Scarlet Knights Game Preview
Nov 28 | Football
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Quarterback Mike Teel (Oakland, N.J.) celebrated Senior Night by throwing for a BIG EAST record-tying seven touchdowns to lead Rutgers (7-5) to a 63-14 trouncing of Louisville (5-7) Thursday evening at Rutgers Stadium. A national television audience on ESPN watched the Scarlet Knights accumulate a season-high 671 total yards and post a school-record 49 first half points, as RU achieved its highest point total ever in a BIG EAST game.
A multitude of records were set in the contest, which marked the final game on the Scarlet gridiron for 18 seniors. Teel capped his Piscataway career by setting a school single-game record with 447 yards through the air, the eight-most in a game in BIG EAST history. Tim Brown (Miami, Fla.) was on the receiving end of 173 of those yards, marking a career-high for Brown and tying for the 11th-most in a game in RU history. Five different players caught touchdowns for the Scarlet Knights, including two by Brown and two by senior Tiquan Underwood (Lawrenceville, N.J.).
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Mike Teel improved on his league record total with six touchdown passes in the first half against Louisville. (Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto)
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Rutgers announced its presence in definitive fashion to begin the game. Jason McCourty (Nanuet, N.Y.) returned the opening kickoff 44 yards to the UL 49. It took the home squad just four plays to hit pay dirt afterwards. Following a Teel-to-Underwood 20-yard aerial connection and a 15-yard Jourdan Brooks (Germantown, Md.) rush, the senior signal caller found Underwood in the end zone on a 12-yard scoring strike. The drive consumed just 1:51 off the opening clock and provided RU momentum and a 7-0 advantage.
Louisville attempted to answer on the ensuing possession, but would be denied on the cusp of conversion. On the 11th play of its 74-yard drive, RU senior safety Courtney Greene (New Rochelle, N.Y.) forced a fumble at the one-yard line to further energize the home crowd. Cornerback Devin McCourty (Nanuet, N.Y.) recovered at the two-yard line to set up what would be the Scarlet Knights longest scoring drive of the season.
That drive would cover 98 yards in just five plays. It would feature Teel passes to Brown for 40 and 22 yards before RU’s most productive wideout this season assumed scoring honors via the ground. Kenny Britt (Bayonne, N.J.) carried-in from 31 yards with 5:45 remaining in the opening stanza to enable a 14-0 lead.
That advantage would grow to three touchdowns in the early stages of the second quarter. After a missed field goal by the Cardinals, the Scarlet Knights struck fast once again, travelling 80 yards on just three plays that took 1:42 off the clock. A 74-yard Brown touchdown reception capped the drive and resulted in a 21-0 lead. The floodgates had officially opened, as 28 unanswered points followed, courtesy of the right arm of Teel.
Teel connected with Shamar Graves (Woodbridge, N.J.) on a nine-yard scoring pass to increase the lead to 28-0, before he found Underwood for a 26-yard touchdown with 3:17 remaining before the break. With a 35 and a zero glowing on the scoreboard, the Scarlet Knights then entered the end zone two more times before halftime. Brown hauled in a 37-yard touchdown at 1:52 and Dennis Campbell (Miami, Fla.) was on the receiving end of a 23-yard toss with 0:18 on the clock to send the Scarlet Knights into the locker room with a 49-0 lead, their largest halftime advantage in school history.
When the first half statistical dust had cleared, it revealed that Teel had thrown for six touchdowns, a BIG EAST 30-minute record, and one scoring aerial shy of the NCAA record for touchdown passes in a half. The Scarlet Knights had accumulated 468 total yards, including 343 through the air. RU had scored on seven of eight of its possessions, all of which had consumed 2:17 or less off the clock. The Scarlet Knights’ seven scoring drives combined to take just 8 minutes, 57 seconds.
Louisville briefly stopped the scoring onslaught on the second half’s initial possession. Brock Bolen rushed for a one-yard touchdown to prevent the shutout and put the Cardinals on the scoreboard, trailing 49-7.
The lead was returned to 49 points less than two minutes later. Britt hauled-in a 44-yard pass from Teel at the 9:39 mark of the third stanza to cap a three-play, 71-yard drive that produced a 56-7 score.
The fourth quarter resulted in two additional scores, one by the Scarlet Knights and one by the visitors. Brooks rushed for a 16 yard touchdown to give RU a 63-7 advantage with 10:51 remaining before Bolen hauled-in and 11-yard pass for Louisville to produce the 63-14 final score with 10:06 to go.
Defensively, the Scarlet Knights were paced by senior linebacker Kevin Malast (Manchester, N.J.), who tallied 10 total stops. Junior defensive end George Johnson (Glassboro, N.J.) also shined, posting three quarterback hurries and 1.5 tackles-for losses.
POSTGAME NOTES
Team Notes
Rutgers’ 63-14 victory over Louisville was the Scarlet Knights’ sixth-straight win. It tied for the fifth-longest winning streak in school history to close out a regular season with the six consecutive victories. The win was also the Scarlet Knights’ fifth-straight BIG EAST victory, a school record.
It was the first home victory in the month of December since Dec. 7, 1878.
The 63 points scored was the most Rutgers has ever scored in a BIG EAST game. It topped the previous total of 62 scored in a 62-0 victory over Temple on Oct. 2, 1993. The 63 points were also the most scored in a game by the Scarlet Knights since the 1993 season, when RU defeated Colgate 68-6.
The 63 points was the most allowed by Louisville in a BIG EAST game.
The 49 first half points were the most Rutgers has ever scored in a half in a BIG EAST game and the 49-0 advantage was the largest halftime lead the Scarlet Knights have ever had in a league game in school history.
The 49 first-half point total tied for the third-most scored by a league member in the conference’s history.
Rutgers’ 98-yard, first-quarter scoring drive was the longest scoring drive of the season for the Scarlet Knights
Rutgers averaged 15.1 yards per play in the first half and finished the stanza with 468 total yards of offense.
The Scarlet Knights achieved a season-high 671 total yards, the most-ever by a Greg Schiano coached team at Rutgers.
Rutgers finished with a season-high 224 yards on the ground on 33 carries. The Scarlet Knights averaged 6.8 yards per rush.
Player Notes
Senior QB Mike Teel (Oakland, N.J.), who already held the BIG EAST record for touchdown passes in a half with five at Pittsburgh earlier this season, improved on his league record total with six touchdown passes in the first half against Louisville. The mark was one shy of the NCAA record of seven touchdown passes in a half.
He also broke the school record and tied the BIG EAST record for touchdown passes in a game with seven, originally set by Pittsburgh’s Pete Gonzalez in a double overtime game against Rutgers on Oct. 24, 1997. Teel was responsible for seven touchdowns, the second most in a game in BIG EAST history. His 447 passing yards were the eighth-most in a game in BIG EAST history and the 10th-most total yards for a player in league history. He averaged 17.19 yards per play, third best in a game in BIG EAST history.
Teel finished the game 21-of-26 passing for 447 yards and seven touchdowns. Teel finished with more touchdown passes (7) than incompletions (6).
With his seven touchdowns, Teel became the Rutgers all-time leader in career passing touchdowns with 57.
He also improved on his previous school single-season touchdown record (20 in 2007) total and now has 23 touchdowns in 2008.
Teel broke the school record for passing yardage in a game. He topped Scott Erney’s 436 passing yards against Vanderbilt on Sept. 17, 1988. He finished the game with a career-best 447 passing yards.
Junior WR Kenny Britt’s (Bayonne, N.J.) broke his own Rutgers single-season receiving yardage record on a 44-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter. He now has 1,252 yards for the season.
He now has 2,924 receiving yards in his career, which is 79 yards short of the BIG EAST record held by Pittsburgh’s Dietrich Jells (1991-95).
Britt also tallied his first career rushing touchdown with a 31-yard end around run in the first quarter.
Senior FS Courtney Greene (New Rochelle, N.Y.) forced his fifth career fumble, causing the turnover on the Louisville two-yard line. Greene started his 50th consecutive game, which set a new school record.
Junior WR Tim Brown (Miami, Fla.) had 136 receiving yards on three receptions in the first 18:39 of the game. He surpassed his previous career-high yardage total (132 yards at Pittsburgh on Oct. 25, 2008) in a full game. Brown’s 173 yard receiving tied for the 11th-most in school history.
Junior Dennis Campbell (Plantation, Fla.) posted his first career touchdown.
Redshirt freshman RB Joe Martinek (Hopatcong, N.J.) made his first career start at running back. Martinek finished with 57 yards rushing.
Redshirt freshman RB Jourdan Brooks (Germantown, Md.) finished with his second career 100-yard rushing game with 124 yards on 11 carries and one touchdown. His 62-yard run in the second quarter was the longest run of his career.
Louisville Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe and Student-Athlete Quotes
Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe
Opening Statement: “I want to compliment our seniors on how much character they have. I am extremely disappointed tonight that we didn’t win this football game tonight because I really wanted to a chance to coach these guys in one more game. We are going to miss this group of guys. They practice hard; they play hard, they have shown great heart, shown great character. I thought they did in the second half tonight. Unfortunately, we are not going to get to play one more with these guys.”
Did you feel Rutgers was running up the score: “No, absolutely not. Not in any way, shape or form. In the first half and the game is in the balance and you are coming out on the first drive of the second half and they took Mike (Teel) out at the end of the third quarter. No, not at all.”
On where Rutgers ranks among BIG EAST teams: “I think they are a team that is playing extremely well right now. They are peaking at the end of the season. Obviously, they had a tough start but then they win their last six games of the year. Mike is playing really well for them right now and they are throwing the ball vertically down the field with Tiquan (Underwood) and Kenny (Britt). Those guys can stretch it and I thought they did a decent job of running the ball tonight too. They are a good football team and the defense is playing well and (Jamaal) Westerman is a very, very good player inside. And their secondary did a good job, too.”
On the play of Louisville’s secondary: “We got exposed a little tonight. The loss of guys. We got to find a way to stop them in those situations. It was a situation where our weakness was their strength in terms of them throwing the ball vertically down the field and us being a little deficient in the secondary. We tried to hide (with weakness in secondary). There is only so many things you can do, so many coverages you can play. Again, they did a good job at throwing vertically down the field. We knew they would do that and in a couple of situations we just got run by. Our guys were fighting and battling out there but those guys, No. 88 and No. 7, can run.”
Opening drive issues with turnover: “It was very frustrating for two reasons. The thing that is most frustrating is we get down 7 to nothing and then we get a great drive, drive down and we have to make it 7-7 at that point in time. But we turn it over and now in that situation its on the two-yard line and hopefully we can get them to turn it over and make a play there to get off the field on third down and get field position back and go down and tie the game. But they go down and make it 14-0. So, yes very frustrating.”
Message at halftime: “Just keep fighting. And I thought our guys did. You hate to be in that situation. Our guys continued to fight and continued to battle over the course of the game and that’s what you want them to do. We said we are not going to look at scoreboard but continue to fight every snap. Postgame message was I love these seniors and appreciate all they have done for this program and I am sick to my stomach that we don’t get to play one more game because I am going to miss these guys. They have meant a lot to this program and a lot to me over the course of the last two years. I appreciate their perseverance, the way they continued to fight and hang in and battle in the face of adversity. A lot of these guys will have a chance to go on and play some pro football and those guys that don’t I am very confident they will b e successful at any vocation they choose.”
#77, Eric Wood, Sr., Center
On the state of the program: “We made mistakes early and gave up the big plays. And then the mistakes continued as did the big plays. It’s not how I expected to go out but at the same time brighter days are ahead for this program. We have good coaches and good young players and that’s all you can ask for. The last thing that needs to happen is for the city to demand complete turnaround or something of that sorts because that stuff takes years and this program isn’t years away from being back. It’s a few plays here and there between us going to a bowl game and us not.”
On why the team struggled running the ball: “They do a good job of moving around on every play and that creates confusion. That gets them stops for the loss and then you’re behind on the down and distance. We caught them a couple of times early in their stunts and we didn’t seem to catch them as much in the future. Credit them for having a good game plan for stopping the run. I thought we were moving the ball okay, we just weren’t finishing the drives and that’s been the story of all season.”
#14, Hunter Cantwell, Sr., QB
On how he approaches a game when the team gets down and if he feels he had to match Rutgers score for score: “I think early on that’s what our mentality was. As the game got more and more out of hand it became take it one play at a time and try to execute and put some points on the board. I feel like we came back and fought in the second half, but obviously the game got way out of hand too quickly.”
On how the first fumble of the game hurt the team: “It’s tough. I thought we had a touchdown or at least and opportunity inside the five to get a score in. But turnovers are part of the game. We were never able to bounce back and keep drives alive and that hurt us.”
On how disappointing it is to not make a bowl game: “It’s very disappointing. The great thing about college football is going to bowl games, going to different cities and playing different teams that you normally don’t see and all the fan fare around that. I’ve been able to be a part of that for three years here at UofL and to miss out on that is not pleasant.”
#27, Doug Beaumont, So., WR
On what the halftime message was: “The main thing was that we still had to go out there and keep playing. We couldn’t give up. In the second half we came out a little better, but with how many points we were down we couldn’t come back. The halftime message was to stay strong, we have pride. We’re still on national television and we have to show everyone that we have heart and we won’t give up. Even though they have a lot of points on the board, we’re going to go out there and fight.”
On playing as an underdog: “We knew that we were underdogs. We just had to go out there and maintain and do what we had to do to try and get the win. We came up short. We knew we had to execute our plays and try to get on the board fast because they have a powerful offense and they could score a lot of points tonight.”
