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Rutgers rallies past Maryland 37-30 at SECU Stadium

The Terrapins led by as many as nine points in the second quarter but couldn't hold on, as Rutgers scored four unanswered touchdowns in the second half to drop Maryland to 2-5 on the season.

Maryland had Rutgers exactly where it wanted them. Up nine, at home, midway through the second quarter. Then the second half happened.

The Scarlet Knights scored 24 unanswered points after halftime and left College Park with a 37-30 win, dropping the Terrapins to 2-5 on the year.

The first half was genuinely promising. Damon Hall Jr. punched in a one-yard run with 7:30 left in the opening quarter to get Maryland on the board first. Rutgers answered before the half ended, but the Terrapins kept responding. Malik Washington found Dorian Fleming on a three-yard touchdown pass, and when Rutgers scored again on a nine-yard KJ Duff reception, Maryland's Jamare Glasker returned the blocked PAT for a two-point defensive conversion. Chris Durr Jr. then ripped off a 16-yard touchdown run with 53 seconds left before the break, and Maryland went into halftime up 23-14.

The second half was a different game entirely.

Dylan Lonergan took over. The Rutgers quarterback finished 23 of 35 for 291 yards and three touchdowns, picking apart a Maryland secondary that had no answer for Clay Thevenin or KJ Duff. Thevenin caught a 19-yard scoring pass in the third quarter, then ran one in himself from seven yards out early in the fourth. Antwan Raymond added a two-yard rushing score with just over four minutes left, and suddenly a nine-point Maryland halftime lead had become a seven-point deficit.

Washington did what he could. He completed 19 of 38 passes for 263 yards and two scores, added 56 yards on the ground, and pulled Maryland within seven on a 10-yard touchdown strike to DeJuan Williams with 2:17 remaining. But that was as close as it got.

Durr was Washington's most reliable target all afternoon, hauling in six catches for 104 yards. Thevenin carried 17 times for 109 yards for Rutgers, and Duff finished with nine receptions for 113 yards and two scores.

Lonergan threw one interception. It wasn't enough to change things.

Maryland's Sean O'Haire connected on all four of his extra point attempts. Rutgers kicker Dane Pizzaro hit three of four, with the one blocked PAT ultimately costing his team two points on the Glasker return, but it hardly mattered given what followed in the second half.

Williams' late touchdown reception brought the final margin to seven.