December 26, 2014

By Tom Luicci
ScarletKnights.com

DETROIT - Any debate about Rutgers' inaugural Big Ten season being anything but a rousing success can end once and for all now.

The Scarlet Knights put an exclamation point on their season today.

In control from the outset, Rutgers thoroughly dominated North Carolina in a 40-21 victory in the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field, turning in one of its stronger performances of the year to finish the campaign at 8-5.

Quarterback Gary Nova threw two touchdown passes, freshmen running backs Josh Hicks and Robert Martin proved to be a dynamic 1-2 punch in the running game, with each topping 100 yards rushing, and the Scarlet Knights' defense quieted the most productive offense in North Carolina history for all but the final 6:45 of the game.

After falling behind, 40-7, the Tar Heels scored two touchdowns in the final 6:45.

Nova, 9-of-20 for 184 yards, had pushed the Scarlet Knights' 23-0 halftime lead to 30-7 with his second touchdown pass - this one a 34-yard strike to Andrew Turzilli - with 7:33 left in the third quarter.

The advantage grew to 37-7 on Martin's 28-yard touchdown run with 14:11 to play. Kyle Federico tacked on a 31-yard field goal with 10:04 remaining to make it 40-7.

Martin and Hicks joined Ray Rice (three times) and Jawan Jamison as the only Rutgers backs to rush for 100 yards in a bowl game. Martin (19 carries for 100 yards and two touchdowns) and Hicks (202 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries) also joined Rice as the only true freshmen to reach 100 in a bowl for the Scarlet Knights. Hicks was named MVP of the game for his efforts.

The rushing totals for both Martin and Hicks were career highs, with Rutgers' 340 rushing yards overall the most in program history in a bowl game and the highest total this season.

Marquise Williams, the Tar Heel's record-setting dual threat quarterback, was 25-of-37 passing for 198 yards and one touchdown and added 51 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.

As dominant as Rutgers was from the outset, the Scarlet Knights weren't quite flawless in the first half despite that commanding 23-0 lead. But they didn't have to be. North Carolina made almost all of the mistakes, Rutgers took advantage of most of them and the result was a little bowl history.

That halftime advantage marked the largest ever in a bowl game for the school.

And it followed on the heels of that dazzling second half against Maryland, when Rutgers pulled off the biggest comeback in school history for a 41-38 road victory.

Unlike that regular-season finale this impressive half was the result of a little bit of everything: Just enough of Nova's passing, just enough running production from Hicks and Martin and more than enough defense to slow a North Carolina team that entered the game averaging 34.2 points and 425.4 yards per game.

The Tar Heels' most significant contribution to the lopsided first 30 minutes wound up being their mistakes: Two lost fumbles (both recovered by Lorenzo Waters), a botched fake field goal attempt, a blocked field goal (by Waters) and the only two penalties of the opening half.

Nova, 7-of-14 for 142 yards and a touchdown in the first half, put North Carolina on its heels immediately by engineering a 75-yard, five-play drive on the game's first possession that ended with his 34-yard touchdown pass to Andre Patton.

Rutgers would have to wait until the second quarter to pad that lead but did so following a curious decision by Tar Heels coach Larry Fedora.

On a 22-yard field goal try, he had new holder Joey Mangili - subbing for suspended punter and holder Tommy Hibbard - try a fake field goal run. Darius Hamilton sniffed it out immediately, dropping Mangili for a two-yard loss.

From there, with Hicks taking over the running workload, Rutgers went 91 yards in seven plays. Hicks capped that drive with a 21-yard run, with fullback Michael Burton getting a key block on safety Sam Smiley to spring Hicks the final 10 yards for the score and a 14-0 Rutgers lead.

Hicks finished the first half with 59 yards on seven carries and one touchdown. Martin had 65 yards on 13 carries and a score, as the Scarlet Knights rolled up 281 yards of offense (to North Carolina's 197).

The Tar Heels' second lost fumble, caused by a Steve Longa hit on wide receiver Romar Morris, led to another Rutgers touchdown and a 20-0 lead (Kyle Federico missed the extra point). Martin did the bulk of the work on that drive with four carries, ending it with an eight-yard touchdown run, shedding defensive end DeJuan Drennon early before racing in.

And neither the Scarlet Knights nor Waters were done for the opening half, either.

Waters' block of Thomas Moore's 31-yard field goal try with 7:09 left before halftime continued to keep North Carolina off the scoreboard.

Rutgers went on to add a 19-yard field goal by Federico with 16 seconds left before halftime for that 23-0 lead.