PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers scored 24 points off of turnovers and held Morgan State to 109 total yards in a 38-0 victory Saturday afternoon at Rutgers Stadium. Senior quarterback Mike Teel (Oakland, N.J.) completed his first eight passes and threw for a score, while redshirt freshman running back Jourdan Brooks (Germantown, Md.) rushed for three touchdowns, before the venue's 13th-straight sellout crowd.
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Ron Allen was inducted into the Rutgers Football Hall of Fame during a pre-game ceremony. (Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto)
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"It feels good to win," said Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano. "It's been a little bit of a drought...Hopefully it can be the beginning of something. We made some plays and we left some on the table. But you have to walk before you run…I thought the big thing was that Mike (Teel) really performed well. He had a grasp of what we were doing. The one interception was a tough guy to see, but he threw it. With the exception of that, he had no bad decisions."
All of the contest's points were scored in the first half. RU had four takeaways and scored on all five of its trips inside the red zone in the opening 30 minutes.
The Scarlet Knights wasted little time posting their first points of the afternoon. Morgan State won the coin toss and deferred, providing the home squad the initial possession. Teel promptly led RU downfield, completing all three of his passes, in a 66-yard, nine play drive that consumed 4:38 off the clock. Brooks capped the effort with a one yard plunge to provide a 7-0 advantage.
Rutgers (1-3) extended its lead the next time it gained custody of the pigskin. That drive initially looked to have stalled deep in home territory. Faced with a third and 20 at its own four, however, Teel scrambled from the goal line for a 20 yard gain, the longest run of his career. The senior then proceeded to complete 15 and 38-yard aerials to Dennis Campbell (Plantation, Fla.) in the midst of an 86-yard, nine play drive. The series culminated in a four-yard Mason Robinson (Somerville, N.J.) scoring scamper to enable a 14-0 lead with 1:48 remaining in the opening stanza.
The lead would grow to 21-0 just over a minute later, thanks to junior linebacker Ryan D'Imperio (Sewell, N.J.), who recovered a fumble at the MSU 29-yard line. After a 24-yard Teel to Kevin Brock (Hackensack, N.J.) connection, Brooks carried in from five yards out to give RU the three touchdown advantage.
The special teams then got into the action to set the Scarlet Knights up for yet another score. Senior defensive end Jamaal Westerman (Brampton, Ontario) blocked a punt in visitor territory, picked up the stray ball and rumbled 20 yards to MSU 15-yard line. Five plays later, after a pair of Teel completions, Brooks hit pay dirt for a third time on the ground to produce a commanding 28-0 lead with 8:56 to go before intermission.
The Rutgers defense set the stage for two additional scores to conclude the final 30 minutes. Senior free safety Courtney Greene (New Rochelle, N.Y.) intercepted a pass and returned the theft 14 yards to the MSU 24. Three plays later, Teel found junior wideout Tim Brown (Miami, Fla.) in the end zone to generate a 35-0 margin. On Morgan State's next drive, junior linebacker Damaso Munoz (Miami, Fla.) stepped into a passing line and returned the interception 13 yards to the visitor 29. Four plays afterwards, San San Te (Conover, N.C.) split the uprights from 19 yards to produce the 38-0 halftime score.
The Scarlet Knights totaled 225 yards in the first half, while the Bears managed only 45. All four turnovers forced by the home squad resulted in points. As a result of the turnovers, RU established a major advantage, both in field position and on the scoreboard. The Scarlet Knights average field position in the opening half was the MSU 46-yard line, while the Bears average field position was its own 29.
The second half featured few highlights and even less scoring. Morgan State (2-2) had an opportunity to post points, but a 34-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter was wide left.
Munoz paced the Rutgers defense with eight tackles (three solo), one tackle-for-loss, the interception for 13 yards, one pass break-up and two quarterback hurries. Nine players were involved in tackles-for-losses for the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers returns to the gridiron next Saturday for its BIG EAST Conference opener versus West Virginia in Morgantown. Kickoff for the contest, which will be televised live on SNY, is slated for 12 noon.
POSTGAME NOTES
Team Notes
Rutgers' 38-0 shutout of Morgan State marks RU's first shutout of an opponent since Sept. 15, 2007 (59-0 shutout of Norfolk State). It also marked the first road shutout for MSU since the Bears dropped a 55-0 decision to Hampton in 1998.
Rutgers scored a touchdown on its opening possession for the first time this season with a nine-play, 66-yard drive that culminated in a one-yard rushing touchdown by redshirt freshman RB Jourdan Brooks (Germantown, Md.) 4:38 into the contest.
Rutgers scored a touchdown on its first three possessions of the game for the first time since Nov. 29, 2007, when the Scarlet Knights scored a touchdown on their first three possessions at Louisville.
The Rutgers defense had four takeaways, all in the first half, via two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. It marked the most takeaways for the Scarlet Knights since they had five (4 FR, 1 INT) at Army last season (11/9/07).
The Rutgers defense held Morgan State to just seven rushing yards and 45 total yards in the first half. MSU was held to 109 total yards for the game.
The attendance of 42,411 marked the 13th consecutive sellout at Rutgers Stadium.
Player Notes
On his first pass of the game, senior QB Mike Teel (Oakland, N.J.) surpassed Mike McMahon (6,608 yards from 1997-2000) for third place on the Rutgers career passing yardage list. He now has 6,790 in his 39-game career.
Teel opened the game with completions on his first eight pass attempts – a new record for the senior. Teel had twice previously in his career completed his first five pass attempts - Dec. 2, 2006 at West Virginia and Oct. 29, 2006 against Connecticut.
Teel also recorded a career-long 20-yard rush against Morgan State, on a 3rd-and-20 play from the RU 4-yard line in the first quarter, to gain a first down.
Teel also passed McMahon (482 from 1997-2000) for fourth place on the Rutgers career completions list with 11 completions against Morgan State. He now has 487 career completions.
Redshirt sophomore OL Howard Barbieri (Leonardo, N.J.) made his first career start, lining up at left guard against Morgan State.
Redshirt freshman RB Jourdan Brooks (Germantown, Md.) scored a career-high three touchdowns against Morgan State. It was the most rushing touchdowns by a Rutgers freshman since Sept. 27, 2003, when Justise Hairston scored four touchdowns vs. Navy. Brooks scored all three of his touchdowns in the first half against the Bears.
Redshirt junior WR Dennis Campbell (Plantation, Fla.) recorded his first reception since Oct. 27, 2007, when he had one catch for three yards against West Virginia. His 51 first-half receiving yards also surpassed his previous career-best receiving yardage total of 48 on Sept. 29, 2006 at USF.
True sophomore RB Mason Robinson (Somerville, N.J.) scored his first career rushing touchdown on a four-yard rush with 1:48 left in the first quarter.
Senior FS Courtney Greene (New Rochelle, N.Y.) passed Gary Brackett (180 solo tackles from 1999-2002) for ninth place on the Rutgers all-time solo tackles list after recording three solo tackles against Morgan State. He now has 182 solo tackles in his career.
Greene also moved into a tie with Keith Woetzel (323 tackles from 1980-82) for sixth place on the Rutgers career tackles chart.
Greene registered his sixth career interception and first of the season when he picked off a pass in the second quarter. Rutgers scored a touchdown on its ensuing possession.
Junior LB Damaso Munoz (Miami, Fla.) recorded his first career interception when he picked off a pass in the second quarter. Rutgers scored a field goal on its ensuing possession.
Junior LB Ryan D'Imperio (Sewell, N.J.) registered his second career fumble recovery in the first quarter. Rutgers scored its third touchdown of the opening quarter on its ensuing possession. D'Imperio also recovered a fumble at Army on Nov. 9, 2007.
Senior DE Jamaal Westerman (Brampton, Ontario) blocked his first career punt in Saturday's game against Morgan State. He scooped up the ball after blocking it and returned it 20 yards to set up a Rutgers touchdown six plays later.
Redshirt sophomore QB Chris Paul-Etienne (Miami, Fla.) made his first appearance of the season. He also recorded his first career passing attempt and first career completion (a 16-yard completion to Kevin Brock) in the fourth quarter.
True freshman DB David Rowe (Cocoa, Fla.) had his first career sack in the third quarter.
Redshirt freshman LB Al-Ghaffaar Lane (East Orange, N.J.) made his first career appearance in the first quarter. He entered on kickoff coverage following the Scarlet Knights' first touchdown of the contest.
True freshman DT Scott Vallone (Central Islip, N.Y.) made his collegiate debut in the second quarter.
GREG SCHIANO POSTGAME QUOTES
Opening statement:
“It feels good to win. It’s been a little bit of a drought, but we got to play a lot of people. Some young guys got in there who don’t get in there that much usually. I’m anxious to watch what they did on video.”
On RU causing four turnovers:
“Hopefully that can be the beginning of something. We say catch the ones they throw you, we didn’t really have any of those before, we had a few of those today, those four could have been seven or eight today. We just didn’t catch the balls on defense. We made some plays and we left some on the table. But you have to walk before you run.”
On RU’s running game:
“I was a little disappointed overall in the running game that we didn’t have a little more production. I thought there were people slipping off blocks. I don’t know if it’s reads. It’s awful hard during the game to figure out if it’s reads or if it’s blocking. I think Jourdan [Brooks] is getting more and more comfortable, for sure. He is certainly showing that he has a nose for the end zone, which is good.”
On the team missing offensive lineman Anthony Davis:
“Certainly when you take a guy who’s one of your five starters you’re depleted. The reason the guys are your starters is that at the time of the game they are the best five you have. So I’m sure it had some effect.”
On RU’s defense:
“Anytime you shut somebody out it’s a great effort. We play people throughout the game, some freshmen during the game, but then in the fourth quarter we made wholesale substitutions, and I was proud that they were able to continue playing and maintain the shutout. In college football those are hard to come by, and I think any defensive unit takes pride in that. It was a good step for the unit. They did some good things. Third down defense they were o-fer, we haven’t done that in a little while, so some encouraging signs there. I’ll watch the tape, but again you’re never as good as you think you are and never as bad as you think you are.”
On RU’s offense:
“I thought the big thing was that Mike really performed well today. He had a grasp of what we were doing. The one interception was a tough guy to see, but he threw it. I thought he played well. With the exception of that he had no bad decisions. He had one bad decision. We did some different things with the run game that helped us a little bit as we tried to adjust. [Morgan State] defensively, I knew coming in they blitz a ton. We tried to run some things into the blitz and just have our way with it, and we didn’t at times. When you get blitz coverage like that a lot of times you’ll check and throw the ball, because they are one-on-one. We tried to run into it and see if we could, sometimes we did and sometimes we didn’t. Certainly we will have a lot of learning off this tape. As I have said many times, I enjoy learning off the “W” column than the “L” column.”
On quarterback Mike Teel:
“I think it was important that Mike play well today. It’s so hard being a major college quarterback. You get more praise when you win than you probably deserve and you get a lot more blame than you deserve when you lose. It has not been easy for Mike. This was a good step for him. Now we’re into the BIG EAST schedule and here we go, straight away to Morgantown.”
On the team:
“We are not nearly where we need to be, and when you look at some of the players that we are trying to replace who are playing in the National Football League right now, we’re getting better. We have a long way to go but we’re getting better. That’s all we can do. Just keep getting a little better every week. We have four more practices before we go play [West Virginia], so if we can get a little bit better each one of those practices we will be a little better next Saturday, and that’s really all you can do. It may not be where we need to be to beat them, but that’s the only way we’ll have a chance.”
On what he is most proud of about RU’s performance:
“When you play a Division I-AA opponent, it would have been easy for guys to think even at 0-3 we are better than them and all we have to do is show up, but that was not the attitude that they approached it with. They approached it with a very workman-like attitude. Again, we made a ton of mistakes, so I’m not standing up here saying we really hit it on all cylinders. But they worked hard. They practiced hard and they worked hard today on game day, and they worked for 60 minutes. As a coach that’s what you ask for. There are a lot of things we have to correct, but as long as we are putting forth that kind of effort, we’ll get there. It will just take a little bit.”
On winning:
“It’s hard to win. We only have 12 games and it’s hard to win. Anytime you can win a game it’s good for you. Next week’s game will have nothing to do with this week’s game. We need to go in prepared and play well, but it certainly beats the alternative.”
On backup quarterback Chris Paul-Etienne:
“I think Chris has worked very hard and I think he’s coming along. A quarter more than he’s ever played, so it was a great opportunity for him. He did some nice things. Under pressure he made some plays with his feet, he scrambled for the one first down. He does not look rushed, he looks under control, which is good. He is a confident guy. He has that quarter under his belt, maybe he feels a little more comfortable the next time he goes in.”
RU STUDENT-ATHLETE QUOTES
MIKE TEEL, 5th-Sr., QB #14
“We all prepared very hard for the game today. We played smarter and were able to have fun out there. The key thing for us is that we approached the game one play at a time. Each and every play is different. All of us had to get back to the things that made us successful in the past. We slowed things down and focused, and that was instrumental in getting this win.”
“Getting the first win is an important step. Now we have some confidence as we head to Morgantown to play West Virginia. We have to be ready to play against them, and we’ll be ready. We still have things to work on, but with today’s win, it will be a lot more fun preparing for our next game.
TIQUAN UNDERWOOD, Sr., WR #7
“The first win of the season always feels good, especially after our tough start. We were able to do a lot of things right today, and it just feels good to come out with a win.”
“Mike Teel showed how great his character is today. That’s what I like about Mike. He will always fight for us no matter what. Mike came out today and was determined to lead us. He impressed us all.”
TIM BROWN, Jr., WR #2
“Today’s win is very big for us, and gives us huge motivation for next week’s game at West Virginia. We all focused today and made the plays to get the job done. Mike Teel came through for us. He is such a tough player and a great quarterback. We knew he would be fine.”
JOURDAN BROOKS, R-So., RB, #39
“Walking into the locker room after the game today felt great after a win. It was huge for us and gives us great confidence.”
“Seeing Mike do so well today was great. We all support him. His mindset today was clear and he just focused on the game at hand today
“All of the running backs on this team work extremely hard and go out to do our best. We all support and rely on each other every game. We’re like a family.”
