PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers overcame a 14-0 first quarter deficit, scoring 28 consecutive points, en route to a decisive 35-17 victory over Syracuse Saturday afternoon at Rutgers Stadium. Junior Kordell Young (West Deptford, N.J.) rushed for 143 yards and a touchdown and junior Kenny Britt (Bayonne, N.J.) had 107 receiving yards and a score to lead RU to its third consecutive BIG EAST win.
Senior signal caller Mike Teel (Oakland, N.J.) was also instrumental in the win, throwing three touchdown passes and completing 26-of-36 passes for 276 yards. He connected with senior Tiquan Underwood (Lawrenceville, N.J.) on two aerial scores, marking Underwood's initial points of the season.
The Scarlet Knights generated 483 total yards in the contest, while holding the visitors to 168. Rutgers (4-5, 3-2) ran 29 more offensive plays than Syracuse (2-7, 1-4), leading to a 27-7 advantage in first downs and a 37:54 to 22:06 discrepancy in time of possession. The RU defense posted five sacks, including two by Jamal Westerman (Brampton, Ontario), and limited the Orange to just 35 passing yards.
Syracuse posted the first points of the game as Doug Houge raced 82 yards to provide the visitors a 7-0 advantage with 5:57 on the first quarter clock.
The RU deficit would double less than two minutes later due to an error on special teams. Punting from their own 23-yard line, the Scarlet Knights had the kick blocked. The ball caromed into the end zone, where it was recovered by the Orange to produce a 14-0 score.
Faced with the early deficit in damp and dreary conditions, the Scarlet Knights responded to the challenge. Teel drove the team 69 yards to pay dirt to open the second quarter. He completed five passes along the way, including a five-yard touchdown toss to Underwood to cut the deficit in half. The score marked Underwood's first of the season and registered a 14-7 tally with 9:29 remaining before the midpoint.
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| Redshirt freshman RB Joe Martinek scored on the longest run of his career with a 45-yard touchdown run off a direct snap in the third quarter. (Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto)
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The home squad's aerial attack continued to pay dividends on its next possession. Teel completed four-of-five passes in the midst of a 54-yard drive. Three landed in the hands of Britt, including a 16-yard strike that knotted the score at 14-14 with 4:54 showing before the break.
A pair of decisive quick hits by the Scarlet Knights in the third quarter permanently swung the game in the home squad's favor. After sacking quarterback Cam Dantley and forcing a fumble, RU recovered at the SU 24-yard line. Three plays later, Young rumbled-in from one yard out to give the home squad its first and final lead, 21-14, with 9:00 minutes to go in the third quarter. The drive consumed just 1:09 off the clock.
The Rutgers defense then forced a three-and-out deep in SU territory to once again set the table for the offense. On the second play of the ensuing RU drive, redshirt freshman running back Joe Martinek (Hopatcong, N.J.) took a direct snap from center and dashed left for a 45-yard touchdown. The two-play, 51-yard, drive consumed just 0:47 seconds and resulted in a 28-14 score with 6:27 remaining in the third stanza.
Syracuse (2-7, 1-4) was able to stop the bleeding, momentarily, on its next possession. The Orange was able to put together a seven-play drive, their longest of the afternoon up until that point. The visitors advanced to the RU 23-yard line before Kevin Malast (Manchester, N.J.) sacked Dantley on a third down play to force a 47-yard field goal try. The attempt split the uprights, giving the Orange their final three points of the afternoon.
The fourth quarter featured one score and it belonged to the Scarlet Knights. It capped a drive that was once again completed in quick and definitive fashion. It featured a 42-yard connection from Teel to Tim Brown (Miami, Fla.) before the senior signal caller connected with Underwood for a 16-yard touchdown to register the 35-17 final.
The Scarlet Knights return to the gridiron next Saturday for a BIG EAST Conference match-up versus USF in Tampa, Fla. Kickoff for the contest, which will be televised live on SNY and WPVI-6, is slated for 12 noon.
POSTGAME NOTES
Team Notes
Rutgers defeated Syracuse 35-17 to improve to 4-5 overall and 3-2 in the BIG EAST.
The victory is RU's third-straight, marking the Scarlet Knights' first three-game winning streak since the first three games of the 2007 season against Buffalo, Navy and Norfolk State. It is RU's first three-game winning streak against BIG EAST competition since 2006 when the Scarlet Knights defeated Louisville, Connecticut and Pittsburgh in consecutive league contests.
It was Rutgers' fourth-straight win over Syracuse, the longest winning streak in series history for the Scarlet Knights. RU has won five of its last six meetings vs. SU, dating back to the 2003 season. Rutgers is now 4-1 at home against Syracuse since 1999.
The win also improved RU's record to 11-1 against Syracuse, Connecticut and Pittsburgh over the last four seasons.
With 35 points against Syracuse, the Rutgers offense has scored 89 points in its last two games. RU scored 54 against No. 17 Pitt in its last contest.
The Rutgers defense held Syracuse to 35 passing yards - its lowest passing yardage total of the season. The 168 total yards by Syracuse are its second-lowest output of the season. SU accumulated 159 yards against Penn State earlier this season.
The 168 yards allowed by the Rutgers defense was the ninth-lowest showing under head coach Greg Schiano. It marked the second-lowest total vs. a BIG EAST opponent during Schiano's tenure for the Scarlet Knights. Syracuse totaled 82 yards on one play - Doug Hogue's touchdown - in the first quarter.
The Scarlet Knights' rush defense held Syracuse RB Curtis Brinkley to 67 yards on 18 carries. The Scarlet Knights snapped Brinkley's streak of five-straight games with 100 yards on the ground.
The Rutgers defense also totaled a season-high five sacks against Syracuse. The Scarlet Knights have 15 sacks in BIG EAST play this season, all in the last four games.
Player Notes
Junior WR Kenny Britt (Bayonne, N.J.), who already holds the school record for career 100-yard receiving games, recorded his 11th career 100-yard receiving game to tie him with Syracuse's Marvin Harrison (1992-95) and Pittsburgh's Greg Lee (2003-05) for the third-most 100-yard receiving game in BIG EAST history. It is the fifth 100-yard receiving game for Britt this season. He finished the game with nine catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.
Britt's 16-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter was his fourth of the season and 14th of his career. He moved him into sole possession of fourth place on the Rutgers career receiving touchdowns list.
Britt now has 151 career receptions, fifth-most in Rutgers history. He surpassed Chris Brantley (144; 1990-93) and Clark Harris (143; 2003-06) with his performance in the Syracuse game.
With 107 receiving yards, Britt passed Boston College's Pete Mitchell (1991-94) and Pittsburgh's Greg Lee (2003-05) and moved into ninth place on the BIG EAST all-time receiving yardage list with 2,493 career yards.
With his 107 receiving yards in the Syracuse game, Britt now has 821 yards this season. His 821 receiving yards are the sixth most in RU single-season history.
With nine receptions against Syracuse, Britt moved into seventh on the Rutgers single-season receptions chart with 60 catches this season.
Senior WR Tiquan Underwood (Lawrenceville, N.J.) hauled in a five-yard touchdown pass from QB Mike Teel (Oakland, N.J.) in the second quarter and a 16-yard TD reception from Teel in the fourth quarter to give him 13 career receiving touchdowns. He moved into a tie with Brian Leonard (2003-06) and Bob Simms (1957-59) for fifth place on the Rutgers career receiving touchdowns list with 13. The two touchdowns receptions were his first scores of the season.
Sophomore RB Kordell Young (West Deptford, N.J.) posted his first career 100-yard game with a career-best 143 yards on a career-high 29 carries and one touchdown.
Senior QB Mike Teel (Oakland, N.J.) threw for three touchdowns against Syracuse to give him nine in his last two games.
Teel passed Mike McMahon (1997-2000), Scott Erney (1986-89), Ray Lucas (1992-95) and moved into second place on the Rutgers career touchdowns list with 46 career TD passes.
Teel finished with 276 passing yards to move past Boston College's Glenn Foley (1991-93) and into sixth place on the BIG EAST career passing yardage chart. He now has 7,964 career passing yards.
Teel threw his 1,000th career pass for a 17-yard completion to WR Kenny Britt (Bayonne, N.J.) in the second quarter on the Scarlet Knights' second scoring drive of the game.
With Teel's completion total, he moved past Temple's Henry Burris (1993-96) and West Virginia's Marc Bulger (1996-99) and into fifth place on the BIG EAST career completions list with 577 career completions.
Teel connected with eight different receivers against Syracuse.
Redshirt freshman RB Joe Martinek (Hopatcong, N.J.) scored his second-career touchdown on the longest run of his career with a 45-yard touchdown run off a direct snap in the third quarter. He also had a touchdown run at Navy earlier this season.
Senior DE Jamaal Westerman (Brampton, Ontario) had two sacks against Syracuse to give him 26 for his career. He is now tied with Dino Mangiero (1976-79) for third place on the Rutgers' career sacks list.
Sophomore DE Jonathan Freeny (Margate, Fla.) recorded his first career sack with a key third-down QB takedown to force a punt in the second quarter. Last season against Syracuse, Freeny had a fumble recovery and an interception.
Junior SS Zaire Kitchen (Hightstown, N.J.) recorded his first career sack with a third-quarter QB takedown and forced fumble which was recovered by Rutgers, leading to a Scarlet Knight score.
Senior FS Courtney Greene (New Rochelle, N.Y.) moved into sole possession of third place on the Rutgers career assisted tackles list and sole possession of sixth place on the Rutgers career solo tackles list with his six-tackle performance against the Orange. He now has 202 solo tackles and 159 assisted stops for his 47-game career. Greene has started 47 consecutive games at free safety.
Senior DT Pete Tverdov (Union, N.J.) extended his streak to 11 consecutive games with a tackle for loss, dating back to last season after assisting LB Kevin Malast (Manchester, N.J.) on a third-down sack in the third quarter.
Junior FB Jack Corcoran (Atlantic City, N.J.) recorded a career-high three receptions for 17 yards in the game. His previous career-best catch total was two on two previous occasions.
Junior LB Ryan D'Imperio (Sewell, N.J.) posted his third career fumble recovery on a loose ball following a quarterback sack in the third quarter. It is D'Imperio's second fumble recovery of the season. He also had one against Morgan State on Sept. 27.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano
On RU's defense against opposing quarterbacks
"I don't want to make highlight of that. It is certainly not our intent. Our intent is to sack the quarterback and that's what we try to do on defense. Unfortunately it's led to some guys being knocked out. There is no place for that in football being talked about in a positive way. But I am pleased with the pressure we got on the quarterback. We sacked him five times and we hit him a bunch more, and that's critical."
On RU trailing early
"We didn't feel like at any point today, the way today went, we were down 14-0 and not a lot of good things are happening and we had a lot to overcome. So we didn't feel that today was particularly our day. We needed to just keep going. Some days when you go up by three scores and you feel comfortable and it's all in check. Some weird stuff happened today, even that fumble."
On Rutgers trailing Syracuse 14-0 early for the second consecutive year
"My mind was more on getting these guys to settle down, get myself to settle down. What happens to football players and coaches is that you get a little anxious. No play scores 14 points, you can only go one play at a time. We needed to do that and it was a long game. You can lose sight of that when you fall behind. It's a little different than last year."
On back-up running back Joe Martinek's 45-yard touchdown run in the third quarter
"It doesn't surprise me. I get to see him in practice and the things he does. That was really a great job by the coaching staff. They put together a play, and you never know that it's going to work, but we felt it had a chance and Joe executed it perfectly. He kicked on the burners. I had the worst view in the house but I saw a guy who had an angle on him but he legged it out, so that was a good run."
On RU's running attack
"I was happy today that we ran the football. There were times in that game when the ball was wet, it was raining pretty hard. There wasn't really a lot of wind but just a wet football scares you out of doing some things. The fact that we were able to run the ball is a positive."
On cornerback Zaire Kitchen's forced fumble in the second half
"In a clutch situation, too. When he did it, it was tied. The week before we were up by three. Like I said he just has a knack for that. He plays hard every play and when you do that sometimes the odds go up in your favor."
On RU's start to the game
"We turned the ball over. You don't turn the ball over three times, generally, and have a punt blocked for a touchdown, and then stand up here with a victory. We had enough bad things happen today that we just feel like sometimes you have to be careful. When I say that we were careful I don't mean you get conservative because I don't think we were conservative at all I think we were the opposite, but it was a weird day. Foggy and wet and we started the game down 14-0 so it didn't have a great feel, but I was very proud of our players because they kept their composure and kept playing, one play at a time. We talk about that all the time, living this moment, don't worry about what happened before, don't worry about what is going to happen, [worry about] right now."
On Rutgers' defense against Syracuse
"Other than that one run they were suffocating. They played well together. They are a fun group to coach because they enjoy playing with one another."
On RU quarterback Mike Teel
"Mike is as tough as they come. He's been through so many ups and downs through his career. He's a fighter, he just keeps fighting. He's more critical of himself than I could ever be. I just try to help him bring it back to center, say let's go we've got another drive to do. He did a good job of that today."
On the improving offense
"Not yet. We still have young guys on that offensive line. There are some plays that could have been a real offensive performance, but we're getting better. You can't go from zero to 60 right away. I thought the receivers as a group performed well today. I thought there were some real tough catches. Not the highlight catches, but Kenny came back on one of those with a defender draped all over him and Dennis did the same thing. That ball came out like a shot. That's a ball that he wouldn't have caught even six weeks ago."
Winning is not easy
"You always worry about that when you're dealing with 18-22 year olds. You worry about that with adults. But the key is to keep trying to teach them how hard it is. I know people don't really want to understand it, but it is hard to win. Because the other guy is trying to equal what you're trying to do. He spends his whole week doing that. Then he shows up on a Saturday and both of you try to take the same thing. It's important that they understand how hard it is to win every week, and I think they do. "
On calling consecutive timeouts at the end of the first half
"Once you get started with that, you have to finish it. When we blocked it I wasn't really happy. Thank goodness that worked out."
On the improved play of wide receiver Tiquan Underwood
"I think he got back to working and playing, working and playing, and not worrying about the results. A few weeks ago I said I have a feeling he's going to come on now, and he's done that. I'm glad for him, because no one works harder. He's an incredible worker and he deserves it."
On the game being tiring
"It was an exhausting afternoon for everyone involved. When you're down 14 and quite frankly, everything is sliding down hill. Other than the beginning when we moved the ball methodically down the field, and then all of a sudden bang. For six or seven minutes nothing is going your way. But that's what I am most happy with is that they were able to stay in the moment and keep their composure. Everybody, not just the players. Coaches, the organization as a whole."
On the possibility of playing in a bowl game
"I don't have to talk to them about that stuff. When we were 1-5 we knew that was still a possibility. That's all that it is right now, is a possibility. We don't have to talk about it. When you work as hard as they do year-round for something, what's the sense of focusing on that, because if you focus on that we probably won't get there. We need to focus on the next thing we have to do, that's South Florida, and that's to get ready for them. First we will evaluate this and then get on to South Florida."
On back-up running back Joe Martinek
"Joe is one of those guys that tackle in the Connecticut game on the one-yard line, Joe is a performer. Joe has competed at a high level in many sports. Nationally, he was a track and field athlete. He's a guy who doesn't really get worked up about stuff and we just felt he was the guy to do that. It's a way to get him involved. We have some running backs and we want to keep them all playing because they are all good. So we're trying to figure out ways that they all get their touches. It's not easy."
On competition between linebackers Damaso Munoz and Manny Abreu
"Munoz has been practicing better the last few weeks. Like we say all the time, whoever we feel gives us the best chance to win on that particular day, is who is going to start. Competition is not over, they both played, but Damaso played more. When you start, you usually end up playing a little more. But Manny is a competitor too, he's not just going to sit back and say ok, here, you take it. That's good. Competition makes everyone better."
On injury to cornerback Zaire Kitchen
"Zaire seems to be ok, I'll get the injury report tomorrow, but he seems to be ok. He felt a little uncomfortable, so we pulled him out."
MIKE TEEL, 5th Sr., QB #14
"We are really happy with today's game. Our team showed a lot of resolve. Offense, defense, and special teams all stepped up at key moments. It truly was a collective effort. We just kept playing hard, and as a unit, we were able to overcome the rough start."
"Today we were able to spread the ball around really well. This team is a tough group of guys, and when we all put it together for four quarters; we know we'll be successful. All of us made adjustments throughout the game, in order to get us back from that two touchdown deficit."
"The bottom line is that we approach every week as a one game season. We have to take it one game at a time. We do that each and every week and we stay focused on the job at hand.
KENNY BRITT, Jr., WR #88
"When our receivers all do well like today, it takes pressure off of each of us. We have a great receiving corps, and by spreading the ball around, we knew we could bounce back after being down early."
"After the first interception Mike (Teel) threw, none of us were hanging our heads. Our team knew we could adjust and make the necessary changes to get back in the game. Once we got into a groove on offense, this team executed so well."
"We are playing well right now, but we'll continue to watch the game film and continue to work hard and make improvements."
TIQUAN UNDERWOOD, Sr., WR #7
"Collectively, we had a great game. Our offense is talented, and by moving the ball around the field today, things turned around for us after being down two scores."
"Fighting back today showed the true character of this team. We work so hard in practice, and even when we were down early, we didn't lose confidence. Confidence is everything in college football, and when you have it, you always have a chance to win."
"The success of our offense starts with Mike Teel. He always supports us and tells us to never let up and keep fighting. He is a great leader for this team."
