RU football gets back on track against UConn
Scarlet Knights hold on late to defeat Huskies; team is now 2-5 on the season
BY DAN NEWMAN Staff Writer

JEFF GRANIT staff Rutgers linebacker Blair Bines tackles UConn's Donald Brown in the end zone for a safety in the third quarter of the Scarlet Knights' 12-10 victory over the Huskies on Oct. 18.

Following two straight narrow defeats, many of the Rutgers football faithful felt the team was due to have things go their way for a change.

Maybe it was time for quarterback Mike Teel to break out of his season-long slump, or time for Dom Natale to get his crack at running the team. Or perhaps the Scarlet Knights needed Tiquan Underwood to regain his 2007 form.

While all of the above occurred on Saturday against Connecticut, it was the unlikeliest of heroes who helped Rutgers to a 12-10 victory in front of a sellout crowd.

With the Scarlet Knights holding a twopoint lead with 1:09 remaining in the game, UConn's Tony Ciaravino missed a 42-yard field goal that went off the right upright, preserving Rutgers' second victory of 2008. It was Ciaravino's third miss of the day and his second that hit an upright.

"It's tough when you beat yourselves. We really didn't take advantage of our opportunities, especially when we had them in the first half," Connecticut head coach Randy Edsall said. "Our defense did a good job today, but I feel like we should have had this one."

How Rutgers would be able to stop UConn's Donald Brown, the leading rusher in the nation, who averaged nearly 180 yards per contest coming into Saturday's action, was a huge concern. After ripping the Scarlet Knights defense for 105 yards in the first half, the Red Bank Catholic grad was severely neutralized, finishing with 107 yards and no scores.

"This definitely wasn't a good trip home," a disgruntled Brown said. "Rutgers' defense was great today against our entire offense. When you're pinned inside of your own 10- yard line, it's tough to get anything going."

While the Rutgers offense had more of the same issues once again, they were able to keep the score close in the first half, heading to the locker room at halftime tied at 3.

Rutgers scored the game's first touchdown on its initial possession of the second half on a Kordell Young six-yard run up the middle.

Brown endured plenty of pressure, and midway through the third quarter he was tackled for a safety in his own end zone by linebacker Blair Bynes.

The team was able to stay on top thanks to the punting of Teddy Della Ganna, who averaged over 41 yards per punt, two of which were downed inside the five-yard line.

"The wind was pretty rough today but it definitely felt good to help out," Della Ganna said. "We tried to make sure that things were tough for UConn out there."

Holding on to a 12-10 lead late in the game, UConn finally got its offense in gear by going 85 yards in less than two and a half minutes, with the big blow being a 47-yard pass from Zach Fraser to Kashif Moore to narrow the gap to 12-10 with 8:33 remaining.

Following a brief Scarlet Knights drive, the Huskies tried to take control once and for all. Fraser hit wide receiver Martin Bedard on two straight plays to get the ball to the Rutgers 48-yard line. Following a few more plays, Ciaravino trotted for his ill-fated 42- yard field goal attempt, sealing the game for Rutgers. Head coach Greg Schiano knows that the victory wasn't pretty, but he'll take what he can get at this point in the season.

"The margin of victory may not have been much, but sometimes that's just how it works out," Schiano said. "I felt like eventually this season we were just bound to get the breaks to go our way."

Teel had perhaps his best game of the season, despite getting sporadically booed at times. The fifth-year senior went 17-of-30 for 192 yards and threw no interceptions. His backup, Dom Natale, saw his first action since transferring to the school in 2006 from Michigan State University, eliciting plenty of cheers.

"I feel like I'm always ready to play. I think there are things that I can do for our team that Mike may not be able to do, and vice versa," Natale said.

Young finished the contest with 28 carries for 80 yards and the aforementioned touchdown. Kenny Britt had his third 100-yard game of the season, going for 107 yards on nine catches, with fellow wide receiver Underwood hauling in four catches for 42 yards and totaling 51 yards on kickoff returns.

Rutgers is now 2-5 heading into Saturday's game at Pittsburgh. Even though the team defeated a conference foe and is feeling good, Teel may have summed it up best after the win.

"We still have a long way to go to get to where we need to be."

GAME NOTES:

—Officials from several college bowl games were on hand, including the Tostitos Fiesta, Insight, and FedEx Orange bowls, presumably to check out UConn, which was 5-1 heading into Saturday's action.

—Several recruits were on hand to take in the game, including quarterback Tom Savage from Pennsylvania (Cardinal O'Hara High School, Springfield), who committed to Rutgers in the spring. Savage has been rated as high as the ninth-best prospect in his class at the position and figures to be the heir-apparent to Teel.

—Bines' safety was the first one of the game that actually counted. There were two other occasions earlier in the contest where it seemed that the defense had gotten the job done.

"When I got my hands on him [Brown] in the end zone, I wanted to make sure that I looked at the ref to make sure that we finally got one," Bines said.