COLLEGE PARK, Md. — After discovering the day before the game that they’d be shorthanded multiple players and coaches presumably because of a COVID-19 outbreak within the program, the Terps battled hard on the backs of a fifth-year senior and third-string quarterback. Despite the respectable effort on Senior Day in College Park, Maryland (2-3) ultimately fell short in overtime to Rutgers (3-5), 27-24.

“First of all, I want to give Rutgers credit,” Maryland head coach Mike Locksley said. “We knew it’d be a tough game, well-coached team. They played hard. I feel for our seniors, the guys we honored. We wanted to send them out with a win. They deserved it for all they have given to this program and all they’ve been through. I’m also proud of the guys who stepped into roles today...A bunch of guys that were thrust into important roles on short notice and operated and played well enough for us to have success.”

With starting quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa amongst five key players forced to miss the game because of COVID-19, sophomore Lance Legendre took the first snaps of the game under center for the Terps. But despite completing seven of his 10 pass attempts, Legendre threw two interceptions and showed questionable decision making on other plays that led to him being benched for sophomore walk-on and former DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Maryland) starter Eric Najarian.

Najarian took the opportunity by the horns and players a solid game, finishing with 218 passing yards and two touchdowns through the air. Najarian’s touchdowns were to junior wideouts Dontay Demus and Brian Cobbs.

“Both [Najarian] and Lance [Legendre] took reps with the twos at points this week,” Locksley said. “Eric became the guy that gave us the best chance to win. We started with Lance and we sputtered on offense and I felt like we just weren’t in sync. Whether it was the communication, the reads, the operation just wasn’t there.

“And Eric is a guy that I have a lot of confidence in because he has taken those reps that he could operate it. And he did a great job. Kudos to him for having himself prepared to go out and perform the way he did. It’s a shame the supporting cast didn’t all do their part from a discipline standpoint, from an execution standpoint to send these seniors out the right way.”

The lack of discipline Locksley is referring to is reflected by the 12 penalties for 135 yards that the Terps committed against the Scarlet Knights on Saturday — many of which were untimely and wiped out big plays throughout the game.

“The thing I’m most disappointed in is good teams don’t beat themselves. And we continue to be a team that plays without discipline with the type of penalties that we have,” Locksley said. “Good teams don’t beat themselves and I have to get that fixed starting with me as the head coach...I thought we played hard but we didn’t play very smart.”

Besides Tagovailoa, Maryland was shorthanded three linebackers — Ruben Hyppolite, Ayinde Eley, and Chance Campbell — as well as defensive back Jakorian Bennett.

After the game, Locksley would not disclose whether the reason for their absence was COVID-19 related and also wasn’t trying to make any excuses for his team being down high-impact players on both sides of the ball.

“Obviously when we have all of our players and they manage to play well for us, that helps us. But we have good enough players and we had good enough players on the field,” Locksley said. “It wasn’t our players or the play that hurt us. It was the lack of discipline to me.”

One player Maryland rarely ever has to worry about with discipline is fifth-year senior running back Jake Funk, who had 213 total yards and a touchdown against Rutgers on Saturday before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with a shoulder sprain.

“Jake Funk made big plays for us and, of course, that brings energy when you make big plays,” Locksley said.

Led by Funk and Najarian, Maryland’s offense put up 462 yards of offense to Rutgers’ 379. With 260 passing yards and 202 rushing yards, the Terps deployed a balanced attack that kept the ball moving for most of the second half and helped Maryland win the time of possession battle 39:12 to 17:46.

Najarian showed the ability to push the ball down the field, trusting Maryland’s talented receiving corps along the way. With the walk-on under center for most of the game, the Terps averaged 13.7 yards per completion against the Scarlet Knights.

“When [Najarian] went out there, there seemed to be a little bit more of a comfort level in terms of how the offense was executing and how it would run,” Locksley said. “He made good decisions with the football and as he got more comfortable and he started making more plays, we were able to expand the playbook a little bit...I’m proud of the way he played and the way he executed.”

Missing its defensive coordinator Jon Hoke as well, Maryland’s defense played well for the most part on Saturday. The Terps held Rutgers to just 4.3 yards per play, but were unable to force any turnovers.

Filling in for a depleted linebacking corps, sophomore Fa’Najae Gotay led the Maryland defense with 10 tackles, including a tackle for a loss. Freshman cornerback Tarheeb Still continued his impressive first season in College Park and finished with seven tackles and three pass breakups.

Despite a strong effort from the defense, which shut Rutgers out in the first half, Locksley said it feels like his team let one slip away because of the inability of all three phases to come up big when it mattered most.

“I thought our defense did some things early in the game to keep us in it when we were unable to move the ball on offense,” Locksley said. “The key to the game today was to finish. And we had a chance to finish on offense. We didn’t. We had a chance to finish the game on defense, and we didn’t. And we had a chance to extend the game on special teams, and we didn’t. So it was a collective loss for us as a team.”

Maryland’s regular season now comes to a close with a cross-divisional game with the Big Ten West next on the dockett.