PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Junior wide receiver Tiquan Underwood (Lawrenceville, N.J.) had his school-record fourth straight 100-yard receiving game, grabbing eight passes for 101 yards and a score, but it was not enough as Maryland upset the No.10-ranked Scarlet Knights 34-24 at Rutgers Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Terrapins had possession of the ball for nearly 14 more minutes than their hosts and entered the red zone seven times, scoring on six occasions to issue Rutgers its first home loss since a 45-31 defeat to South Florida on November 5, 2005.

Tiquan Underwood set a new school record with his fourth-straight 100-yard game.. Photo by Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto

"Our inability to stop the run was the difference in the game," said head coach Greg Schiano. "Maryland played very well and had a good plan. They executed that plan very well. The combination of us not playing well and them playing well, that was a bad combination today."

43,803 fans attended the game, marking the second largest crowd in school history. It was the sixth consecutive sell out for the Scarlet Knights.

Maryland back-up quarterback Chris Turner proved an unlikely hero for the visitors. Subbing for an injured Jordan Steffy in the second half, Turner led an efficient second half offense to 20 points. The sophomore completed 14 of 20 passes and did not commit a turnover.

Heisman Trophy candidate Ray Rice (New Rochelle, N.Y.) rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. After gaining 62 yards in the opening quarter, however, the Maryland defense was able to find a measure of success against the Rutgers rushing attack and prevented any breakout runs. Despite not reaching the 100-yard mark Rice did, however, achieve yet another milestone. He tied J.J. Jennings for the most rushing touchdowns in school history with 34 when he carried one yard to pay dirt in the fourth quarter.

"We just have to get guys healthy, watch film and get better," said Rice. "A loss isn't necessarily good, but you can take a lot out of it."

Junior quarterback Mike Teel (Oakland, N.J.) once again turned in a solid performance leading the Rutgers offense. He completed a career-best 25 passes on 44 attempts en route to 310 yards and two touchdowns.

The Terrapins generated 458 total yards, while the Scarlet Knights accumulated 392.

Jeremy Ito (Loma Linda, Calif.) put the home squad on the scoreboard first, splitting the uprights from 29 yards to cap a 10-play, 68-yard drive on the game's opening possession. Rice had five touches on the drive, including four rushes for 31 yards.

Maryland had an opportunity to answer with a field goal of its own on its initial possession. Kicker Obi Egekeze's attempt from 51 yards, however, was no good. Prior to the try, the Terps faced a third and seven at the Rutgers 26, but a safety blitz by senior Ron Girault (Spring Valley, N.Y.) proved successful and resulted in a seven yard sack. The elongated attempt was wide left.

Tim Brown scores on a 20-yard pass from Mike Teel.

Maryland's persistence in Rutgers territory finally paid off in the early stages of the second stanza. Senior tailback Lance Ball was the benefactor of solid blocking up-front and raced 19 yards into the end zone with 13:02 remaining in the quarter. The score capped a five-play, 80-yard drive and resulted in a 7-3 Maryland lead. It marked the first time since the West Virginia loss last season (Dec. 2, 2006) that Rutgers trailed in a game, a span of 256:58 on the collective game clocks.

Aided by a special teams miscue, the deficit would then increase. After the defense forced a Maryland three-and-out, Rutgers return man Dennis Campbell (Plantation, Fla.) muffed the punt and Maryland recovered. Adding injury to insult, Girault suffered an injury in a scrum for the ball and did not return. The Terps proceeded to go 55 yards on nine plays en route to a 14-3 lead. The scoring play was a 15-yard toss from Steffy to wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey with 6:23 remaining before halftime.

A Rutgers fumble on its next possession gave the ball back to the Terrapins. The visitors struggled for 17 yards and would have to settle for a field goal. The 39 yard attempt, however, was wide right and the Scarlet Knights gained possession at its own 22-yard line. Seven plays later, the Scarlet Knights scored its first touchdown on a 20-yard Teel pass to Tim Brown (Miami, Fla.). The score capped a drive that consisted of seven pass attempts with the first half clock winding down. Five were complete, including the scoring aerial to Brown, which rested in the sophomore's hands with 0:52 remaining before the midpoint.

The Scarlet faithful were anticipating their squad heading to the locker room facing a 17-14 deficit, but a quick three-and-out by the visitors provided the possibility for additional points. After a fair catch by Brown, Rutgers had a first-and-ten at its own 31-yard line with 0:35 seconds on the clock. Fast forward three plays and the Scarlet Knights own a 17-14 advantage after a seven yard Teel touchdown pass to Underwood. The scoring toss came after a 15 yard pass interference call in the end zone and pair of Teel connections that generated 47 yards.

With the quick strikes, Rutgers took the second half field with the momentum, while Maryland made its entrance without the services of Steffy. The junior signal-caller was sidelined on the Terps final possession of the first half, resulting from a hit issued by freshman Joe Lefeged (Germantown, Md.), who was playing in a primary role due to the Girault's exit.

After the teams traded a pair of three-and-outs, Maryland tied the score on a 26-yard Egekeze field goal with 8:51 remaining in the third quarter. The kick capped a nine play, 60-yard drive. The drive was aided by a 28-yard Turner pass to Isaiah Williams that saw an additional 14 yards tacked-on due to a roughing the passer call.

Maryland regained the lead, 20-17, on a 37-yard Egekeze field goal with 3:43 to go in the third stanza.  On the drive, which featured a 32-yard scamper by Ball, the visitors appeared to have scored a touchdown on a five-yard pass, but an ineligible player downfield nullified the play.

Maryland then would take control of the game, going 58 yards on nine plays, culminating with a two-yard Lattimore touchdown run, to give the Terps a commanding 27-17 lead with 7:42 left to go in the game. The highlight of the day came in the drive, a diving 27-yard catch by LaQuan Williams on third and 12 to set the stage for Lattimore's score.

Down by 10 and facing adversity, Rutgers answered the bell. Behind six Teel completions, the Scarlet Knights drove 77 yards on eleven plays. Rice capped the drive with a one yard touchdown run to register a 27-24 score with 4:41 remaining.

Unfortunately, that three point deficit would be the closest the team would get to victory. After stopping the Terrapins on a fourth-and-one at the home 35-yard line to regain possession, the Rutgers offense sputtered. Teel was sacked one fourth-and-ten at the Rutgers 20 to extinguish any hopes of a late comeback. The Terrapins tacked on a late rushing score by ball to register the 34-24 final.

The Scarlet Knights return to the gridiron next Saturday evening versus No. 24-ranked Cincinnati at Rutgers Stadium. The contest will kickoff at 8:00 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN2. The contest will mark the 13th meeting between RU and the Bearcats, with the Scarlet Knights holding a 7-4-1 advantage.

POSTGAME NOTES

Team Notes

Today's attendance of 43,803 was the highest of the season and the second-largest crowd in school history. It marked the sixth-consecutive sellout - the longest stretch in school history. Today's crowd was just 308 fans shy of the school record crowd of 44,111 that attended the Scarlet Knights' 28-25 victory over No. 3 Louisville on Nov. 9, 2006.

Rutgers trailed on the scoreboard for the first time since the end of the West Virginia game on Dec. 2, 2006, ending a span of more than four games and totaling 256:58 in which the Scarlet Knights had led their opponent.

Rutgers was a perfect 4-for-4 in the red zone today and is a perfect 16-for-16 on the season.

The loss snapped a 10-game home winning streak, the third-longest streak in school history.

Player Notes

Junior QB Mike Teel (Oakland, N.J.) topped the 200-yard mark in passing yards for the sixth-straight game with 310 yards today. With today's total, he passed Eric Hochberg (1982-85) and moved into fifth place in passing yards in Rutgers history with 3,991 career yards. 

Teel also set a new career-high with 25 completions today, surpassing his previous high mark of 21 recorded on Nov. 18, 2006 against Cincinnati.

Junior RB Ray Rice (New Rochelle, N.Y.) tied "JJ" Jennings' school record with his 34th career rushing touchdown on a one-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 97 yards on 21 carries.

Rice continued his dominance in the first quarter of games this season with an eight-yard carry, 62-yard performance in the opening quarter against the Terrapins. For the season, Rice has rushed 33 times for 230 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 57.5 yards in the first quarter this season.

Junior WR Tiquan Underwood (Lawrenceville, N.J.) set a new school record with his fourth-straight 100-yard game. He surpassed Bill Powell, who achieved the feat on three-straight occasions from 10/3/98 - 10/24/98. Underwood had eight receptions for 101 yards and one touchdown.

Senior PK Jeremy Ito (Loma Linda, Calif.) extended his string of successful field goal attempts to five with a 29-yarder in the first quarter. He is now 5-for-7 on the season.

Sophomore CB Devin McCourty (Nanuet, N.Y.) posted a career-high 10 tackles today. He surpassed his previous career-best total of six tackles on Oct. 21, 2006 at Pittsburgh.

Junior safety Courtney Greene (New Rochelle, N.Y.) recorded double-digit tackles for the second-straight game, topping his 11-tackle performance last time out against Norfolk state (9/15) with a game-high 13 tackles today against Maryland.

Junior DT Pete Tverdov (Union, N.J.) made his first career start today, seeing his first action of the season after recovering from an ankle injury in suffered in the preseason. He posted seven total tackles in the game, including a game-high 2.5 TFLs.

Sophomore LB Blair Bines (Shirley, N.Y.) saw his first action of the season, making his initial appearance late in the second quarter, after recovering from a broken jaw suffered during training camp.

Coach Schiano's Post Game Quotes

Maryland's physical play:

"It led to our inability to stop the run, and I think that was the difference in the game.  Give credit to Maryland, they played very well. They had a good plan and they executed the plan very well.  The combination of us not playing well and Maryland playing well was a bad combination today."

On the play of QB Mike Teel

"I thought he hung in there and threw the ball.  He got hit but he still threw the ball.  I thought he did a heck of a job."

Rutgers running game:

"There were certain run plays that worked effectively but it was never consistent. We were unable to get into a flow.  We had the two scores at the end of the first half, so the hurry up offense worked fairly well, but we didn't run the ball the way we have been able to in the past, and that was a big factor in the game."

Wanting to run more:

"In the third quarter we made a real conscious attempt to run the football.  Then with 6:58 to go (fourth quarter) we went to the two minute offense. We were down 10, so we made the decision to air it out as we tried to come back."-

Team's mentality after a loss:

"Any loss hurts, especially when you are trying to work yourself into position.  But this team is resilient and the staff is resilient, and we will come to go to work tomorrow and find out how much better we can get in a week's time.  That is what we have recruited here and that is what is in the locker room, so they will battle back. That is the good thing about this sport, after every game you are right back at it. This team has a lot of resolve and we will come back tomorrow ready to get after it."

On the play of Maryland QB Chris Turner:

"I wish I would have seen this guy before today, but I guess if you're going to lose your quarterback you are better off losing him on a game when you are running the ball effectively.  But to give Turner credit, he got hit a few times but still hung in there.  He did an impressive job."

Rutgers injury status:

"Ronnie (Girault) I don't know how long he will be, he is hurting pretty bad.  Courtney did a pretty good job taking over. The injuries limit you a little bit because you want to make sure that all the players in are comfortable in their roles."

Maryland's domination of time of possession:

"To me our time of possession was not as frustrating as our running game.  We did not run the ball as effectively as we have in the past.  Time of possession is not something that I get really caught up in because if we are ripping off runs we may not possess it as long but we are still running the ball effectively.  Everything in our offense comes from our ability to run - play action pass comes off the run, all those things come off the run."

Rutgers offensive line:

"Mike (Teel) got hit more than he has in the past, but this defensive front is maybe as good as any we will play this year.  They are big and strong, and we have two young guys in there.  I don't know if that is where the breakdowns were or not, but that was a veteran group going against two young starters and that was a concern going in to the game."

Next step for Rutgers:

"We just have to regroup, get our medical situation assessed, and then make plans and get better.  When you look across the country, you see the ebbs and flows of college football.  Sometimes when a team is out they bounce back.  We'll just have to see how good we are." 

In-game adjustments:

"We tried to make some adjustments during the game that at times helped, but at other times didn't help.  Clearly I did not have a great feel for the game because I would have fixed it during the game.  We will have to correct our deficiencies in this style of play and then get ready for another style of play, which makes it even more tricky."

Rutgers schedule:

"I thought the Navy game was as physically tough a game as any we have played, it always is every year.  The other two schools maybe are not the level of Maryland, but we go against each other every day, and I think our schedule is fine.  Today we just did not play up to our capabilities, and Maryland played excellent, and that is a bad combination."

Rutgers run defense:

"We had a couple runs that we had blocked up and one guy made a mistake.  I do not think it was the same people over and over, I think it was one guy here and one guy there.  Obviously we as coaches did not do a good job getting the players ready for today's game.  There's enough blame to go around for this game and that starts with me."

Reality of football:

"You are not going to win every game, that does not happen.  I have been part of streaks where you are winning and winning and winning, but everything comes to an end sometime. We were not on a great streak, but I guess we had a home winning streak that was pretty good. It is better than having a losing streak.  We just have to pull it up by the boot straps and go back to work.  Anybody who has seen us play knows tonight was not close to how we can play.  It's our job as coaches to convey that and get it fixed. I have confidence that we can do that, but I also know that we play some very good teams on our schedule.  We are all trying to do the same thing, be the best.  That is why it is competitive, and I hope our best is going to be good enough.  We will just have to figure that out."