Rutgers Earns First Big Ten Win of Season, 37-30 Against Maryland

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Rutgers football earned its first Big Ten win of the season, 37-30, in a nail-biter against Maryland. Both teams entered the game winless in the Big Ten, and both teams were eyeing this game as a very good opportunity to pick up their first Big Ten win of the season. The Scarlet Knights’ win was powered by a strong second half, a strong third quarter in particular, as they outscored the Terrapins 24-7 after the break to seal the win.

Rutgers found themselves in a few holes early, getting outscored by Maryland 23-13 in the first half. A blocked kick and subsequent runback gave the Terrapins a three-point lead on what was supposed to be a tying score for the Knights, before they added one more touchdown to put the Knights in a ten-point hole. After making a field goal on their first drive after halftime, Maryland would miss a field goal of their own. Rutgers would then score three touchdowns to put the Terrapins in a 14-point hole with just over four minutes left in the game. Despite Rutgers having many chances to seal the game, the Terrapins would get downfield quickly and score to bring the game within one possession. After forcing Rutgers to punt, Maryland would start to drive down the field again. After getting into the red zone, the Knights would force a fourth-down scenario where the game-tying touchdown grab by Maryland was ruled out of bounds, giving the ball back to Rutgers for a kneel-down.

Rutgers quarterback Dylan Lonergan had one of his best games of the season, throwing for 291 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception on 23-35. Nine of those completions were to KJ Duff, who had 113 yards and two touchdowns on the day.

Clay Thevenin was a pleasant surprise at running back for the Knights, rushing for 109 yards on 17 attempts, adding one touchdown on the ground and one through the air.

Defensively, Rutgers had some struggles giving up big plays, especially towards the end of the game. The Knights forced Maryland to go 4-13 on third down, but could not replicate the same success on fourth down, allowing the Terrapins to go 3-4. In total, the Knights surrendered 378 yards of total offense and 5.9 yards per play.

While a win like this likely won’t affect the outcome of the season, it shows fans that the team is still fighting and hasn’t thrown in the towel yet. It will be interesting to see if they scrape together a few more wins before the season is over.

Up next, the Knights will travel to Evanston, Illinois, to take on No.25 Northwestern on Oct. 24. That game is slated for a noon kickoff and will be broadcast live on Peacock.

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