Tua Tagovailoa's Brother Taulia Will Skip Maryland's Music City Bowl Game vs. Auburn

Maryland will play the Music City Bowl without starting quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa.

Head coach Mike Locksley announced on Tuesday the senior has opted out of playing Auburn on Dec. 30.

The decision was expected after Jeff Ermann of InsideMDSports.com reported last week Tagovailoa was unlikely to play in the bowl game to avoid a potential injury leading up to the NFL draft.

Tagovailoa is likely facing an uphill climb to be selected in the 2024 NFL draft. Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus doesn't have him ranked among the top-10 quarterbacks in the class.

Prior to the start of this season, Ian Cummings of ProFootballNetwork.com cited Tagovailoa as a potential Day 3 pick with "a baseline degree of arm talent and is an above-average athlete with solid creation capacity and off-platform ability."

Taulia, the younger brother of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, began his college career at Alabama with Tua in 2019. He transferred to Maryland as a sophomore in 2020.

In 41 career starts with the Terrapins, Tagovailoa has a 23-18 record. He's the program's all-time leader in passing yards (11,256), passing touchdowns (76), passer rating (145.9), completions (955) and attempts (1,424).

Tagovailoa has led the Terps to three consecutive bowl appearances for the first time since 2006 to '08. They won the Pinstripe Bowl and Duke's Mayo Bowl in each of the past two years.

Maryland finished the 2023 regular season with a 7-5 record. The Music City Bowl will be its first game against Auburn since November 1983.