Rutgers knew they were going to have limited opportunities on offense against an Army team that eats a lot off the clock when they have the ball, but that didn't stop Dave Brock and Kyle Flood from being extremely conservative. On the opening drive, Nova completed an 8 yard pass to Mark Harrison to convert a third down try, and the offense proceeded to go backwards from there. A hold by DC Jefferson nullified a nice run by Jawan Jamison, and a run by Jamison for a loss of 5 and a false start penalty set up 2nd and 27. They might as well just have punted on this down, because they followed it up with a screen and a run play on 3rd and 20, before they did punt on 4th down, wasting their only possession of the quarter.
At the start of the second quarter, the Scarlet Knights had by far their best drive of the game. Jamision started it off with runs of 14 and 7 yards, and a play action boot leg pass from Nova to Jeremy Deering advanced the ball into Black Knight territory. Jamison kept the sticks moving on the drive, including on a 4th and 1, setting his team up with a 1st and 10 from the Army 16. On this play, Jamison took the pitch to the outside, and threw the ball to a well covered Brandon Coleman in the endzone. Coleman went up and got it for the score, to tie the game up at 7. Rutgers went 3 and out on their next possession and then took a knee right before the half, and they went into the locker room with the score still 7-7.
Rutgers' first possession of the second half was derailed by another holding penalty and it resulted in a punt after a three yard route was called on 3rd and 11. They were able to sustain a drive the next time they had the ball with some dinking and dunking through the air, but the drive stalled and resulted in another punt. Jamison injured his ankle on the next possesion, and Savon Huggins was called upon to carry the load. After the offense was set back by an illegal hands to the face penalty, they had to punt yet again, after another short pass was called on 3rd and long. Huggins did an admirable job filling in for Jamison, and he put a few nice runs together to get advance the ball into Army territory late in the 3rd, but a Gary Nova pass was a bit to high for Miles Shuler, who deflected it into the hands of an Army defender for an interception.
Fortunately, they were able to get the ball back in great field position after a 9 yard punt, and Nova was able to bounce back, hitting Brandon Coleman on a deep pass for a 31 yard touchdown, one of only three passes thrown 10+ yards down the field by the offense all day. The Scarlet Knights had a 14-7 lead and they would hold onto it for good. Huggins capped the offense's day with a one yard touchdown plunge following a bad snap by Army on a punt. Overall, the offense did not play well. They were hamstrung a bit by play calling, and despite a solid day on the ground, the offensive line did not have a great day. They committed penalties and gave up a sack, and did not dominate like they should have against Army's front 7. They've been great all year, but they had a down game on Saturday. Both backs ran well, and Nova had an alright game, but you would have liked to see the receivers get more chances down the field, as they had a big size and speed advantage. Hopefully this teaches the coaching staff you can't be THAT conservative.
The defense only gave up 7 points, but they didn't exactly turn in their best effort in this game. Army's flexbone attack tore them up a little bit on the ground. Most of the damage was done by the pitch man, or the third option in a triple option offense, but they were gashed up the middle a few times as well by the fullback belly. On the opening series of the game, Army scored their lone touchdown of the day on a 16 play drive. Army QB Trent Steeleman was making all the right decisions, and slot back Trent Maples was able to pick up chunks of yardage on the outside. Army converted 3 out of 4 third downs tries on this drive, and they converted a 4th down attempt the only time they failed on third down. A 26 yard run by Larry Dixon on a belly up the middle was the big play of the drive, setting the Black Knights up at the Rutgers' 6, thanks in large part to a missed tackle. Steelman finished off the drive himself with a one yard run.
Army was able to to reach Rutgers' territory again on their next drive, but the Scarlet Knight defense was able to put the clamps down and hold them to a field goal, thanks in large part to Darius Hamilton stuffing a third down run. Army then attempted a 43 yard field goal, and Marcus Cooper was able to get a burst off the edge and block it. It was a huge play that totally swung the momentum of the game, and Rutgers followed that up with a score on offense to make it 7-7 instead of 10-0. Steeleman led another nice drive on Army's next series, reaching Rutgers' 13, but Lorenzo Waters was able to force a fumble that fell into the waiting arms of Logan Ryan, and the Scarlet Knights escaped again with out giving up a point. Army was able to get a 34 yard punt return right before the half, after another missed tackle, and a 4th down pass to Malcolm Brown set up another field goal try for the Cadets. Rutgers was able to block their second kick of the day on this attempt, with Jamal Merrell doing the honors this time around.
The Scarlet Knight defense stepped up in a big way after in the second half, after the Black Knights ran all over them in the first half. They were able to force two straight three and outs as Khassem Greene stuffed Steeleman for no gain on a 3rd and 2, and Scott Vallone made a play in the backfield to force a punt on ensuing possession. The Black Knights began a possession in Rutgers territory towards the end of the quarter, but Greene was able to force yet another fumble, and Marvin Booker was able to recover the loose ball.
Army inexplicably passed the ball and failed to convert their first third down try of the final quarter, as Logan Ryan forced an incompletion. Army's punt only traveled 9 yards, and it set up a score by the Scarlet Knight offense. Duron Harmon came up with a big 2nd down stop the next time the defense came out on to the field, and Ryan broke up a third down pass. This punt attempt by Army was even worse than the prior one, flying over the punter's head for a 35 yard loss, to set RU up at the Army 1. With the two tocuhdown lead, Army had to come out of their comfort zone and start throwing the ball. They moved the ball into RU territory, but Logan Ryan made a stop in the backfield on a 4th and 2, to force the turnover on downs. Army's last ditch attempt to come back got off to an inauspicious start after Vallone recorded a sack, but they converted a 3rd and long to keep the drive moving. Two Dixon runs set the Black Knights up at the 24, and on a triple option play, Duron Harmon intercepted the pitch and ran it back 73 yards for a score, to ice the game away for good, 28-7, with less than a minute left.
The defense was getting gashed in the first half, but they made key plays, and dominated in the second half. Greene had a huge day, recording a career high 22 tackles in addition to the forced fumble and a pass defended. He picked up Big East defensive player of the week honors for the second time this year. In addition to Greene, Lorenzo Waters, Steve Beauharnais, and Scott Vallone tied or set their career high in total tackles in this game. They allowed 5.5 yards per carry, but that is a full yard below Army's average coming into this game, and it was likely much lower than that in the second half. Hopefully they were able to avoid cut blocks so they will be fully healthy for Cincinnati this week.
All in all, Rutgers did not play very well in this game. The offense stumbled, the defense looked worse than usual, and they sleep walked through another first half. Thankfully they were still able to win by three touchdowns, in spite of all that. The penalty problem crept back up after not being a problem for a few games, but they were able to overcome them once again. Hopefully this team has gotten the bad out of their system after these last two games and will play better down the stretch, as they have three huge Big East games coming up as they look to win the program's first conference title.
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