Friday, November 10, 2006

A Great Win For Rutgers

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights pulled off the biggest win in the school's history last night as they beat the number 3 ranked Louisville Cardinals, 28-25, before an overflow crowd in Piscataway, NJ.

My congratulations to all the Rutgers alums who are basking in the glow today in their team's victory, especially to three of my cousins, who are all devoted Scarlet Knights supporters.

I caught part of the game last night, especially the great second half comeback. Rutgers fell behind early, 25-7. There was a strange play I've never seen before in the game. Louisville had an extra point blocked, but one of their linemen picked up the ball and crossed the goal line, thus getting two points for Louisville. I don't think I've ever seen that before.

But Rutgers staged a great second half comeback. They completely shut Louisville down, and RB Ray Rice rushed for 131 yards. Even though I'm a big Notre Dame fan, I found myself pulling for the Scarlet Knights, as they've been the doormats of the Big East for a long time, and are bringing a lot of excitement to New York area college football, which hasn't seen it in a long time.

Jeremy Ito tried a 33-yard field goal to win it with 21 seconds to play, but he kicked it wide, but a Louisville player was offsides. He got a chance to redeem himself, and he connected from 28 yards. At the conclusion the jubilant fans rushed the field, and Rutgers had beaten a ranked team for the first time since 1988. They are now 9-0, and play Cincinnati next week, and are three wins away from their first perfect season since 1976.

This victory could well put Rutgers into the Top 10, and on the road to a possible BCS bowl berth.

Good for Rutgers, and good luck to the boys from New Jersey!

1 comment:

Suldog said...

Yeah, odd play. I knew about the rule where the blocking team could return the ball for a score, but I thought it was only one point. Never have seen it done - missed it last night, also.

Quite a stirring comeback, though. I saw the last quarter. I'm kind of rooting for both Ohio State and Michigan to lose, so the championship can be Boise State/Rutgers. Fat chance!