Sunday, October 16, 2011

Rutgers 21, Navy 20

It should have been a larger margin, but RU got stopped inside the 10 yard line--twice--in the first half, once when Savon Huggins fumbled the ball on the one yard line and once when they failed to convert a field goal.

On offense, the Scarlet Knight's redshirt freshman Jawan Jamison carried the ball 22 times and gained 101 yards and one touchdown as the Knights finally produced a running attack with 152 yards on the ground. True freshman quarterback Gary Nova completed 23 of 31 tosses for 271 and two TDs. Sure, he also threw two INTs--one getting returned for a Navy touchdown--but he gained some invaluable experience.

On defense, the Knights continued to produce turnovers getting two interceptions against Navy. Considering that Navy only threw the ball 13 times, completing six, that's quite an achievement. They also stifled the Navy running attack. Navy came into the game leading the nation with an average 366 yards a game on the ground. They only managed 162 yards on 42 carries against Rutgers' stingy defense led by Junior LB Khaseem Greene and junior DT Scott Vallone who achieved career-highs with 14 and 12 tackles, respectively. Junior CB Brandon Jones blocked a 31-yard field goal attempt that would have put Navy ahead with 4:43 to go in the game.

Stories here and here.

Rutgers is now 5-1, 2-0 in Big East play, and will face Louisville in Kentucky on Friday night. Then it's at home against West Virginia on Oct 29 and South Florida Nov 5. The Knights play Army in Yankee Stadium on Nov 12 and Cincinnati at home on Nov 19 before closing out the season at Connecticut on November 26th.


No comments: