MORGANTOWN, W. Va. (Dec. 4, 2010) – Rutgers (4-8, 1-6) dropped a 35-14 decision to No. 23/24 West Virginia (9-3, 5-2) in its season finale Saturday in front of 48,386 fans at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, W. Va.
True freshman QB Chas Dodd (Lyman, S.C.) completed 10-of-19 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns, spreading the defense out to six different receivers. Fellow true freshman RB Jordan Thomas (Endicott, N.Y.) gained 65 yards on the ground for the Scarlet Knights.
Seniors Joe Lefeged (Germantown, Md.) and Antonio Lowery (Miami, Fla.) led the defensive effort with 11 tackles apiece, while Marcus Cooper (Bloomfield, Conn.) and Steve Beauharnais (Saddle Brook, N.J.) each added a career-high 10 stops. The 11 tackles for Lefeged were also a career-best for the senior safety. The Scarlet Knight defense forced three turnovers in the contest with fumble recoveries by Beauharnais, Manny Abreu (Union City, N.J.) and Brandon Jones (Sicklerville, N.J.).
After Rutgers forced a turnover on the Mountaineers’ opening drive, WVU re-gained possession later in the first quarter and covered 48 yards on five plays to score the game’s first touchdown. WVU QB Geno Smith capped the drive with a 19-yard pass to Tavon Austin for the score.
The Scarlet Knights forced their second turnover of the quarter deep in their own territory on WVU’s next drive with sophomore DB Khaseem Greene (Elizabeth, N.J.) knocking it free from Jock Sanders. Sophomore DB Brandon Jones (Sicklerville, N.J.) recovered it for RU.
The Mountaineers recovered a fumble of their own three plays later and capitalized on their good field position on the Rutgers nine yard line. Clarke found the end zone from one yard out three plays later to give WVU a two-touchdown advantage on the first play of the second quarter.
The Scarlet Knights responded with a 12-play drive that covered 79 yards to cut the Mountaineer lead in half. Dodd completed three of his four passes on the drive. He punctuated the drive with an 18-yard strike across the field to a wide open Thomas, who ran in uncontested for the score with 2:52 remaining in the first half. Earlier in the scoring drive, Dodd converted a third-and-13 with a 32-yard pass to true freshman WR Jeremy Deering (Tampa, Fla.).
Rutgers thwarted any scoring attempt for WVU on the ensuing possession as senior Alex Silvestro (Gibbstown, N.J.), who also finished the game with three tackles for loss, blocked Tyler Bitancurt’s 37-yard field goal attempt with 21 seconds showing on the first-half clock.
Facing a fourth and goal at the one yard line, Clarke found the end zone for West Virginia as the Mountaineers struck first in the second half to take a 21-7 advantage with just seven minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Scarlet Knight defense came up huge again deep in their own territory, forcing a WVU fumble for the third time in the contest. Greene forced his second fumble of the game with a strip of a Noel Devine at the goal line and RU recovered to prevent the score.
West Virginia added a 46-yard touchdown by Austin and a three-yard touchdown run from Clarke in the fourth quarter to make it 35-7.
Dodd found sophomore WR Mark Harrison (Stratford, Conn.) on a 44-yard touchdown pass with 2:02 left in the contest to cap the scoring. For Harrison, it was his team-best ninth touchdown reception of the season.
POST GAME NOTES
Team Notes
• Rutgers (4-8, 1-6) closed out the 2010 season with a 35-14 setback at West Virginia (9-3, 5-2) Saturday in Morgantown.
• For the first time in school history, Rutgers appeared in an ABC full national television broadcast today at West Virginia. The Scarlet Knights played their eighth game all-time on ABC.
• For the 49th time under Greg Schiano, Rutgers blocked a kick in a game as senior DE Alex Silvestro blocked a field goal attempt by the Mountaineers in the second quarter. Since 2002, Rutgers is tied for second nationally with Texas as both teams have blocked 49 kicks over that span.
• Rutgers forced four fumbles in the contest and recovered three of them, including two in the first half.
Player Notes
• Sophomore WR Mark Harrison caught his ninth touchdown pass of the season to move into a tie for second place in Rutgers single-season history for TD receptions in a season. Harrison joined Tim Brown (2009) and Bob Simms (1958) for second place with the nine touchdown receptions. TE Marco Battaglia set the school single-season record with 10 touchdown catches in 1995.
• Three Scarlet Knights made their first career starts Saturday at West Virginia. On offense, sophomore Keith Stroud (WR) and redshirt freshman Andre Civil (RT) made their first career appearance in the starting lineup while Marcus Cooper made his first career start on defense at cornerback. Last season, Cooper had one start at wide receiver.
• Cooper was inserted into the starting lineup after Brandon Bing did not make the trip due to a leg injury. He finished with a career-high 10 tackles.
• Playing in his final game as a Scarlet Knight, senior DE Alex Silvestro blocked his first career field goal in the second quarter. Silvestro finished the game with six tackles, including three tackles for loss and a sack.
• True freshman QB Chas Dodd moved into second place in BIG EAST single-season history in passing yards (1,637) and touchdown passes (11). The South Carolina native finished the season 123-for-223 for 1,637 yards in just eight starts.
• Junior LB Manny Abreu recovered his first career fumble and sophomore CB Brandon Jones recovered his second career fumble on the day for the Scarlet Knights. Sophomore LB Steve Beauharnais added his fourth fumble recovery of the season in the end zone. Beauharnais finished the afternoon with a career-high 10 stops.
• Joe Lefeged returned three kickoffs for 54 yards to give him 948 yards on 38 returns (24.9 yards per return) this season. The 948 kick return yards rank Lefeged fourth in BIG EAST single-season history. Lefeged also contributed a career-high 11 tackles in the contest vs. WVU.
• Senior LB Antonio Lowery totaled a game-high 11 tackles to finish the 2010 season with a team-best 108 tackles. The 108 tackles in a season were the most by a Rutgers player since DB Courtney Greene accounted for 116 tackles in 2005.
