The defense came to play for the third straight week…the offense was basically inept yet again…punter Teddy Dellaganna continues to be the team’s MVP…a safety proved to be the difference in the game…and the right upright turns out to be the Player of the Game. All that adds up to a hard-fought 12-10 win for the Rutgers football team over favored Connecticut on Homecoming Day 2008. So, the Scarlet Knights improve to 1-2 in the Big East and 2-5 overall and their mathematical hopes for bowl game qualification barely remain intact.
The Rutgers defense did a good job of containing UConn’s Donald Brown, the nation’s leading rusher…particularly in the second half. In all, he carried 27 times for 107 yards. And Dellaganna did a great job pinning the Huskies in the shadow of their end zone most of the second half. In fact, one of those punts resulted in Brown getting tackled in the end zone for the safety that proved to be the difference in the game. But, even with all that said, UConn had a chance to win the game in the final minute but a 42-yard field goal hit the right upright…giving the Scarlet Knights a much-needed win and a big collective sigh of relief.
As for the offense, there’s not much to say. The ground game produced only 76 yards on 34 rushing attempts. And fifth-year senior quarterback Mike Teel continues his nightmarish season…going only 17 of 30 for 192 yards and no touchdown passes. And to add insult to insult, Teel was booed through-out the game when head coach Greg Schiano decided to shuttle in and out fourth-year junior quarterback Domenic Natale for the first time this season. But a win is a win is a win. Give credit to the Rutgers football team for holding to a victory that it desparately needed. Next up, a big Big East game next Saturday at Pittsburgh…which you can only “see” on the radio. Kick-off is 3:30 at Heinz Field; air-time on 1450 WCTC for our expanded 90-minute pre-game show is 2-pm. I’ll be giving my prediction later in the week right here.
