MORGANTOWN, W.Va.– No. 13 Rutgers and No. 15 West Virginia battled for nearly four hours, through regulation and three overtime periods, before the Mountaineers held on for a 41-39 victory, ending the Scarlet Knights’ bid for their first ever BIG EAST Conference Football Championship Saturday night.

Ray Rice finished with 129 yards on 25 carries.

WVU's Jarrett Brown threw a 22-yard touchdown pass in the third overtime and the Mountaineers converted the two-point conversion for a 41-33 lead. Rutgers answered back with Ray Rice's one-yard touchdown run to make it 41-39, but the Scarlet Knights were unable to connect on their two-point conversion try.

Rutgers, now 10-2 overall and 5-2 in the BIG EAST, awaits its second-consecutive bowl bid – a first in school history.  

Rice increased his Rutgers record single-season rushing total to 1,624 yards with 129 yards on 25 carries. The sophomore running back also scored his eighteenth and nineteenth touchdowns of the season.

Sophomore quarterback Mike Teel completed 19-of-26 passes for a career-high 278 yards, and connected with true freshman Tim Brown on a 72-yard scoring strike – the longest offensive play for the Scarlet Knights this season – in the third quarter.

Rutgers came from 10 points down for a 23-20 lead late in the fourth quarter on Jeremy Ito's 31-yard field goal. West Virginia's Pat McAfee kicked a 30-yarder with 53 seconds left to tie the score at 23-23.

Both kickers made field goals in the first overtime. Ito's 27-yard field goal in the first overtime was his fourth of the game, tying a career high for the junior. In the second overtime, Rice broke several tackles on a 12-yard run to the two, setting up senior Brian Leonard's touchdown run on the next play and giving the Scarlet Knights their first lead since early in the third quarter.

Brown then found Myles with a 19-yard pass to the one on third down and Steve Slaton scored on the next play to tie the score at 33-33, setting the stage for the dramatic final overtime period.

Brown ran for one touchdown and threw for another for West Virginia in his first career start for the Mountaineers. 

The Rutgers defense – which limited WVU to a season-low six points in the first half – was led by senior linebacker Devraun Thompson, who had a game-high 12 tackles and an interception. Sophomore safety Courtney Greene added 11 tackles, while senior nose tackle Ramel Meekins contributed 10 stops, including 3.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and one forced fumble.

POSTGAME NOTES

Team Notes

Rutgers finished the regular season 10-2 overall and 5-2 in the BIG EAST Conference.

The Scarlet Knights finished in a tie for second-place with West Virginia in the BIG EAST standings, marking the highest place ever for Rutgers. The five wins in league play is also their most ever.

Rutgers' four road victories this season (at North Carolina, USF, Navy and Pittsburgh) are the most in a year since 1980. In the 1986 season, RU won three road games and earned a tie in another.

Rutgers is now 1-4 all-time in overtime games. Its last overtime game was at Illinois in the 2005 season opener on Sept. 3, 2005 – RU lost that game, 33-30.

The Rutgers defense held West Virginia to just six points in the first half, tying the Mountaineers' season low output this season (also scored six points against USF). WVU came into the game third in the nation in scoring, averaging 38.7 points per contest. 

The 72-yard completion from QB Mike Teel (Oakland, N.J.) to WR Tim Brown (Miami, Fla.) in the third quarter was the longest offensive play for Rutgers this season. It is also a career long for both Teel and Brown.

The 72 yards in the longest pass play for Rutgers since Nov. 25, 2004 (Thanksgiving Day) when QB Terrence Shawell found WR Tres Moses on an 87-yard completion against Connecticut.

Rutgers became the first team this season to have a 100-yard rusher against West Virginia with RB Ray Rice (New Rochelle, N.Y.) finishing with 129 yards on 25 carries and a pair of touchdowns. The 174 rushing yards the Scarlet Knights tallied against WVU is the most given up by the Mountaineers this season.

Rutgers' five-play, 80-yard opening scoring drive encompassing 2:10 was the shortest opening scoring drive in both time and plays this season.

Player Notes

Sophomore RB Ray Rice (New Rochelle, N.Y.) recorded his 18th and 19th rushing touchdowns of the season, inching closer to the Rutgers single-season record of 21 set in 1973 by "JJ" Jennings. He entered the WVU contest in second place on the single-season list. It is the sixth time this season he has scored multiple touchdowns in a game.

His two touchdowns also gave Rice 24 for his career, moving him up to seventh place on the Rutgers all-time rushing touchdown list. He passed Homer Hazel (1916, 1923-24) and Albert Smith on the list.

With 12 points against West Virginia, Rice moved into third place on the single-season scoring list with his 114th point of the season. He passed Bill Austins' total of 106 points scored in the 1958 season. Rice enters the bowl game just 21 points shy of the all-time single-season record of 135 points set by Howard Talman in 1915. 

With 25 carries in the game, Rice, who already owns a single-season school record for rushing yards with 1,624, became the school's single-season rushing attempts leader with 311 on the season. He eclipsed the previous high of 303 attempts, set in 1973 by "JJ" Jennings. 

Sophomore QB Mike Teel's (Oakland, N.J.) finished the game 19-for-26 for a career-high 278 yards and a touchdown. His 73 percent completion percentage was also a career best.

Teel's 72-yard completion to WR Tim Brown (Miami, Fla.) in the third quarter was a career long for both individuals.

In his last two games, Teel is 29-for-41 for a 70 percent completion percentage. He has thrown for 424 yards (an average of 212 yards per game) and three touchdowns without an interception over the stretch.

Teel has been perfect in Rutgers' last two game-opening scoring drives. He went 2-for-2 for 35 yards on the game's opening scoring drive last week against Syracuse. He followed that up with an identical 2-for-2 performance, covering 49 yards, including a 30-yard completion to WR Tiquan Underwood (Lawrenceville, N.J.), on his opening drive against WVU. Coincidentally, both opening scoring drives culminated with a rushing touchdown by RB Ray Rice (New Rochelle, N.Y.).

Teel finished the first half 6-for-9 for 114 yards, completing his first five passes of the game.  It marked the second-straight week he has led Rutgers offensively in the first half. Last week against Syracuse, Teel finished 9-for-11 for two touchdowns and zero interceptions in the first half.

Senior FB Brian Leonard (Gouverneur, N.Y.) finished the game with one reception, continuing his BIG EAST all-time record streak of games with at least one reception to 46.

True freshman WR Tim Brown (Miami, Fla.) recorded two catches for 90 yards, setting new career bests in both categories. His 72-yard touchdown catch was the first touchdown of his career. Brown entered the game with two career receptions.

With two sacks against West Virginia, senior DT Ramel Meekins (Westwood, N.J.) moved into a tie with Ed Steward (1977-80) and Mike Pellowsaki (1968-70) for seventh place on the Rutgers all-time sack chart. Meekins has a team-best eight sacks this season. 

With a game and season-high 12 tackles against the Mountaineers, senior LB Devraun Thompson (Piscataway, N.J.) entered the top-10 in school history in career tackles. He now stands in eighth place all-time, passing Elvin Washington (290 tackles from 1974-77), Darrin Czellecz (289 tackles from 1986-89) and Dino Mangiero (288 tackles from 1976-79).

Thompson also moved into fourth place on the Rutgers all-time assisted tackles list with 152 for his career. He passed Darrin Czellecz (1986-89) who finished his career with 151 assisted tackles.

Additionally, Thompson registered his second interception of the season and fourth of his career in the fourth quarter against WVU.

For the second-straight week, true freshman WR Kenny Britt (Bayonne, N.J.) set new career highs with 10 receptions for 119 yards. In his last three games, Britt has 23 catches for 304 yards. He became the first Scarlet Knight with 10 receptions in a game since Oct. 23, 2004 when Tres Moses caught 12 balls against Pittsburgh. 

The 39 rushing yards for true freshman Kordell Young (Westville, N.J.) is a new career high, surpassing his old mark of 37 yards against Illinois on Sept. 9.