Mike Teel went 16 for 25 throwing for 303 yards and three TDs and one interception.
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Terry and I woke up early this morning and were standing outside the Rogers Centre by 9:30 AM, anxious to get in to watch our Rutgers Scarlet Knights play the Ball State Cardinals in the second annual International Bowl.
Unfortunately, they didn’t open the doors until 10:30 AM.
We did finally get inside and made or way to our seats in section 128, row 20. The RU marching band soon followed and sat across the aisle from us. And a sea of Scarlet flooded the Rutgers stands.
We watched the teams warm up for a half hour and then they left to go to the locker rooms. After they returned, large US and Canadian flags were unfurled on the field, a bagpipe corps played both nations’ national anthems. The lead singer of “an up and coming rock band” did an excellent job with both anthems.
Rutgers won the coin toss and elected to receive. They marched down the field and scored on a 36-yard TD pass from QB Mike Teel to WR Tim Brown. A few punts later and RU scored on a Ray Rice’s first TD run of the day and his 21st of the year.
With a little more than 2 minutes remaining in the first quarter and RU was up 14-0.
By halftime the score was 24-9. Rice had a second TD run and Jeremy Ito had a 53 yard field goal for RU while Ball State had managed just three field goals. RU could have had more, but Teel was intercepted on the 1-yard line when he tried to force a pass into tight coverage.
The Scarlet Knight mascot and the marching band took the field for halftime entertainment.
The second half saw Ball State attempt to make a run at the Scarlet Knights, however, the Cardinals were forced to punt. It was a good one that, when combined with a blocking in the back penalty pinned RU deep in their own territory. Backed up on their own two yard line, the Scarlet Knights ran the ball twice to get out to the 10-yard line. Then, on third and 2, Mike Teel handed off to Ray Rice who swept around the left side and raced down the sidelines 90 yards for his fourth TD of the game. A couple more TDs on lofted passes into the end zone and the final score became 52-30.
A dejected Ball State crowd (much smaller than that on the RU side) made its way to the exits (some having left considerably before the final gun) as the Scarlet fans waited for the presentation of awards.
Amid a shower of confetti, Coach Schiano accepted the International Bowl trophy for the Rutgers squad.
To chants from the crowd for, “One more year!” Junior Ray Rice was presented the award as the MVP of the 2008 International Bowl.
He thanked the fans, his family and his offensive linemen for all that has happened this year.
He said he a Coach Schiano will be talking in the coming days before he makes a decision. It would be nice if he stayed for his final year, but he already holds numerous records at Rutgers and in the Big East.
Finally, the team came over to the area in front of the band and we all sang the Alma Mater:
The full story can be had here.
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