Rutgers Notebook: UConn Analysis

By Kristian Dyer  |   Thursday, November 02, 2006  |  Comments( 2 )

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Every week, the challenges on and off the field change for Rutgers. Despite the less then impressive score-line, for the Scarlet Knights, it was another test and a passing grade.

Being a favorite is still new for a Rutgers program that still vividly remembers being an easy 'W' on most teams' schedules. Now, a season removed from their first bowl appearance in nearly 30 years and being ranked for the first time in a three-decade span, it is a different feeling that surrounds this Scarlet Knights squad. Rutgers enters every game on upset alert.

Twelfth in the BCS standings and sharing a lead at the top of the Big East, Rutgers is now the team every opponent is gunning for. Coming off three straight victories against winning programs, all on the road, the Scarlet Knights returned home a legitimate Top 25 team with very few doubters and many new believers. For a program that has, to put it mildly, struggled over the years, it was new turf. Suddenly, Rutgers is now expected to win.

Entering the game versus the Connecticut Huskies, there was an air of anticipation on the banks of the Raritan that Rutgers was not just going to win, but do so in convincing fashion. Coming in as 27-point favorites, the Scarlet Knights looked well on their way to victory and covering the oddsmakers' spread, storming to 17-0 lead into halftime. In this game of contrasts, Rutgers' early success was followed by a second half where it had to fight and claw against a feisty Huskies team.

It was a tough game to watch for the 40,000-plus who jammed into Rutgers Stadium on a blustery Sunday night, many of whom were expecting a blowout.

On his team's performance, coach Greg Schiano noted, "It was a very good football game. UConn played very well and they did it without their starting tailback. That says a lot for the effort they gave. But, I think our kids did well. We didn't play the best football game of the year. It came down to young men making big plays to win football games and that's what they did."

For the Scarlet Knights, it was their worst output of the year on offense and a game where they surrounded season highs on defense.

Hyped as a Heisman candidate, Ray Rice entered the game with hopes of establishing himself as one of the premier runners in the game. Yet, it was UConn's Donald Brown who was the standout of the game, rushing for just shy of 200 yards in the contest and grabbing the spotlight from Rice, who was held below 100 yards for only the second time this season. Throughout the game, it was apparent that this was a Huskies defense that was keyed in on stopping the run.

Rice, for his part, chose not to focus on the statistics but on the end result.

"Obviously, I can't have a huge game every week even though I understand expectations are high," commented Rice. "The biggest thing tonight is that we got the win. That's the biggest thing around here now getting the win."

For his part, Brown, of the Huskies, nearly doubled his season output for the past seven games with his performance on Sunday night and became the first 100-yard rusher against RU all season. For Rutgers, the 188 yards accumulated on the ground was the lowest of the season.

The passing game did not fare much better. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Mike Teel, a highly touted recruit from Don Bosco, showed some signs of the form from earlier in the year when he struggled with the throwing game. Teel, who finished the game 11-of-24 with one interception, was not helped by a receiving unit that dropped several catchable balls and appeared a step slow on several more.

The Scarlet Knights allowed UConn to crawl back into the game, closing the gap to 17-13 in the third quarter. Jamaal Westerman blocked a punt by UConn's Chris Pavasaris that was scooped up by Quintero Frierson who scored the Scarlet Knight's second special teams touchdown of the season. For Westerman, it was the product of hard work and his "team-first" mentality.

"I wasn't looking at [the blocked punt] as a game-changing play. It was a play that needed to be made and we worked on it all week, so I came free and blocked the punt. When we got back on defense, we had to stop them again, so it's not like that was the biggest play of game. All game people were making big plays, so we just had to stay focused."

The special teams play capped off a strange night for a Rutgers team that seemingly was "all engines go" in the first half, but eased off the pedal in the second, nearly giving up the lead.

Yet, it was a lesson for RU, still new to being a favorite and constantly having to be on upset alert. The tables turn for the next game as the Scarlet Knights host Louisville and will be looking to upset the Cardinals, ranked No. 5 in both polls. Rutgers will enter the game 8-0, the first time it has started a season with such a record since the 1979 season.

The matchup with the Cardinals could potentially have BCS Bowl bid implications, with both teams undefeated in conference play and both are one of six teams undefeated in the nation. Louisville plays host to West Virginia on tonight in a game that features two of the nation's top five teams. Rutgers will enjoy a bye weekend before hosting the Cardinals on Nov. 9.

Kristian R. Dyer is a columnist for ESPN and Rivals and appears regularly in Blitz! Magazine. He can be reached for comment at KristianRDyer@yahoo.com
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