Both teams are scrambling to become bowl eligible. Rutgers is one victory away from win No. 6. Maryland needs two more, and its regular-season finale is against Penn State, so the two games before that take on added importance. Rutgers made a bowl last season. The Terrapins are trying to extend a streak of three seasons in a row.

Meanwhile, the circumstances are a little more dire for Maryland (4-5, 1-5), which must win two of its last three games to earn an invite to what would be its fourth straight bowl. The program has not gone to four bowls in a row since a stretch between 1982 and 1985.

Rutgers will look to break an ugly trend in College Park. The Scarlet Knights (5-4, 2-4) will face Maryland (4-5, 1-5) on Saturday at SECU Stadium, a venue that has not been kind to head coach Greg Schiano’s program since it joined the Big Ten.

There wasn’t much time for Joe Harasymiak to rest during Rutgers football’s bye week. The Scarlet Knights’ defensive coordinator went to work breaking down the unit and rebuilding it, looking for ways to improve a defense that had struggled to find any consistency for four consecutive games amid a mountain of injuries.