INSTANT REACTION: Rutgers falls to Maryland 42-24 in regular-season finale
Rutgers dug itself into an early hole it could not get out of as it fell to Maryland 42-24 at SHI Stadium to close out the regular season.
After falling behind 28-3 early in the second quarter, Rutgers (6-6, 3-6 Big Ten) found a spark when it reached the end zone for the first time since Nov. 4th thanks to a 10-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Wimsatt to Aaron Young on 4th-and-5 to make it a 28-10 game with 6:43 left in the half. The play capped off a 10-play, 75-yard drive.
Rutgers continued its momentum when Max Melton picked off Taulia Tagovailoa on third down to hand the ball back to the Scarlet Knights at Maryland's 43-yard line with 2:13 left in the half. Two plays later, Rutgers cut it to a 28-17 game with 1:57 to go thanks to a 42-yard catch by Isaiah Washington and a one-yard run from Wimsatt.
Maryland (7-5, 4-5 Big Ten) took back momentum in the third quarter though when it ran a nine-play, 66-yard drive, capped off by a one-yard touchdown run from Billy Edwards Jr. to give the Terrapins a 35-17 lead with 9:19 remaining.
Despite another one-yard rushing touchdown from Wimsatt cutting it to a 35-24 game with 6:48 left in the fourth quarter, Maryland answered with an 11-play, 75-yard drive and a one-yard score by Edwards to take a 42-24 lead with 1:24 remaining.
The Terrapins finished the day accumulating 498 yards of total offense with Tagovailoa going 24-for-31 for 361 yards with three passing touchdowns and one rushing.
Wimsatt finished 13-for-34 for 165 yards and one touchdown, along with 16 carries for 48 yards and two scores. Kyle Monangai recorded 20 rushes for 118 yards.
This game also saw Monangai surpass the 1,000 rushing yard mark for the season, becoming the first Scarlet Knight running back to do so since Jawan Jamison back in 2012 (1,075).
Maryland opened the game with a seven-play, 75-yard drive and took a 7-0 lead following a 34-yard touchdown from Tagovailoa to Tai Felton to give the Terrapins a 7-0 lead with 11:54 left in the first quarter. Things did not get much better for Rutgers as Maryland scored two more times in the quarter, including a 17-yard touchdown pass from Tagovailoa to Roman Hemby to give Maryland a 21-3 lead.
Maryland found the endzone on its second drive, going 55 yards on two plays and getting a six-yard touchdown run from Tagovailoa to give the Terrapins a 14-0 lead with 8:22 left in the first. The Terrapins racked up 180 yards of total offense in the first quarter with 152 coming through the air.
Things went from bad to worse for Rutgers when Tagovailoa found a wide-open Corey Dyches for a 44-yard touchdown to give Maryland a 28-3 lead with 12:07 left in the second quarter.
Rutgers got on the board with 2:20 left in the first quarter when Jai Patel nailed a 50-yard field goal to make it a 14-3 game.
RFootball Play of the Day: Gavin Wimsatt connects with Aaron Young on a 10-yard pass to give Rutgers its first touchdown of the day.
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