Ito, Rice Receive BIG EAST Football Weekly Honors
Nov 12 | Football
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers senior place kicker Jeremy Ito (Loma Linda, Calif.) was named the BIG EAST Football Special Teams Player of the Week, while junior running back Ray Rice (New Rochelle, N.Y.) was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, the league announced on Monday.
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Jeremy Ito |
Ito became the highest-scoring kicker in BIG EAST history with his 11-point effort at Army. He made two field goals and five PATs against the Black Knights, giving him a conference-record 374 career points. He passed former Virginia Tech kicker Shayne Graham, who had 371 points from 1996-99. Ito is Rutgers' all-time scoring and the BIG EAST All-Time leader with 76 career field goals. He also ranks ninth in BIG EAST history in career PATs with 146, is first in the NCAA among active players in field goals attempted (106), second in field goals made (76) and eighth in PATs made (146) and ninth in PATs attempted (148). The junior Lou Groza Award candidate also ranks second in the NCAA among active players in total points (374) and fifth in points per game (8.1) for his career.
Rice rushed for a school-record 243 yards on 34 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns in the victory over the Black Knights. With the performance, the fifth 200-yard game of his career, Rice moved into sole possession of second place in BIG EAST history with his 22nd career 100-yard rushing game. The junior also passed Brian Leonard and moved into second place in Rutgers history in career all-purpose yards with 4,734 in his career.
Ito's player of the week honor marks the fourth time this season a Scarlet Knight was recognized with one of the league's three player of the week awards. Junior wide receiver Tiquan Underwood (Lawrenceville, N.J.) was named the Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 3., freshman safety Joe Lefeged (Germantown, Md.) was named the Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 15., and Rice was named the league's Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 22.
Rutgers will host Pittsburgh in its final home game of the 2007 season this Saturday at 12 noon at Rutgers Stadium.
