Antwan Raymond runs for 240 yards in Rutgers' 35-20 win over Maryland

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PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Antwan Raymond rushed for a career-high 240 yards and Athan Kaliakmanis passed for four touchdowns to keep Rutgers’ post-season hopes alive in a 35-20 win over Maryland on Saturday.

Raymond's 240 yards are the most in the Big Ten this season and the third highest in the country this season behind Cameron Dickey of Texas Tech and Ahmad Hardy of Missouri. The sophomore ran for a TD and carried the ball 41 times for a 5.9-yard average. It's the third highest yards gained in Rutgers’ program history. Ray Rice holds the top two rushing marks for the school.

Raymond, who has taken over the bulk of the carries for Rutgers since Kyle Monangai graduated and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in this years' NFL draft, now has 1,000 yards for the season. Raymond's 41 carries are tied with Savon Huggins and Jawan Jamison for the most in Scarlet Knights' history.

It's the first time in school history that Rutgers (5-5, 2-5 Big Ten) has had consecutive 1,000-yard rushers in a season. Monangai ran for 1,279 yards in 2024.

“It’s definitely a special, special moment for sure," said Raymond. “All the work that we put in, not just me, but the coaches, all the other running backs, all the work we put in.”

“I’m not surprised about anything that’s going my way, because I know I work so hard for this," he said. "I put my whole life into this. I come from really far away (Quebec, Canada). I left my family, so I think that I’ve done a lot of sacrifices to be here."

Raymond set the tone by running the ball six straight times up the middle for 30 yards in the Scarlet Knights' first possession.

“Every game, we anticipated really wanting to run the football,” said Rutgers coach Greg Schiano. “But to say that I anticipated 41 carries; that would not be true.”

Maryland (4-5, 1-5) has lost five straight.

Ian Strong caught three TD passes for the Scarlet Knights and Kaliakmanis passed for 229 yards. Strong's 14-yard TD reception in the third quarter increased the Scarlet Knights' lead to 28-17

Maryland's freshman quarterback Malik Washington ran for 164 yards on eight carries, including a 73-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game.

“We are a very young team,” said Maryland coach Michael Locksley. “The development of a young team and an inexperienced team sometimes has its ups and downs and we’re in the middle of a tough stretch for this group."

The Terrapins managed 83 total yards in the second half.

Maryland: The Terrapins have lost four of their last five games by a total of 18 points.

Rutgers: This was the Scarlet Knights most balanced game of the season. They were 9 of 12 on third down, passed for 229 yards and ran for 256 yards.

Maryland is at Illinois Nov. 15. Rutgers is at Ohio State Nov. 22.

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