Rutgers will host its designated and annual rival, Maryland, this Saturday in its return to SHI Stadium, as both programs are reeling from brutal losses. The Terrapins have followed their usual path: starting September red-hot, then faltering in October, including three one-score losses to Washington, Nebraska, and UCLA, before getting the doors blown off them by the Indiana Hoosiers. With both teams sitting at four wins, this game is a must-win for each team’s bowl hopes, as both teams have exactly
one more game that is “winnable” afterwards.
For my weekly “Film Room” series, I am looking back at Maryland’s loss to Indiana. Although the final score was 55-10, Maryland kept the Hoosiers in check for a half and cut the lead to 20-10 in the third quarter before Indiana began to pile it on the Terrapins. Against a Rutgers team that is reeling on defense, a lot of those plays could go the other way.
Maryland started the game off with a bang, as cornerback Jamare Glasker intercepted IU quarterback Fernando Mendoza on the Hoosiers’ first offensive series. Glasker jumps the route and makes a play on the ball, returning it into the red zone before stepping out near the 10-yard line. Although the Terps were unable to get in the end zone, they took a 3-0 lead off a Sean O’Haire field goal and ended the first quarter down 7-3.
Glasker has now recorded an interception in three consecutive games, meaning that Ian Strong and KJ Duff will have to be wary of him. The Maryland defensive back is a little bit on the smaller side at 6’ 1”, so Duff will have a significant size advantage at 6’ 6”, while Strong is 6’ 3” himself. I would assume that Glasker would be matched with Duff, while Dontay Joyner would be assigned to Strong, given the way Duff has been playing lately.
Another thing that I noticed from the first half was the ferocity of the Terrapins’ defense. After the Terrapins opened the scoring with a field goal, they forced back-to-back negative plays that forced Indiana to punt from the shadow of its own end zone. On second down, true freshman Sam Stewart and redshirt sophomore Eyan Thomas converged on Mendoza for an emphatic sack, before inside linebacker Daniel Wingate and strong safety Lavain Scruggs tackled former Maryland running back Roman Hemby in the backfield for a five-yard loss.
Although Indiana’s offense scored two touchdowns and two field goals to get to 20 points, the Maryland defense stood tall before faltering in the second half. Against Rutgers’ inconsistent offense, the Terrapins’ defense will need to stand tall for the entire game for their best shot to win.
Flipping to the Maryland offense, Malik Washington is not a very mobile quarterback, in contrast to many of the quarterbacks the Scarlet Knights have seen this season. He has thrown for 1,958 yards this season, with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions, but has only run the ball 27 times for 99 yards all year, with a long of 28.
Although Washington can run, he is not the fastest and relies on his pocket passing to a large extent. What he does have, however, is a rocket of an arm, as the freshman quarterback is not afraid to sling the ball down the field. The closest comparison that Rutgers has seen in terms of arm talent would be Dequan Finn, who launched missiles down the field and connected with his receivers against a porous Rutgers secondary.
Even though this ball was intercepted, Washington put the ball in a great position for his receiver, showing off his arm strength and touch. Defensive back Louis Moore made an incredible play on the ball, but it was no means a bad throw from Malik Washington. I would expect him to attempt throws like this whenever he can against Rutgers, who will have to keep their focus on keeping Moore contained and pressured in the pocket.
With Maryland trailing 20-3 early in the third quarter, Malik Washington made some magic, with DeJuan Williams doing the rest. Washington wanted to throw deep but felt the pressure coming, so he rolled left and lofted the ball above the Indiana defenders in coverage to Williams, who ran down the left sideline for the 55-yard receiving touchdown.
Unfortunately for Maryland, that is where the scoring and the highlights ended, as the Hoosiers romped for 35 straight points to end the game. It seemed that they looked to limit the damage through the air, but allowed three different running backs to get 80+ yards, led by Kaelon Black’s 110 and followed by Roman Hemby’s 88 in his return to College Park. For the Scarlet Knights, perhaps that opens up chances for Antwan Raymond and Ja’Shon Benjamin to shine on the ground, especially considering KJ Duff and Ian Strong will attract lots of attention.
Although Malik Washington is not known for his ability to scramble, he is not a statue in the pocket and can use his legs to get out of trouble. Rutgers often fails to get pressure on quarterbacks and struggles to finish plays off when they do, so making sure that they bring Washington down when they get the chance will be pivotal in a game like this. Bradley Weaver was close to taking down Luke Altmyer for a safety, but instead he heaved the ball forward for a first down and breathing room, which ended up sparking a 99-yard touchdown drive for the Illini.
Washington also threw another interception and had the ball punched out as he attempted to pick up the first down with his legs on this play. With Rutgers having the strange penchant for forcing turnovers despite being horrific in run and pass defense, they should look to take advantage, especially in terms of a punchout or a batted ball, which have both been common for them in recent weeks.
With the defense being extremely untrustworthy and unreliable, the Rutgers offense will need to bounce back and win in a shootout, as Maryland has scored 20 against Washington, 31 against Nebraska, and 17 against UCLA. The Scarlet Knights have been trending downward, scoring 28 against Iowa and Minnesota, 19 against Washington, 27 against lowly Purdue, and just 13 against an Illinois defense that was previously struggling.
Against the top tier of competition, Rutgers’ 56-10 loss to Oregon seemingly mirrors Indiana’s 55-10 thumping of Maryland, until you examine the games more closely and remember that Rutgers was down 42-3 at the half instead of 20-3 and 20-10 in the early third quarter to a team that was ten points worse than Indiana at home. In other words, while Maryland did not look good last week, they were still much more competitive than Rutgers was against a better opponent than the Ducks even were, based on Indiana’s 30-20 road win at Autzen Stadium.
Neither team should be overwhelmed or taken out of the game by a sizeable talent advantage, so the two East Coast teams will have the full 60 minutes to duke it out on the field. But as much as I hate to say it, especially after Maryland got humiliated in front of their home fans on Saturday, the Terrapins do look like the better team here, which is likely why the spread has flipped to Maryland -1.5 on FanDuel.
Rutgers will need a strong offensive performance and the defense to play at least as well as they did against Purdue to be able to pull the mild upset and keep their path to six wins alive in early November. It certainly is not out of the question, but with the defense being consistently poor in the same areas and the offense suddenly being inconsistent, the Knights will need to bring their A-game to ensure a season-defining victory.
To support me and my work, please follow @arnavsarkar100 on X!
