By Brandon Walker for Urban Media Today
University Park, MD–Rutgers scored 24 unanswered points in the second half and held off a late rally to defeat Maryland on Saturday at SECU Stadium, dampening Maryland’s homecoming celebration. With the win, Rutgers has now won three straight contests over Maryland and earned its first conference win of the season.
After an exchange of punts to start the game, Maryland got the favorable field position by starting on Rutgers’ side of the field. Preston Howard made a leaping one-handed catch, and Damon Hall ran for a one-yard touchdown to put the Terps on the board first.
Rutgers (2-4 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) answered back on the next drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Dylan Lonergan to KJ Duff, capping a 10-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game with less than a minute left in the first quarter. Lonergan connected on passes to Duff for 11 yards and to Dozier Carter for 23 yards.
Jamare Glasker intercepted a Lonergan pass early in the second quarter, and the Terrapins capitalized with a Malik Washington 3-yard pass to Dorian Fleming to cap a five-play, 49-yard drive.
Rutgers answered on a nine-yard touchdown connection from Lonergan to Duff, but Maryland’s Trey Reddick returned it to Glasker for a two-point conversion.
Maryland’s last defensive two-point conversion came from Jacorian Bennett on Nov. 19, 2022, against Ohio State.
Maryland kept up the momentum with a 16-yard run from Chris Durr Jr. off a double reverse to put Maryland up 23-13 with less than one minute remaining in the first half.
Rutgers tried to get down the field for a late field goal; however, Dane Pazzaro missed a 47-yard field goal at the end of the first half.
Rutgers cut the lead to seven on its first second-half possession with a 25-yard Pazzaro field goal, capping a 10-play, 58-yard drive highlighted by a 19-yard reception by Carter and two catches for 26 yards by Duff.
After Maryland kicker Sean O’Haire missed a 48-yard field goal on the next drive, Rutgers drove down the field and tied the game when Clay Thevenin caught a 19-yard pass to cap a nine-play, 80-yard drive.
The play featured a spectacular throw when Lonergan rolled out and found Duff for a 26-yard gain. Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano talked about the developing chemistry between the two in his postgame press conference.
“I thought Dylan Lonergan was starting to look like he really is comfortable in this offense, which is important,” Schiano said. “The one play he scrambled to his left, made it look like he was running, and then pulled up and drilled it. That was a huge play. And KJ was on the other end of it. But those are the kind of plays that experienced quarterbacks make. So, I was pleased to see that. He’s getting more and more comfortable.”
The game was tied at 23 after three quarters.
Rutgers took its first lead after a seven-yard Thevenin touchdown run to cap off a seven-play, 53-yard drive. After forcing a Maryland punt, Rutgers salted the game on a 12-play, 64-yard drive that took almost eight minutes off the clock, capped by a two-yard touchdown run from Antwan Raymond.
Lonergan went 23 for 35 for 295 yards and three passing touchdowns but went 14 for 18 for 160 yards and 6 for 8 on third downs.
“Everything felt like it was clicking in the second half,” Lonergan said in the post-game media scrum. “I felt like I wasn’t hesitating at all and was really confident with the throws. We were able to run the ball a lot. The guys up front played excellently, so that helped a lot. Definitely in the second half, when we started rolling, the defense started playing well. You know, there’s kind of no better feeling than that, so yeah.”
Maryland (2-5, 0-4 Big Ten Conference) cut the lead in half with a 10-yard reception by DaJuan Williams to cap off a scoring drive highlighted by a 48-yard catch-and-run by Chris Durr Jr. Maryland had a chance to tie the game, but Washington’s pass to Dorian Fleming fell incomplete as Fleming grazed the white line out of bounds, and Rutgers secured the win.
Washington went 19 for 38 for 263 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdown passes; however, he was asked how he would handle a potential coaching change.
“If the scenario arises, it arises,” Washington said postgame. “We’ll deal with it. If it doesn’t arise, it doesn’t arise, and we’ll deal with it either way. Regardless, it’s about the team. It’s about us together as a unit.”
Maryland has now dropped 12 straight games against Power Four opponents and hasn’t won a conference game since Oct. 19, 2024, against USC.
Whether or not there is a move, Maryland will host Illinois on Oct. 31 after its bye week, while Rutgers will remain on the road when it plays Northwestern next Saturday.
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