WEST POINT, N.Y. - Junior Heisman Trophy candidate Ray Rice (New Rochelle, N.Y.) set a single-game Rutgers record with 243 yards on 34 carries and two touchdowns as the Scarlet Knights defeated Army 41-6 on a rain-soaked night at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y. Rutgers scored 34 unanswered points to claim it first road victory in the month of November since the 1998 season and the first of the Greg Schiano era.
For Rice, it marked the 22nd time in his 35-game career that he has topped the 100-yard rushing mark in a game, which is second all-time in BIG EAST history. His 243 yards on the ground Friday night was also the ninth-best mark in conference history. Rice also caught a pass for 12 yards, surpassing former Scarlet Knight All-American Brian Leonard in career all-purpose yards at Rutgers with 4,734 yards.
Rutgers amassed 404 yards on the ground behind Rice's outstanding effort as well as contributions from sophomore backup QB Jabu Lovelace (Tenafly, N.J.) and freshman RB Mason Robinson (Somerville, N.J.). Lovelace rushed 23 times for a career-high 88 yards and two touchdowns, while Robinson had 14 carries for a career-best 82 yards.
Junior WR Tiquan Underwood (Lawrenceville, N.J.) gave the Scarlet Knights great field position to start the game with a 48-yard opening kickoff return. RU started on the Army 45 yard line before executing a seven-play scoring drive capped off by a three-yard scamper into the end zone by Lovelace to take a 7-0 lead.
Rice and Lovelace dominated the drive with Rice carrying four times for 32 yards, while Lovelace had three carries for 11 yards.
Army completed just one play on its first drive of the game before turning the ball over on its next play. Senior SS Ron Girault (Spring Valley, N.Y.), in his second game back after missing the previous four, created RU's first takeaway of the game when he forced a fumble by Army's Patrick Mealy. The fumble was recovered by sophomore CB Devin McCourty (Nanuet, N.Y.), giving the Scarlet Knights the ball back in Army territory for the second-straight time.
Army intercepted a Rutgers pass following the change of possession as the pick resulted in a 65-yard touchdown return helping the Black Knights pull to within one point (7-6) after a missed extra point. Following the interception junior QB Mike Teel (Oakland, N.J.) attempted two more passed but eventually left the game after re-aggravating an existing thumb injury.
McCourty made his presence felt on the Black Knight's next possession as he blocked Owen Tolson's punt which was recovered by freshman DB Colin McEvoy (Hillsdale, N.J.) and returned 17 yards for a touchdown, extending RU's lead 14-6. McCourty went untouched up the middle to record his third blocked kick of the season - all of which have gone for touchdown scores.
The Scarlet Knights tacked on another touchdown in the second quarter thanks to more stellar play from their special teams. Senior PK Jeremy Ito's (Loma Linda, Calif.) punt was mishandled by the Black Knights and resulted in a fumble recovery for senior FB Jean Beljour (Hackensack, N.J.) on the Army six yard line.
Rutgers followed with a three-play drive that took less than a minute and a half, culminating with a two-yard touchdown run by Lovelace that put the Scarlet Knights ahead 21-6. For Lovelace, it was his second game with two or more rushing touchdowns as he previously found the end zone on two separate occasions in RU's 59-0 win over Norfolk State (9/15).
RU's next scoring opportunity came when Ito connected on a 23-yard field goal at the 2:50 mark in the second quarter to increase the lead to 18 points (24-6), heading into halftime.
Midway through the third quarter, the Rutgers defense stopped a fourth-down conversion attempt by the Black Knights, capitalizing on the change of possession. On its own 19 yard line, Rice proceeded to break off a huge run with a 33-yard gain to start the drive. Robinson came in to spell Rice and ran for 14 yards on his first rush attempt of the night as Rice returned to finishing things on the next play with a one-yard carry followed by an 18-yard TD.
The Black Knights turned over the ball for the fourth time in the game on their next drive as senior LB Brandon Renkart (Piscataway, N.J.) intercepted a Carson Willams pass on the Army 35 yard line. Renkart returned his second career interception 16 yards to give RU the ball on the 19 yard line.
On the change of possession, the Scarlet Knights increased their margin with Rice rushing for his second touchdown of the game, a three-yard push into the end zone to make it 38-6.
With five successful extra point attempts and a previous field goal, Ito became the all-time BIG EAST scoring leader among kickers with a 38-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, giving the Scarlet Knights the 41-6 victory. He also moved into ninth place in the conference record books with 147 career extra points.
In the closing minutes of the game, Army looked poised to put another score on the board, however, the Scarlet Knight defense thwarted the Black Knights efforts to close the gap. Pinned on their own 10 yard line with Army marching down the field, sophomore LB Blair Bines (Shirley, N.Y.) came up with a big play as he forced a fumble which was recovered by classmate Ryan D'Imperio (Sewell, N.J.). RU took reclaimed possession on the turnover and closed out the game.
Rutgers will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 17, for its regular-season home finale against BIG EAST foe Pittsburgh. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. and prior to the game several Scarlet Knight seniors will be honored in a ceremony for their contributions made to the Rutgers football program. The game will be televised locally on MSG.
POSTGAME NOTES
Team Notes
Rutgers (6-4) earned its first road victory in the month of November since Nov. 7, 1998 when the Scarlet Knights defeated Navy 36-33. It is the first November road victory of the Greg Schiano era.
With the 41-6 victory, Rutgers earned its sixth win of the season and became bowl eligible for the third-straight year for the first time since 1980.
Rutgers posted a season-high with 404 rushing yards against Army. It is the most rushing yards in a game since Nov. 26, 2005 when RU posted 337 yards against Cincinnati. The last time the Scarlet Knights gained more than 400 yards on the ground was Oct. 2, 1993 when RU rushed for 452 against Temple in a 62-0 victory at Giants Stadium.
The Rutgers defense allowed a season-low 152 yards of total offense to a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent.
Rutgers' seven-play, 45-yard touchdown drive to open the game marked the first time the Scarlet Knights scored on their opening drive since the USF game on Oct. 18 when RU connected on a field goal against the No. 2 Bulls. It marked RU's first TD on a game-opening drive since the Buffalo game this season on August 30.
Player Notes
Senior PK Jeremy Ito (Loma Linda, Calif.) set a new BIG EAST record for points by a kicker with 374 career points. He passed Virginia Tech's Shayne Graham, who had 371 points from 1996-99. Ito had 11 points (two field goals and five extra points) against Army.
Ito also moved into ninth place in BIG EAST history with 147 career extra points. He passed West Virginia's Jay Taylor (142 extra points from 1996-99).
Junior RB Ray Rice (New Rochelle, N.Y.) broke the school record for rushing yards in a game with 243 on 34 carries against Army. He surpassed Terrell Willis' mark of 232 yards on 35 carries against Temple on Nov. 5, 1994. His 234 yards were also ninth-best in BIG EAST history.
Rice took over sole possession of second place in BIG EAST history with his 22nd 100-yard rushing game in his career. He entered the game tied with West Virginia's Amos Zereoue (1996-99) for second place. Rutgers is 17-5 when Rice has at least 100 yards rushing and 8-1 when he has at least 30 attempts.
Rice recorded his fifth career 200-yard rushing game with 243 yards on 34 carries against Army.
With 256 all-purpose yards against Army, Rice passed Brian Leonard (4,643 all-purpose yards from 2003-06) and moved into second place in Rutgers history in career rushing yards with 4,734 yards.
He moved into fourth place on the school's single-season all-purpose yardage list with 1,725 all-purpose yards.
Rice moved into second place on the school's single-season rushing yardage list with 1,500 yards. He is now 294 yards behind his school-record total of 1,794 yards last season.
He also moved into a tie with Henry Benkert (1924) and Howard Talman (1915) for third place with 16 rushing touchdowns on the season and moved into a tie with Brian Leonard (2005) for sixth place on the single-season list in scoring with 102 points this season.
Rice continued to produce in the first quarter this season with 84 yards on 13 rushes against Army. The 84 yards was the most this season for Rice in the first quarter, topping his 78 yards in the opening quarter against Buffalo on August 30. He has topped 50 yards on the ground in seven of 10 games this season. He is averaging 53.6 yards and 5.6 yards per carry in the first quarter this season.
Junior Tiquan Underwood (Lawrenceville, N.J.) returned the opening kickoff for a season-long 48 yards to the Army 45-yard line. It was his 15th career kickoff return.
Sophomore QB Jabu Lovelace (Tenafly, N.J.) recorded his third and fourth career rushing touchdowns with a three-yard run in the first quarter and an two-yard run in the second quarter against Army. His other two rushing touchdowns both came against Norfolk State on Sept. 15.
Sophomore CB Devin McCourty (Nanuet, N.Y.) blocked his third kick of the season with a first-quarter punt block against Army that freshman Colin McEvoy (Hillsdale, N.J.) scooped up for a 17-yard touchdown. It was the first time since the 2005 season an Army punt was blocked.
All three of McCourty's blocks have help produce points for the Scarlet Knights. He blocked a second-quarter punt at Syracuse on Oct. 13, which led to a Ray Rice one-yard touchdown on the next play, and blocked a third-quarter field goal which led to a Rutgers touchdown.
McCourty also had a fumble recovery in the first quarter against Army. It was the second fumble recovery of his career. His first career fumble recovery came against Connecticut on Oct 29 of last season.
McEvoyscored his first career points after he scooped up a blocked punt and returned it 17 yards in the first quarter against Army to make it 14-6 in favor of the Scarlet Knights.
Senior Jean Beljour (Hackensack, N.J.) recorded his second career fumble recovery after recovering a muffed return against Army in the second quarter. Beljour also recovered a fumble at Cincinnati on Nov. 18 of last season.
True freshman DE Alex Silvestro (Gibbstown, N.J.) made his second career start and second-straight at the position against Army.
Junior DE Gary Watts (Miami, Fla.) made his third career start, and third of the season, at the opposite defensive end position against Army. He also earned a starting assignment against Navy on Sept. 7 and Norfolk State on Sept. 15.
