Maryland’s homecoming looked like it might end with a rally, but the Terps ran out of inches.
After coughing up 24 unanswered points in the second half, Maryland clawed back late against Rutgers and got the ball down seven with 1:52 left. Malik Washington floated a pass toward the back of the end zone, and Dorian Fleming appeared to bring it in. But Fleming’s foot landed just on the white sideline paint, and the potential tying score vanished with it.
That final moment capped a 37-30 loss that once again followed a familiar Maryland script: a first half with enough promise to stir hope, then a second half that unraveled.
“[In the second half,] we didn’t execute drives, we didn’t get the turnovers, we didn’t get the stops, we lost the field position battle with the special teams,” coach Michael Locksley said. “That’s the tale of two halves.”
The Terps did plenty right before the break, and tight ends were right at the center of it. Maryland’s first touchdown came after Preston Howard made a tough 25-yard catch on a ball that looked like it was drifting too far toward the sideline. That play set up the Terps at Rutgers’ five-yard line, where freshman Damon Hall Jr. finished the drive with a jet sweep to make it 7-0.
Later, Maryland went back to the tight ends again. Washington’s throw was behind KJ Duff, the ball bounced off the Rutgers receiver’s hands and into Jamare Glasker’s arms for Lonergan’s sixth interception of the season. Maryland then moved down the field and turned to redshirt junior Fleming for a three-yard touchdown.
“For us to be the offense we need to be, our tight ends have to become more involved. Our tight ends have to make plays, and we saw that today,” Locksley said. “They’re usually the equalizer with the matchups that they face.”
Maryland also picked up two more points when it blocked an extra point and returned it, then pushed the margin to 23-13 with another productive touchdown drive.
The defense looked sharp at times in the opening half, too, even if cracks were already showing. Zion Elee gave Rutgers immediate trouble on the first drive, bull-rushing left tackle Chris Vigna and blasting Dylan Lonergan from behind for a forced fumble. Rutgers kept the ball, but the play still forced a three-and-out and marked Elee’s third forced fumble of the season.
Still, Rutgers found ways to challenge Maryland, especially through Duff. The 6-foot-6 junior was open often in the red zone and finished the game with nine catches on 17 targets for 113 yards and two touchdowns.
He had 35 yards through the first two quarters, but Maryland couldn’t keep him down for long. Clay Thevenin also emerged for Rutgers after entering the day with 197 scrimmage yards through five games and finishing with 330.
“We just need to minimize the mistakes, minimize the technique errors and missed assignments,” linebacker Sidney Stewart said. “I know I had a few myself this game. That’s probably something that every player can say.”
The second half belonged to Rutgers. Maryland’s offense barely had the ball, controlling it for just 9:05 after halftime, and the few chances it got mostly went nowhere. The Terps’ third-quarter possessions ended with a missed 34-yard field goal that hit the upright and a three-and-out that lost eight yards.
“Coming out of the first half, we have energy, we’re rolling,” Washington said. “That halftime break kind of builds down the energy a little bit, so we need to do something as a unit to, as a team, to get that halftime energy back right.”
Maryland’s first drive of the fourth quarter lasted three plays and covered just one yard. Its next possession offered a brief spark when Chris Durr Jr. turned a screen pass into a 48-yard gain on fourth-and-4, slipping through defenders for one of the Terps’ few explosive plays after the break.
But even that wasn’t enough to change the ending. The Terps had one last chance, one last throw, and one last step too close to the sideline.
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