Kyle Flood and Dave Brock have been criticized for being overly conservative, but they came out aggressive in their play calling on Saturday, and Gary Nova completed a deep ball to Brandon Coleman for 41 yards on the Knights' first play of the day. The Rutgers' drive eventually got into the redzone, but it did not result in any points, as Nova threw an interception while trying to throw the ball away under duress. Huggins started to shoulder the load on the next series, carrying the ball 5 straight times, picking up 20 yards. The drive continued as Miles Shuler took a screen pass 10 yards on a 3rd and 1, but it was derailed by a holding penalty, for what feels like the thousandth drive set back by penalties this year. The infraction negated a 16 yard pass, and the Knights were unable to pick up another first down, even after Jamison took one of his few carries of the day for 16 yards on first down. The initial drive of the second quarter was ruined by penalties too, and it resulted in another punt.
Rutgers lone touchdown drive of the day came on their next possession, as they started on their own 3 yard line. Huggins was running well down hill behind and offensive line that was punishing the Bearcats' front, and it set up the play action pass perfectly. Nova had plenty of time to throw after faking the hand off, and he was able to hit Mark Harrison in stride on the post route for a 71 yard touchdown to make it 7-0. The Knights followed that up with another nice drive next time thy had the ball. Jeremy Deering started it off, taking a reverse 20 yards, and Huggins ran it up the gut to get into Cincy territory. Brock made another aggressive play call, calling for a double pass, but Tim Wright's throw was just barely out of Huggins' reach, on what would have been a touchdown. Jamison broke off another 15 yard run to get the ball into the redzone, but the Knights came up empty again, as Nova stared down Shuler in the endzone and the safety snatched it away from him. It was a disappointing way to head into the locker room, but the Knights had to have felt great about how Huggins was running and how the line was blocking.
The Scarlet Knight offense didn't exactly come out of the locker room on fire, going three and out on their first two possessions, but they were able to put together a nice, time consuming drive towards the end of the third quarter. Huggins was starting to wear the defense down and pick up big chunks of yards, and Nova converted a 3rd and 13 with a pass to Tim Wright to get the ball down to the 9. They were not able to move the ball much further though, and they had to settle for a field goal. The attempt was blocked, and the Scarlet Knights came up empty in the redzone for the third time of the day. At the start of the fourth quarter, they were able to put together a similar drive, riding Huggins and the offensive line, and they took nearly 7 minutes of the clock. After Huggins picked up 35 yards on the ground and Nova completed two passes, one each to Harrison and Wright, Nick Borgese drilled a 42 yard field goal through the uprights to give the Knights a comfortable 10-0 lead. From there, Rutgers just ran out the clock. Huggins broke off his longest run of the day, a 25 yarder, and tied Jamison's school record for carries in a game with 41.
Despite only putting 10 points on the board, Rutgers' offense played very well. They had over 400 yards of total offense and ran the ball at will. Savon Huggins had by far the best day of his career, with 178 yards on his 41 carries, behind a dominant offensive line. RJ Dill delivered some crushing blocks while pulling outside on sweeps, and Antwan Lowery was punishing people with pancake blocks all over the place. Betim Bujari, Kaleb Johnson and Taj Alexander also pushed people around to create holes. Nova made one bad mistake on his second interception, but other wise played well. The deep ball was thankfully back, and Mark Harrison had a big day, going over 100 yards. There's just something that makes him perform better at Nippert Stadium. It was very reassuring to see the offense play like this after some sub par outings.
The defense came out onto the field to open the game, and they punched Cincinnati in the mouth right away. Khaseem Greene stuffed stuffed George Winn early on, to set the tone for the rest of the game. The Bearcats were able to move the ball a bit on their next possession, but Greene stepped up again, tackling Brendon Kay in the backfield for a loss of two, and delivering a punishing hit to Winn to cause an incompeltion. Cincy had to settle for a field goal attempt, and the kick was no good, as it sailed wide right. The defense was gashed two plays in a row by Cincinnati's ground attack, due to some missed tackles, but the Knights clamped down and forced another punt. Kay took one of his few shots down field on the following series, and Logan Ryan played the ball perfectly and intercepted it near the endzone. Scott Vallone then made pretty much every play the next time the defense was on the field. He batted down a pass and pressured Kay into a bad throw, nearly getting a sack, to force another Bearcat punt. With the way the defense was dominating, the 7-0 half time lead seemed much larger.
Early in the third quarter, the defense started to bend a little bit. Travis Kelce and Robert Abernathy were able to pick up some big yards after the catch, advancing the ball to Rutgers 17 yard line. But as they did all day, the defense stepped up and made plays to keep them off the board. Marvin Booker chased Kay down on a read option on first down, and Ryan was able to make a play on a perimieter run on 3rd down to force a 4th and 1. Butch Jones, probably thinking that he would have limited opportunites to score, decided to go for it. On the 4th down play, the defensive line got a strong push, led by Darius Hamilton, Steve Beauharnais quickly diagnosed the play and filled the hole, and Greene finished Winn off with the tackle. Hamilton and Beauharnais made their presence known again on the following series, as Hamilton recorded a tackle for loss with the speedy Abernathy running, and Beauharnais picked off a pass while lurkling over the middle on the ensuing play.
The Bearcats completed a 25 yard pass at the tail end of the third, but the Knights were able to force two straight incompetions to cause a Cincy punt early in the 4th. The defense got a bit more aggressive after taking a 10-0 lead, and brought the house on a 3rd and 3. Winn caught a screen pass behind the blitzers, and took it 30 yards to midfield. The Bearcats competed two more passes, but then the Knights smelled blood on the water and started teeing off on Kay. Booker picked up a sack, and Greene recorded another, and Cincy had to go for it on 4th and 25 at this point. Beauharnais hurried the quarterback, and Brandon Jones provided nice coverage to ensure the pass fell to the ground. The Bearcats' last ditch effort got them into RU territory again, but Greene recorded another sack, and Cincinnati kicked a field goal with 1:17 left to ruin the shut out. Rutgers recovered the onside kick, and left Nippert Stadium victorious.
The defense played about as well as you possibly can and nearly shut out a very good offense. Greene led the effort once again and picked up Big East defensive player of the week honors for the second week in a row. Beauharnais, Vallone, and Hamilton did a good job stuffing the run, and various Cincinnati receivers were lost on Logan Island. The defense as a whole locked everything down, forcing incompletions and making a lot of plays in the backfield. Like they did against Isaiah Pead last year, they held all Big East caliber tialback George Winn to his lowest rushing yardage output of the season.
Rutgers imposed their will on Cincinnati by being more physical than them and slowing the pace down to their speed, rather than the up-tempo pace Cincinnati likes to play with. Savon Huggins had his break out game (which I totally called), possibly giving the Knights a 1-2 backfield combo going forward. The offensive line dominated, and Nova played solid overall, and Mark Harrison led the receivers with a 100 yard day. The defense dominated, and players at all three levels played some of the best football they have in their entire careers. This is the type of game Rutgers needs to play week in and week out (scoring more points in the redzone though, of course). They are one win away from clinching at least a share of their first Big East title.
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