A tale of two Rutgers

By Darrell Laurant  |   Friday, December 12, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

College Football
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Memo to all those mad scientists with their stat sheets and computer models who seem determined to turn college football into an equation rather than a contest -- there will always be a mental and an emotional component to the game.

For a case in point, just look at the 2008 Rutgers University squad.

With their team highly regarded at the beginning of the season, the ever-growing legion of Scarlet Knights fans couldn't wait until the opening game at home with Fresno State. The stadium was packed, the TV cameras were in place, and ... Greg Schiano's team bombed, losing 24-7.

Quarterback Mike Teel, coming off a 3,000-yard passing season, threw two interceptions and no touchdowns. His ace receiver, Kenny Britt, dropped a sure scoring pass. And Fresno State back Ryan Mathews churned through RU's defense like a chainsaw, gaining 163 yards and scoring three times.

That's all it took, apparently, for the proud Scarlet Knights to lose faith in themselves. Losses to North Carolina and Navy followed, then a predictable but unsatisfying rout of Morgan State, then losses to West Virginia and Cincinnati to start the Big East season. At that point, Schiano -- the highest-paid public employee in the state of New Jersey, including the governor -- was presiding over a 1-5 season. It looked as if the only way Rutgers was going to a bowl this year was to buy tickets.

That was also around the time that Newark Ledger-Star sportswriter Tom Liucci, an astute observer of Rutgers football, wrote of Teel: "How many more signals does the coaching staff need before they realize that Teel isn't the guy to jumpstart this sagging offense?"

The fans not only booed Teel, they stood and cheered his replacement whenever he was substituted for.

For the team, the turning point may have been an Oct. 11 game against Connecticut. That should have been loss No. 6, but UConn kicker Tony Ciaravino clanked two field goal attempts off the uprights and the Knights escaped, 12-10. Teel, however, was still not himself.

Then he and Schiano sat down for a heart-to-heart talk, and the coach told his quarterback: "Just have fun."

It was a revelation. This game is supposed to be fun? Teel had been spiraling downward emotionally after a spate of early season interceptions (even taking a swing at teammate Glen Lee when Lee tried to comfort Teel after one of the picks), and was taking on the responsibility for horrid play not only on his part, but the whole team.

Fun? He then went out and had a ball against then No. 17 Pittsburgh, throwing six touchdown passes in a 54-34 destruction of what was considered the best defensive team in the conference. Britt -- considered one of the top five wide receivers coming out for the April NFL draft -- started getting open again. The line started blocking, the defense started forcing turnovers. And now, Rutgers is in a bowl.

OK, it's not the Orange Bowl, but the Papa John's Bowl against North Carolina State, another team that was forced to overcome a poor start. Still, the difference between Rutgers, the Nightmare, and Rutgers, the Sequel, was mind-boggling. Over the first seven games, the Scarlet Knights averaged 16 points a game, even including the 38-0 blanking of Morgan State. Over the last six games? A 45-point average, fueled by Teel's 20 touchdown passes over that span. They didn't just beat Pitt, South Florida, Syracuse and Louisville, they hammered them.

As for Teel, he insisted: "Physically, I didn't do anything differently."

It wasn't as if Rutgers had some dazzling star return from an injury to get the team back on the right track. The same players who started 1-5 were the ones that finish then finished 6-0. Amazing.

And Tom Liucci was upset about Mike Teel again. He was mad that Teel wasn't named first-team All-Big East quarterback.

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