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Rutgers' second rebuild under coach Greg Schiano could take a big step on Saturday when the Scarlet Knights visit Maryland in College Park, Md.
A win over the Terrapins (4-5, 1-5 Big Ten) would make Rutgers (5-4, 2-4) bowl-eligible in consecutive seasons for the first time since it made four straight bowls from 2011 to 2014.
Schiano returned for his second stint with the Scarlet Knights in 2020 after Rutgers endured five straight losing seasons. He previously had led the Scarlet Knights to relevance during his first head coaching tenure from 2001 to 2011 before leaving to coach the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Schiano's second Rutgers tenure started with three losing campaigns -- albeit with a bowl appearance in 2021 -- but began to take shape last year, when the Scarlet Knights finished 7-6 and won the Pinstripe Bowl.
Rutgers now is on the brink of something it has not achieved in a decade, but the Scarlet Knights must first snap their head-to-head skid against Maryland. The Terrapins won each of the past three meetings by at least 18 points.
"Offensively very explosive," Schiano said of Maryland. "Coach (Michael) Locksley does a great job. Certainly he's been a handful for us in our time back here. We haven't had a ton of success against them, especially playing on the road."
Terrapins quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. ranks third in the Big Ten with an average of 280.0 passing yards per game, but Maryland has lost four of five since a 3-1 start. Edwards threw for 206 yards while completing 22 of 44 passes with one touchdown and two interceptions in a 39-18 loss at No. 1 Oregon last week.
Needing two wins in their last three games to reach their fourth straight bowl, Locksley said his team is playing its own version of "playoff football."
"The pillars of our program (are) how we start and how we finish, and obviously we've got some work to do to finish the right way," Locksley said.
Rutgers snapped a four-game slide with a 26-19 win over visiting Minnesota last week.
Athan Kaliakmanis tossed three touchdown passes while Antwan Raymond and Ja'shon Benjamin combined for 139 rushing yards as star running back Kyle Monangai sat out due to an undisclosed injury.
It was uncertain whether Monangai, who ranks second in the Big Ten with an average of 116.4 rushing yards per game, would play against the Terrapins.
--Field Level Media
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