FRISCO, Texas – Four members of the University of Maryland football team are set to participate in the 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl on Thursday. Offensive lineman Gottlieb Ayedze, defensive back Ja’Quan Sheppard, defensive back Tarheeb Still and quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa will be representing the Terps in the game.
The 99th East-West Shrine Bowl, which features some of college football's best prospects, will kick off at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, Feb. 1, from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, and will be televised live on NFL Network.
The East-West Shrine Bowl, which has been played annually since 1925, will give players an opportunity to showcase their talents in front of top representatives from NFL teams. The 2023 Shrine Bowl produced a first-round pick (Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens), seven top-100 picks, two quarterbacks who started multiple NFL games as rookies and the most total draft picks (45) the game has contributed in a decade.
Ayedze played in 11 games for the Terps at right tackle, starting the final 10 games of the season. He blocked for the fourth-ranked overall offense in the Big Ten (387.3 ypg) and the top-ranked passing offense (278.9 passing ypg). Ayedze was the sixth-highest rated pass blocking tackle in the Big Ten (over 500 snaps) with a 76.5 grade via Pro Football Focus.
Sheppard started all 13 games for the Terps and led the team with 8 pass break-ups. He also posted 31 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and a sack en route to being named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten. Sheppard helped lead a Terrapins pass defense that ranked No. 12 in the nation in defensive passing efficiency and had seven games of allowing under 210 passing yards.
Still, a 2023 Second Team All-Big Ten selection, ranked tied for third nationally in interceptions per game (0.5) and tied for sixth nationally in total interceptions (5). The senior had a pair of interceptions in each of Maryland's wins over Virginia and Nebraska, making him one of only three FBS players to have two games with two interceptions. Still was named the Jim Thorpe National Defensive Back of the Week and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after his two-interception performance at Nebraska.
Tagovailoa, a Second Team All-Big Ten selection, led the conference in nearly every passing category, standing atop the league in passing yards (3,377), passing touchdowns (25), completions (290) and passing yards per game (281.4) in 2023. Tagovailoa finished his illustrious career as the Big Ten’s all-time leading passer with 11,256 career passing yards. He also owns every major Maryland all-time passing record.
The 99th East-West Shrine Bowl, which features some of college football's best prospects, will kick off at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, Feb. 1, from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, and will be televised live on NFL Network.
The East-West Shrine Bowl, which has been played annually since 1925, will give players an opportunity to showcase their talents in front of top representatives from NFL teams. The 2023 Shrine Bowl produced a first-round pick (Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens), seven top-100 picks, two quarterbacks who started multiple NFL games as rookies and the most total draft picks (45) the game has contributed in a decade.
Ayedze played in 11 games for the Terps at right tackle, starting the final 10 games of the season. He blocked for the fourth-ranked overall offense in the Big Ten (387.3 ypg) and the top-ranked passing offense (278.9 passing ypg). Ayedze was the sixth-highest rated pass blocking tackle in the Big Ten (over 500 snaps) with a 76.5 grade via Pro Football Focus.
Sheppard started all 13 games for the Terps and led the team with 8 pass break-ups. He also posted 31 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and a sack en route to being named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten. Sheppard helped lead a Terrapins pass defense that ranked No. 12 in the nation in defensive passing efficiency and had seven games of allowing under 210 passing yards.
Still, a 2023 Second Team All-Big Ten selection, ranked tied for third nationally in interceptions per game (0.5) and tied for sixth nationally in total interceptions (5). The senior had a pair of interceptions in each of Maryland's wins over Virginia and Nebraska, making him one of only three FBS players to have two games with two interceptions. Still was named the Jim Thorpe National Defensive Back of the Week and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after his two-interception performance at Nebraska.
Tagovailoa, a Second Team All-Big Ten selection, led the conference in nearly every passing category, standing atop the league in passing yards (3,377), passing touchdowns (25), completions (290) and passing yards per game (281.4) in 2023. Tagovailoa finished his illustrious career as the Big Ten’s all-time leading passer with 11,256 career passing yards. He also owns every major Maryland all-time passing record.
