Rutgers pounds K-State to cap banner season

By Kristian Dyer  |   Wednesday, January 03, 2007  |  Comments( 0 )

Rutgers Scarlet Knights
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The most spectacular season in Rutgers history closed out in a most impressive fashion.

With a 37-10 victory against an overmatched Kansas State team, the Scarlet Knights have laid claim to their first 11-win season in three decades and capped off a year of accomplishments. Now entrenched among the best programs in the country, the continued development of the oldest collegiate program in the nation came as a surprise to many, but not head coach Greg Schiano.

"I never tried to correct anybody when they called us a Cinderella, but no, I don't that all. I think Cinderella is, year two, all of a sudden you find a flip the switch. This has been a hard grind-six years. I think last year we took a step," said Schiano. "I think we just kept stepping forward, forward, forward. We went 7-5, lost a bowl game, we go 11-2 and win a bowl game. I think this program has logically kind of climbed the ladder. I think had we found a way to win all our games, maybe that would have been a Cinderella because we kind of skipped a step, so to speak, but I think right now we're just climbing and building a football program and the next step, if we can take it, will be a very exciting one."

Much like he had all season, sophomore tailback Ray Rice carried the load for the team in the inaugural Texas Bowl. Racking up 170 yards on 24 carries along with a touchdown, the Texas Bowl MVP ran his way all over a physical and imposing Kansas State defense.

On Rice, Schiano commented, "The thing that's more impressive is that he was over five yards a carry [throughout the season]. When you have as many carries as he had and you average over five yards a carry, that to me is incredible. He's a tough guy. That's a tremendous statistic."

It was a complete and thoroughly dominating performance from the Scarlet Knights against their Big 12 opponent. Racking up 479 yards in total offense, Rutgers limited Kansas State to 162 yards and just 31 on the ground on 21 carries. All game long, the prolific Wildcats offense that lit up Texas in November was limited to just six first downs. Kansas State was physically outmatched on both sides of the ball by a smaller, aggressive Scarlet Knights team. The special teams of the Wildcats accounted for all 10 of the points that the team scored in the game.

Rutgers jumped out to an impressive first-quarter lead thanks to two big passes from Mike Teel to Tim Brown, a true freshman out of Northwestern High School in Miami. Brown marked his first collegiate start with four receptions and 101 yards, including a 49-yard effort that put the Knights up 14-0.

Kansas State answered via a Jeff Snodgrass field goal that capped off the longest drive of the game by Kansas State, a nine-play effort that went 53 yards. Minutes later, K-State closed the gap to 14-10, utilizing a 76-yard punt return by Yamon Figurs to earn the momentum and claw back into the game. The Wildcats would not score for the rest of the game.

Jeremy Ito answered for Rutgers before halftime, hitting a 37-yard field goal to up the score to 17-10.

The second half was a time of domination for Rutgers, which was dependent on the strong running of Rice and a Quintero Frierson interception return for a touchdown to pull away from the Wildcats. All told, Rutgers held the ball for almost 13 minutes more than Kansas State throughout the course of the game.

In many ways, the game was a stamp of approval on the solid performance all season by Teel, who endured much criticism for his mediocre numbers. Despite the lack of big plays, Teel continued to win and played within himself, leading the team to impressive wins over bowl-bound teams such as Ohio, Navy, South Florida and Louisville. Against Kansas State, Teel was 16 for 28 for 268 yards and two touchdowns.

"I think Mike (Teel) has performed tremendously, especially at the end of the season," said Schiano. "The way he rebounded after that Cincinnati game, there were three games in a row I thought he played great football. He did it other times during the year, and I think he's very, very comfortable right now with his young receivers, with those guys working all off-season. The thing that's great about Mike and those receivers."

Now, it is an off-season that promises higher expectations and intensity for a program that is now expected to win and will catch no one by surprise in 2007. Schiano, who rebuffed an offer from the University of Miami to stay on the banks of the Raritan, feels justified in his decision to leave the Hurricanes in 2001 to take over the program.

"I think expectations will be heightened and they should be. That's what we want," noted Schiano, following the win. "That's what we're trying to create. We hope we'd be better than just the top 25 after what we did. There aren't many 11-win teams, but all that doesn't matter. We're going to get our opportunity to come out and play next year and show what we are and that will all come out in the wash, so to speak."

Kristian R. Dyer regularly appears in the New York City newspaper METRO. He also can be found on ESPN.com and Rivals.com. He can be reached for comment at KristianRDyer@yahoo.com
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