SCARLET FEVER
Listless at start, No. 19 Rutgers recovers to crush Temple
PHILADELPHIA — This may be the year Rutgers finally cracks the BCS code. T he No. 19-ranked Scarlet Knights (7-0) rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to de - feat Temple , 35 -10, Sat u r - day before a crowd of 35,145 at Lincoln Financial Field. They responded like a ranked team should when faced with adversity.
Rutgers’ fans, who made the pilgrimage down the Jersey Turnpike and filled their side of the lower bowl, have been so desperate for athletic success over the years, they tend to panic whenever the Knights fall behind in a big game.
But this Rutgers team, which ran its record in the Big East to 4-0, has learned how to remain calm amid the storm.
“This group has won a lot of close games, had a lot of fourthquarter victories,’’ said Rutgers cornerback Logan Ryan. “They throw a punch. We throw a punch. But one punch doesn’t determine who wins the game.’’
No one knows that better than sophomore quarterback Gary Nova, who threw an interception and lost a fumble during the comatose first half, when the Knights’ offense generated only four first downs and 110 yards. But he came back to life in the third quarter when he completed 11 of 13 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns, and the Knights played their best second half of the season.
“I was just trying to do too much in the first half,” Nova said. “But everyone faces adversity. It’s not always going to be a smooth ride. We just had to stop the bleeding.”
Nova threw a 32-yard TD pass to 6-4 wide receiver Tim Wright, a 32-yard TD pass to running back Jawan Jamison and a 5-yard TD pass to 6-3 wideout Mark Harrison. He added a 10-yard touchdown pass to 6-6 tight end D.C. Jefferson in the fourth quarter as the game turned into a rout.
Nova finished 17-for-27 with 232 yards and four TDs, lighting up a Temple secondary that was missing its best defensive back, Vaughn Carraway, who was suspended by the league for a flagrant hit on a Connecticut receiver the previous week. It was Nova’s best performance since he threw for 397 yards and five scores as Rutgers rallied in much the same way to defeat SEC DICK WEISS member Arkansas, 35-26, in Fayetteville last month. Sophomore running back Jawan Jamison also did some serious damage against Temple, piling up 114 yards rushing and 195 yards of total offense.
In many respects, the Knights mirror the calming influence of their first-year coach Kyle Flood, the polar opposite of his predecessor, Greg Schiano. During his 10 years on the Banks, Schiano coached the Knights to new heights in the Big East, but he was wound tightly and his teams often reflected his personality with their fear of making mistakes.
This team look s for ways to win, as opposed to breaking your heart in defining moments as it did against Cincinnati i n 2006 and Connecticut last season, when the Knights let chances to grab at least a share of the Big East title slip away.
Flood handled what could have been a chaotic halftime without ever losing his temper or blowing up at his team.
“I wasn’t upset,’’ he said. “I thought our defense did a good job limiting them to just 10-0 when they (were) faced with some uphill challenges, and our special teams did a good job. Our staff felt the offense wasn’t that far away. It was just a matter of execution and clearing up mistakes. I felt we weren’t that far away — even though it probably seemed like we were miles away in the first half.’’ Flood knows his veteran defense is a constant. Rutgers held Temple (33, 2-1) to just 191 yards of total offense. Linebacker Khaseem Greene, who won every national Defensive Player of the Week award for his play against Syracuse last week, had another big day, scoring on a 20-yard fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.
“We think we can play with anyone,” said defensive tackle Scott Vallone.
Rutgers has home games against Kent State and Army coming up before a stretch run of league games at Cincinnati on Nov. 17 and at Pitt on Nov. 24. The grand finale comes against visiting Louisville on Nov. 29 in an ESPN Thursday night game.
With West Virginia — which has a history of abusing Rutgers — having defected to the Big 12 this season, there is not a game remaining on the schedule that the Knights T cannot win. here is a caveat to this wishful thinking. Rutgers cannot play against a good team like Louisville the way it did in the f irst hal f on Saturday and hope to walk away with a victory. But Flood will be the first to tell you all games last 60 minutes.