Un-freaking-believable. In the very brief history of this blog, I never would have predicted that the biggest victory for a team I was rooting for would come from the Rutgers football team. But the Raiders have sucked for two years, as have the Mariners, the Orange won two Big East championships only to bomb out in the first round of the NCAAs, and the Phillies just can't get over the hump and into the playoffs. So yes, Rutgers' stunning upset of Louisville was the biggest win in the history of this blog.
It was a great game, with the Rutgers defense turning around a contest that looked to be a blowout early, erasing a 25-7 deficit by completely shutting out the #2 ranked offense in the country in the second half, recording 5 sacks and turning the Louisville QB into a shell of his supposedly dominant self. The offense provided just enough, behind Ray Rice and a couple of short passes that turned into huge gains when the receivers slashed through the Louisville secondary. And a final drive, with the score tied 25 all and less than 5 minutes left, that did enough to milk the remaining clock while moving from their own 10 yard line into scoring position, thanks to a clutch 3 and 6 completion to Brian Leonard and a huge 21 yard run by Rice. It came down to a field goal attempt for the victory by Judge Ito, which he promptly missed (same old Rutgers?), but then got a second chance on a Louisville offsides penalty, which he promptly made. Unbelievable. Amazing. Rutgers is now 9-0 and one of only 3 major conference schools still undefeated (along with 1-2 in the country Ohio State and Michigan - I'm not counting Boise State). A wonderful, shocking accomplishment.
The scene in New Brunswick was a madhouse. It took me almost an hour to get to my hairdresser in North Brunswick (from Woodbridge, usually a 15-20 minute trip), but via back roads I got into downtown New Brunswick fairly easily from there. I was at Draft Picks at the Hyatt for a little while, but by 6:30 it was completely packed with Rutgers fans (and some Louisville fans, shockingly) and Rob was stuck on Easton Ave, unable to get through the swarms of traffic and people on the other side of New Brunswick, so we decided to leave town and met up at the Chili's in North Brunswick to watch the game. That place was stunningly filled with Rutgers fans, more than 10 miles from the school, but I don't think anyone really expected them to win. After the disappointing beginning, punctuated by the kickoff return for a touchdown with the receiver completely untouched, it definitely had the feeling of a blowout. But somehow, some way, Schiano inspired his team to come back, and by the 4th quarter, even our little bar in North Brunswick was going crazy. I could only imagine the scene in Piscataway and New Brunswick.
One of my co-workers was there, on Easton Ave., and he told me that after the victory, they shut down the streets and people were just drinking and partying in the middle of New Brunswick, with state police all around making sure there was no rioting, but basically letting everyone have the time of their lives. I wish I could have been there - and 10 years younger - because that would have been awesome. Going to Rutgers in the early '90s, we didn't have a horrible football team (like in the late '90s/early '00s), but we weren't good either. Ray Lucas lived in my building and was just like any other student and no one thought much of him or his QB skills because - you know - he only played for Rutgers (he was a nice guy, just talking about his football ability). Then he ended up starting for the Jets in the NFL. So that shows you how warped things were when I was there. Years later, when they regularly reeled off 0 and 1-win seasons, I can't imagine the attitude of the students had improved. But now -- I can't even describe how unbelievable this is. And how great it must be for the true fans who followed them all these years. Congratulations, Scarlet Knights. Go take care of business in Cincinnati next week.
Yeah, it's been a crazy football season. Who would have thought this year my Pittsburgh Steelers would be playing like the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and my Rutgers Scarlet Knights would be playing like...the Pittsburgh Steelers? Unbelievable.
And by the way, I'm a St. Louis Cardinals fan in baseball, and I've got to admit, I'm about three times as excited about what Rutgers is doing this season as I was about the Steelers and Cardinals championships put together. It's one thing to get over the hump to win a championship and another to come from the depths of nowhere to be Cinderella on center stage. And this is just the beginning, Rutgers is probably still two years away from realizing their potential and becoming a perennial top fifteen program. The best is yet to come.
P.S. The Raiders suck! (Sorry, but as a Steelers fan, that was obligatory.)
Posted by: JQ | November 10, 2006 at 10:07 AM
Can we get a fight song on an mp3?
Posted by: Charles RU Farley | November 11, 2006 at 11:37 PM