Rutgers Falls to West Virginia 40-0
Oct 12 | Football
Rasheed Marshall threw a touchdown pass and ran for another and safety Angel Estrada scored on a 43-yard interception return as the Mountaineers (4-2, 1-0 Big East) handed Rutgers (1-5, 0-2) its 17th straight conference loss.
Cobourne, who came into the game leading the nation with a 152.2 yard average, scored on a 5-yard run in the second quarter and the Mountaineers took a 16-0 halftime lead.
Todd James added a 37-yard field goal and backup quarterback Danny Embick threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Thomas as West Virginia beat Rutgers for the eighth straight time.
The Mountaineers didn't get on the scoreboard until defensive end Tim Love tackled Ted Trump in the end zone after the Rutgers quarterback mishandled a low snap from his 8-yard line.
After forcing Rutgers to punt from its own end zone, West Virginia stretched the lead to 9-0 early in the second quarter when Marshall threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Phil Braxton.
The first of two interceptions by Jermaine Thaxton gave the Mountaineers the ball at the Rutgers 18 three plays later. Cobourne carried three straight times, scoring from the 5-yard line on the third carry.
Marshall capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive to start the second half with a 6-yard run and West Virginia coasted the rest of the way.
Estrada and Thomas scored in the fourth quarter against a tired Rutgers defense, which only gave up 332 yards despite being on the field for 37:55.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
West Virginia....... 2 14 10 14 - 40
Rutgers............. 0 0 0 0 - 0
GAME STATS
POSTGAME NOTES
RUTGERS CAPTAINS SELECTED
Linebacker Gary Brackett, safety Shawn Seabrooks and tight end L.J. Smith
have been elected captains of the 2002 Rutgers football team.
PYSZCZYMUKA MAKES SEASON DEBUT
Senior defensive lineman Greg Pyszczymuka, hampered during the pre-season by
a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the first five games, made his 2002
debut with 9:30 left in the first quarter. Greg's brother, Marty, has
started every game for the Scarlet Knights this season on the offensive line
at center.
Greg Schiano Quotes
(about running game) It was nonexistent. We need to find a way to run the ball effectively. We didn't do that tonight. All we can do is go back to work and find a way to do that.
These are the same kids who have had good offensive performances. This offensive performance wasn't good enough to be competitive, let alone good enough to win.
As a football team, I think it's a step back. I still have a lot of faith in this group of kids, and in these coaches. Today, we did not come out and play well enough. We had a couple of kids in there that this was their first real action, and they didn't understand the urgency you have to play at to be successful at this level. It's my job to get them to understand that. We'll get that done.
We had a lot of dropped passes -- tipping balls up in the air. We looked out of sync.
There is not that big a difference from having a successful play and having an unsuccessful play. It's a fine line, and we need to get our guys on the other side of that fine line.
We've been doing better (in recent weeks) on third-down defense, and we were 50 percent. You can't win if you are 50 percent. It's so hard. There were several plays tonight. You get off the field. Nobody has to see the seven minutes of plays we were forced to watch if we stop them on third down. Until you do that, you can't be a good football team.
There are some kids who had some tremendous, tremendous efforts on defense. Some kids made some tremendous plays, and played their guts out. That's the hard part – to no avail. It's my job to keep them doing that until the rest of the squad catches up to them. You have to build around your base, and build around your core. Then you add players to that. Coaching isn't just talking…this is real. It's just like little kids, they have to learn by touching the pan. It's hot. We'll get it fixed.
Opponent Player Quotes
David Upchurch, DT, Sr.
"I think we prepared well. It's a confidence boost to let us know when we
want to we can play well. Discipline and tackling are the keys to a good
defense and we showed it off this afternoon. We went out and did what we
were supposed to do. Even before this week we showed signs, but we just put
it all together. We came out, we hit hard, caused some turnovers and we can
be proud of the effort we gave today."
Tim Love, DE, Sr.
"Our defense last year was ridiculed for giving up big plays; last week we
were ridiculed for giving up big plays. So I think today, coming out and
dominating like we did, is huge for our defense."
Rasheed Marshall, QB, So.
"Being out there on Saturday is better than practice because you get a
better look with game speed. There are little things wrong, but they can be
corrected easier on Saturday, so I'll have to wait until next week to really
see the improvement."
"Our defense did a good job and I give them a lot of credit, they made some
plays that helped them out a lot. Today it was there but still not to the
point where everything was clicking."
"Their [Rutgers] defense was a lot better than last year, they played tough
and they didn't give up. They kept at it so I give them credit for that."
Rutgers Player Quotes
SR. QB TED TRUMP #16
I felt ready to play today. My arm felt good. My body felt good, but we just
didn't get in a rhythm. The weather isn't to blame. West Virginia was able
to execute, but we just had a tough time getting into a flow.
Turnovers hurt us today. We can't have those and expect to do well. We did
have a lot of tough breaks in this game. I still feel we are on the right
track though. We had a great game against Army and we played very well
versus Tennessee. Even today we felt we had a good chance to get back in the
game. We were positive we could rally from a 16 point deficit at halftime.
We're a bunch of tough guys with a tough-minded coach and this team can
bounce back.
SR. DT WILL BURNETT #90
Our defense was playing good and there are some positives we can take from
today's game. I know this was a tough game, after we played so well our last
two games. We tried our best today, but we have to do better in the future.
We have a better defense than last year. All of us give their best effort.
We try to help the young guys out week after week and we'll be able to
handle this loss.
We thought we could play better today, because this squad believes it can
turn the corner, especially after our performances the last two games. We're
just going to keep playing hard and keep everyone's head up.
So. RB Clarence Pittman
"We have to put this behind us and practice harder for next week. West
Virginia is a great team; they did a great job tonight. We are still
building as a team. Tonight was a learning experience. We need to execute
better next week."
Sr. WR Aaron Martin
"We just couldn't establish a rhythm tonight. West Virginia did a great job
on us defensively. We didn't match the intensity level of West Virginia;
they out-executed us. It is a tough loss, but I know we can bounce back."
Sr. DE Raheem Orr
"They were a tough running team. We have to keep playing hard. We have to
stay together as a team. I know we can do it … this team is really close.
The loss hurts, but we have to focus on next week."
