Maryland Football Suffers Homecoming Defeat To Rutgers

Saturday, October 17

SECU Stadium

12:30 PM

Maryland

2-5 , 0-4

Rutgers

2-4 , 1-2

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Rutgers	7	6	10	14	37
Maryland	7	16	0	7	30

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Maryland Football Suffers Homecoming Defeat To Rutgers

10/17/2026 12:30:00 PM | Football

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The Terps head into a bye ahead of their final five games.

COLLEGE PARK, MD — Maryland fell 37-30 to Rutgers on Homecoming Weekend. The Scarlet Knights used a strong second half to drop the Terps to 2-5 (0-4 Big Ten).

Malik Washington threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns against Rutgers, including a fourth-quarter strike to DeJuan Williams. The Terps had the ball in the closing seconds and a chance to tie the game, but their rally fell short despite Washington's seventh multi-touchdown game of his career and Chris Durr Jr. 's fifth game of the season with triple-digit receiving yards (104 on six receptions).

DeJuan Williams cuts into the lead with his second career receiving TD. 📺 @BigTenNetwork https://t.co/QPlngjJsw8
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) October 17, 2026

Maryland's offense took early command of the game with first-half touchdowns from Damon Hall Jr., Dorian Fleming and Durr Jr. The Terps scored on three of their final four drives in the first half to lead 23-13 at the break.

First career TD for Damon Hall Jr.‼️ 📺 @BigTenNetwork https://t.co/uX5oeW5u5G
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) October 17, 2026

Rutgers rallied with 17 unanswered points in the second half to pull ahead and improve to 2-4 (1-2 Big Ten) in 2026. Wide receiver KJ Duff tallied 113 yards and two touchdowns on nine receptions as quarterback Dylan Lonergan threw for 291 yards and three scores.

Jamare Glasker snagged his second interception of the season and also scored on a blocked PAT attempt. Zion Elee forced a fumble with a strip sack. The Terps head into a bye ahead of their final five games of the season.

ZION ELEE BRING THE BOOM 💥 📺 @BigTenNetwork https://t.co/3RycaLmFCM
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) October 17, 2026

How it Happened:
1st Quarter:

Rutgers won the coin toss and deferred, sending Maryland on offense first.
Washington's first pass to Kaleb Webb went for 17 yards and a 1st down.
Elee forced a punt with a strip sack on Rutgers' opening drive.
Preston Howard made a one-handed grab to set Maryland up in the red zone.
Hall Jr.'s first career touchdown run gave Maryland the game's first points midway through the quarter.
Rutgers' KJ Duff capped a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive with a 15-yard, one-handed touchdown grab to get the Scarlet Knights on the board.
The game was tied at 7-7 after 15 minutes of action.

2nd Quarter:

Glasker intercepted Rutgers' Dylan Lonergan (his second interception of the season and sixth as a Terp) to give Maryland the back at midfield.
Maryland reclaimed the lead on a three-yard touchdown pass from Washington to Fleming early in the second quarter.
Duff hauled in his second touchdown pass of the half, but Trey Reddick blocked the extra point and Glasker ran it back for two points to preserve its 16-13 lead.
Washington ran for 14 yards to extend the drive in the final minutes.
Durr Jr.'s first career rushing touchdown extended the Maryland advantage with 53 seconds left.
Rutgers missed a 47-yard field goal as the Terps took a 23-13 into the half.

3rd Quarter:

The Scarlet Knights crept closer with a 25-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second half.
Williams broke off a 30-yard run to push Maryland into Rutgers territory.
Rutgers tied the game with 4:00 left with a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive.
The game was tied 23-23 with 15 minutes to play.

4th Quarter:

Rutgers scored in the opening minutes to take its first lead of the game, 30-23.
The Scarlet Knights put the game away with a 12-play, 64-yard scoring drive across nearly eight minutes of the fourth quarter.
Washington connected with Williams for a 10-yard touchdown as Maryland worked back within seven points.
Maryland forced a Rutgers punt to get the ball back for one final drive.
Rutgers held on to close out its 37-30 win.

Malik on the Charts:

Washington threw for 263 yards (19/38) and two touchdowns against Rutgers on Saturday.
The sophomore recorded his 15th career game with 200+ yards and his seventh with multiple touchdown passes.
With 19 completions, Washington moved into sixth all-time in Maryland history with 428 career completions. He passed Sam Hollenbach (417 from 2003-06) and now sits behind C.J. Brown (437 from 2011-14).
Washington's 263 yards on Saturday gives him 4,578 in his career, which are the ninth-most all-time in Maryland history. He passed Dan Henning (4,560 from 1985-87) and now sits behind Neil O'Donnell (4,989 from 1987-89).
Washington threw for two touchdowns to bring his career total to 26, which are tied for the 10th-most in program history with Neil O'Donnell (26 from 1987-89). He passed Dan Henning (24 from 1985-87) Next on the list is Sam Hollenbach (28 from 2003-06).
Last week, he became the fifth Maryland quarterback since 1996 to record at least 20 career passing touchdowns and at least five career rushing touchdowns.

No. 9️⃣ records his second TD of the year. 📺 @BigTenNetwork https://t.co/KdDUw1t6Vw
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) October 17, 2026

Celebrating Homecoming:

Maryland honored its nine-member 2026 Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame Class as Marissa Coleman (WBB), Taylor Cummings (WLAX), Brenda Frese (WBB), Michael Howley (MLAX), Dennis Ivory (T&F), Thea LaFond (T&F), Shawne Merriman (FB), Joe Smith (MBB) and Graham Zusi (MSOC) entered Maryland immortality.
Terp alum and Super Bowl Champion Vernon Davis also returned to College Park as Homecoming Grand Marshall.
Maryland welcomed 40-plus football letterwinners from the Jerry Claiborne era, including some members of the 1976 ACC Championship team.
Also in attendance were former student-athletes Rob Abiamiri (FB: 2000-04), Lonny Baxter (MBB: 1998-2002), Rodney Elliott (MBB: 94-98), Tai Felton (FB: 2021-24), Stephon Heyer (FB: 2002-06), Ruben Hyppolite II (FB: 2020-24), D'Qwell Jackson (FB: 2002-05), Jeshaun Jones (FB 2018-23) Ellis McKennie (FB 2015-19) and Drew Nicholas (MBB: 1999-2003).

Welcome home, Terps! 🏠🐢 #UMDHomecoming #UMDHomecoming2026 https://t.co/rkongKFSHs
— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) October 17, 2026

Michael Locksley's Notes:

"Have to give Rutgers credit. They executed their game plan to a tee. With 34 minutes of time of possession they did a really good job of controlling the tempo of the game in the second half."
"We didn't have enough sustained drives until the end of the game."
"I was proud of the fight, but disappointed in the fall."
"We got in sync near the end of the game there, but we were just too late."
"I don't know if you ever can — as a parent or as a coach or as a teacher — fix everything once and for all. All you can do is continue to give it the attention that it needs to fix, and that's where my conviction lies."
"The point of emphasis today was special teams. We scored on special teams. The point of emphasis was tackling, and we got better at tackling."
"We've got a bye week coming up. We're going to use that time to evaluate every aspect of it. Everything is on the board: personnel, preparation, execution, decisions, all those things. My focus will be on finding answers and solutions, getting better, and continuing to fight for the players once we get back here for Illinois."
"We've got a couple of weeks to get healthy and get things looked at. We have a chance for the first time to really sit back and quality control every part of our program. I look forward to getting that done."

Washington's Words:

"With the later drives, it was just about being a ballplayer at that point, trusting your guys and understanding the tempo and late-game situation. Defenses tend to get a little simpler because you've got to get a call in fast when the offense is going fast, so it sometimes makes it a little easier on the offense in those late-game tempo scenarios."
"No matter what the defense does, we have to execute as an offense at the end of the day."
"Some running lanes were opening up. The offensive line did an amazing job of getting the defensive ends to move upfield, and the guys up front were really firm. Some plays downfield weren't there, so instead of forcing the ball, just being able to take off and get some positive yards kept us going."
"There are a lot of games left to be played. We still have an opportunity each week to go out there and win, and that's what we'll continue to try to do."

Numbers to Know:

2: Maryland recorded its first defensive two-point score on a blocked PAT since Jakorian Bennett against Ohio State in 2022.
2: The Terps recorded their second straight game without an offensive turnover.
7: Washington threw for over 200 yards for the seventh time in his career.
7: Messiah Delhomme recorded a team-high seven tackles.
16: Fleming extended his consecutive game streak with a reception to 16 games.
20: Daniel Wingate made his 20th consecutive start, extending his defense-leading streak.
22: Saturday marked the 22nd all-time meeting between Maryland and Rutgers.
28: Maryland has scored on 28 of 32 red zone drives this year.
32: Rahtrel Perry made his 32nd consecutive start, extending his offense-leading streak.
52: Durr Jr.'s 52 receptions this season are among the nation's leaders.
54: Williams' 54 career receptions as a Terp are tied with Bruce Perry for the second-most by a running back since 2000 (Roman Hemby: 112).
159: Terps receivers collected 159 yards after catch.
378: Maryland collected 378 yards of offense.

Up Next:

Maryland has a bye week next week before hosting Illinois on Oct. 31. Game time and television information will be announced on Monday, Oct. 19. The Maryland Sports Radio Network will air the game.