Rutgers crushes lowly Morgan St. to snap skid

PISCATAWAY » Freshman quarterback Johnathan Lewis ran for four touchdowns and passed for another in part-time action Saturday, and Rutgers defeated Morgan State 65-0 to snap an 11-game losing streak.

Lewis took only five first-half snaps and didn’t lead a full drive until late in the third quarter, but the highly touted recruit gave a potential glimpse of the future in the victory.

The last win for Rutgers (1-2) was nearly a year ago, when it defeated New Mexico 37-29, before ending the season on a ninegame skid and going winless in the Big Ten.

After gaining 22 yards and one first down on the first two drives against the FCS Bears (0-3), Rutgers’ offense was sparked by Robert Martin’s 13-yard touchdown run to cap a drive in which the running back had four carries for 32 yards.

Kyle Bolin (11-of-17 passing for 140 yards) threw a touchdown pass to Jerome Washington before Lewis came in and threw his first collegiate pass to Nakia Griffin-Stewart, an 18yard touchdown toss for a 21-0 lead with 8:45 left in the first half.

Lewis ran for a 16-yard touchdown, followed by a botched extra point, giving Rutgers a 27-0 lead with 3:05 left in the half. He had a 2-yard run on Rutgers’ final possession of the first half to put Rutgers up 34-0.

One play after Bolin connected with Bo Melton for a 48-yard gain, Lewis ran for a 2-yard touchdown early in the third quarter. Lewis ran for a fourth touchdown to make it 51-0 with 2:03 left in the third as he became the first Knight to rush for four touchdowns since Ray Rice had four against Ball State in 2008. He finished with 58 yards on 11 carries while completing both his passes.

DeAndre Harris made the start over Elijah Staley for Morgan State. Staley checked in the game early in the second quarter on Morgan State’s third drive of the game.

Raheem Blackshear added two fourth-quarter touchdowns and had 102 yards on 14 carries for Rutgers.