrapins got off to a hot start, defeating West Virginia, Howard, Illinois and Kent State to start the year 4-0. The also notched victories over Indiana and Rutgers to get to the all-important 6-win mark.

With the dominant performance in the Pinstripe Bowl, Maryland closes out the season with a 7-6 record, posting its first year with a winning record since 2014.

Closing out the year with back-to-back wins, Maryland is going to carry plenty of momentum into the offseason and into the 2022 campaign.