RU football defeats No. 2 South Florida
Ray Rice's 181 yards on the ground lead Scarlet Knights to victory
BY DOUG McKENZIE Correspondent
After putting together the most successful season in school history a year ago, the Scarlet Knights had seen a little bit of the shine come off their armor this season with disappointing backto back losses to Maryland and Cincinnati after starting out 3-0.

Then on Thursday, in front of a national television audience and a Rutgers Stadiumrecord crowd of 44,267 fans, Rutgers once again proved them wrong as the Scarlet Knights handed the No. 2 team in the nation, University of South Florida (USF), its first loss of the year, 30-27.

It was just about a year ago when Rutgers officially won the hearts of the tristate area's college football fans, upsetting thirdranked Louisville, once again in front of a national television audience. With the memories of that game and the area's reaction to it still fresh in their minds, the Scarlet Knights took the field ready to duplicate the feat against a Bulls team that was also looking to legitimize itself in the eyes of the nation.

With Heisman Trophy candidate Ray Rice (181 yards rushing on 39 carries) and junior wideout Tiquan Underwood (five catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns) leading the way offensively, Rutgers used some trickery on special teams and some strong defensive play down the stretch to secure the win. The trickery came early, as Rutgers used a fake punt at midfield on its first possession of the game to take an early lead.

Senior Jeremy Ito lined up for an apparent punt on fourth-and-eight, but instead threw the first pass of his career, hitting a streaking James Townsend for a first down at the USF 13-yard line. The Bulls defense kept the Scarlet Knights out of the end zone, setting up Ito's first field goal of the night from 26 yards out.

South Florida quickly tied the game on its first possession, getting a 47-yard field goal from Delbert Alvarado, then took the lead on its next possession courtesy of a five-play drive that was capped by quarterback Matt Grothe's 18-yard scramble into the end zone.

Then it was Rutgers' turn to respond, and they did, putting together a 13-play, 73- yard drive sparked by Rice's hard running. The score came on a third-and-goal, with quarterback Mike Teel hitting Underwood for the first of his two scores.

After the RU defense forced a South Florida punt, return man Tim Brown muffed the kick, giving the Bulls the ball on the Rutgers 18-yard line. Grothe then gave USF the lead once again, connecting with Jessie Hester for a 28-yard TD. Just like that, it was 17-10.

A second specialteams miscue nearly burned RU on its next possession as a 48- yard Ito field-goal attempt was blocked, with the Bulls apparently scooping up the ball and returning it for a touchdown. An official signaled touchdown, but the play immediately went to the booth for a review. It was ruled that the second USF player to touch the ball performed an illegal forward pass and USF gained possession at the RU 44. Eight plays later, the Bulls attempted a 45-yard field goal, but the try was wide left.

"I thought it was illegal touching, moving the ball forward," Schiano said. "I'm a little bit embarrassed about how adamant I was about showing it to the officials, but there was a lot on the line and I really felt strongly about it, so I was going to make it known. I felt this was a tough game to officiate. There was some real speed on that field. Things are moving fast and I thought the officials did a very good job."

South Florida coach Jim Leavitt didn't necessarily agree.

"We blocked a field goal and picked it up and I thought we scored," he said. "Somehow the replay showed we did not score. That would have been a big part of our defense also. I was not in the replay booth and I was certainly disappointed by that, but they have to go what they think is right. That was big, a turn of events of 10 points."

Rutgers managed to get another score; a 40-yard field goal from Ito, with just five seconds left in the first half to get within 17- 13. Though it did mark the first time the Scarlet Knights trailed at the half, it was a short-lived deficit once the second half began.

In fact, after forcing a three-and-out on USF's first possession of the second stanza, the Scarlet Knights needed just three plays to regain the lead, as Teel found Underwood at the RU 40-yard line. The elusive junior then raced 60 yards down the sideline to give RU a lead it would never relinquish.

Up 20-17, the Rutgers defense again did its job in stopping the Bulls' attack, however, a second muffed punt set up another USF field-goal attempt, this one from 27 yards out. However, it was the Rutgers special teams' turn to make the big play, as Eric Foster busted through the line to block the kick, giving the Scarlet Knights the ball at their own 30.

"I thought it was an extraordinary play by Andrew DePaola and by Kevin Brock," Schiano said. "Kevin Brock really struggled to get out. They were grabbing him and he just fought threw it and then made a tremendous catch.

"Sometimes things are there and you think you have a chance to run it and sometimes they're not," he added when asked about the two successful trick plays the Scarlet Knights used in the game. "So some weeks you don't even work on it. You work on it in training camp and when you think there is an opportunity, you look for it. We don't do a lot of that around here. We try to stick to the nuts and bolts, but when there's an opportunity, we try to take advantage."

South Florida managed to cut the lead to seven on a 34-yard Alvarado field goal, capping a 10-play, 2-yard drive. However, Ito made it a two-possession game once again as he booted a line-drive 51-yard field goal, and RU led 30-20 with 11:59 to play in the game.

USF showed their heart in coming back again, putting together an eight-play, 70- yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run from Mike Ford. With 9:17 left on the clock, USF was within three.

However, the RU defense made it stand up. Though the Bulls seemed poised to tie the game, moving the ball to midfield in the waning moments, Big East Defensive Player of the Week Joe Lefeged came up with a big quarterback sack to keep South Florida out of field-goal range.

An offensive pass interference call pushed the Bulls back farther, and on a desperation fourth-down play with just 49 ticks left on the clock, Rutgers' Zaire Kitchen sealed the deal with an interception, setting off yet another raucous celebration in Piscataway.

"I thought the defense played hard all night," said Schiano. "We made some mistakes, which makes beating a team like South Florida tough, but they played hard. I'm very proud of their effort."

What this game further proved is that as Rice goes, so does the RU offense. Rutgers is 7-0 when junior Rice has at least 30 attempts in a game, and 16-3 when he rushes for 100 yards or more in a game.

"I think Ray has run tremendously all year," Schiano said. "He just keeps running harder and harder. Last week, he ran as hard as I have seen him run, and I think he did it again tonight. He was carrying people on his back. He's on a mission."

Following the game, Leavitt said he was proud of his team's effort, and was quick to credit Rutgers with its solid overall play on both sides of the ball.

"Rutgers played a heck of a ballgame, they really did," he said. "Rutgers is a good football team; nothing surprised us there. We prepared well. They made more plays than we did tonight. Big East football, the Big East is a pretty good conference. You better be locked in every game because I imagine they are all going to be like this every game.

"Boy, if people out there saw this game, they would think it was an unbelievable game, unbelievable plays, the highs and lows," he added. "For a fan watching it, it was unbelievable. For a coach watching it, it was a little bit of a strain."