Athan Kaliakmanis, Kyle Monangai lead Rutgers to bowl eligibility with a 31-17 win over Maryland
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- — Athan Kaliakmanis threw two touchdown passes, Kyle Monangai scored twice on the ground and Rutgers became bowl eligible with a 31-17 victory over Maryland on Saturday night.Rutgers (6-4, 3-4) has now matched its most victories in Big Ten play since joining the league before the 2014 season. The Scarlet Knights scored touchdowns on four straight drives — not counting an end-of-half kneel-down in the second quarter — and won for the second straight week following a four-game skid.
“It's an amazing feeling,” Kaliakmanis said. “It was awesome, but we know we got more work to do.”
For Maryland, the margin of error for bowl eligibilty has dwindled. The Terrapins (4-6, 1-6) must beat Iowa and Penn State to finish the regular season with six wins.
“We've got to try to turn the page on this one pretty quickly,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said. “We've got Iowa coming in here, with an opportunity again to keep our season alive. ... We didn't get it done today, and we're running out of chances.”
The Terps held Monangai to 97 yards on 25 carries in his return after he missed a win over Minnesota with an injury. But the standout running back reached the end zone a couple times and surpassed 1,000 yards rushing on the season. His 6-yard scoring run in the third quarter — immediately after Kaliakmanis completed a 6-yard pass on fourth-and-2, gave the Scarlet Knights a 21-17 lead.
“The whole offense is getting better,” coach Greg Schiano said. “Athan is a big part of that.”
After Maryland failed to answer, Kaliakmanis found Dymere Miller for a 32-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Rutgers scored the game's first touchdown, taking a 7-3 lead on Kaliakmanis' 12-yard pass to Ian Strong. That capped a 17-play drive that used up 8:45.
Maryland went back ahead on a 12-yard touchdown strike from Billy Edwards Jr. to Tai Felton, but Monangai scored from 2 yards out with 1:01 remaining in the half to give the Scarlet Knights a 14-10 advantage.
“You win four and you lose four — that thing could go either way,” Schiano said.
Maryland: The Terps will be hard pressed to extend their streak of three straight seasons with a bowl win. Maryland's defense was expected to lead the team, but the Terrapins haven't been able to shut down anyone in Big Ten play.
There weren't a huge number of possession changes in the game. Maryland had at least eight plays on seven different possessions.
All four of Rutgers' touchdown drives were at least eight plays long. The Scarlet Knights went 3 of 3 on fourth down.
“Those guys executed their game plan to a tee. They shrunk the game,” Locksley said. “They made clutch plays when they needed to make them, and we didn't.”
Maryland: Hosts Iowa on Saturday.
