NEW YORK—Losing a game is never a good thing, but every once in a while, it works out. Rutgers’ season ending loss to UConn on Nov. 26 was a crushing blow, eliminating them from a share of the Big East title.
“Every loss affects me pretty badly. I’m not a good loser. But that one kind of hit me bad because we didn’t have another game to play,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said on Friday night at the Yankee Stadium.
The UConn loss gave his team extra motivation to finish their season on a high note—a mission they accomplished with a 27-13 Pinstripe Bowl victory over Iowa State on Friday evening at Yankee Stadium.
“They could not wait to play in a football game tonight and you could see the focus. There was no doubt in my mind they were ready to go,” the coach said.
The Scarlet Knights had to wait 34 days for a chance at redemption—an unusually long amount of time in football. “When you lose a game in the season, you have no choice but to get back and get to work because you are going to play in six days. [After the UConn loss] there was no [immediate] game to play,” Schiano said.
After the long break, Iowa State started the Pinstripe Bowl with high energy, running the ball effectively. Redshirt freshman quarterback Jared Barnett got the start for the Cyclones, but struggled to sync with his receivers. His errant passes had the Cyclones settle for two field goals and a slim 6-0 lead over the Scarlet Knights at the end of the first quarter.
Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads decided to make a switch after Barnett went 2-7 for 23 yards passing. “We were not executing in a manner that I felt was going to lead us to a win and from what we have seen in December’s practices, we made the switch,” Rhoads said after the game.
On the other side, Schiano had quarterback issues of his own. He chose to utilize both his signal callers, Sophmore Chas Dodd—who ended up getting the start—and freshman Gary Nova. Combined they went 13-24 for 196 yards with Dodd adding a late 86 yard game-sealing touchdown to Brandon Coleman with 5:47 to go in the game.
The efficient passing game was complimented by their balanced running attack. Redshirt freshman Jawan Jamison led the way with 27 carries for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Schiano said after the game that running backs coach Chris Hewitt told him at halftime the Cyclones would not be able to stop Jamison. “When your running backs coach can feel that, I defer to them.”
Both teams were highly ineffective on third downs, each going 2-13, however, Rutgers was 2-2 on fourth down and Iowa State was 1-2.
The difference maker, as Schiano pointed out, was turnovers “We took the ball away three times and didn’t give it away at all.”
The victory marked the fifth straight bowl-game win in a row for the Scarlet Knights, the longest active streak in the FBS. “These seniors have won three Bowl games and the fifth-year seniors have won four Bowls,” Schiano said.
To get a victory in front of their hometown crowd was memorable, especially for senior Eric LeGrand, who injured his spinal cord and was paralyzed in a game against Army last season. Making a trip to an out-of-town Bowl game would have been much harder on LeGrand, but something he would have tried not to miss.
“His mother told me that we could have got him on a plane or to the site, but it just seemed so much easier we are here,” Schiano said. LeGrand was able to use all his familiar transportation methods and support staff.
The Scarlet Knight coach said, “It was special to have him here, not just today, but all week.” LeGrand participated in the Bowl week festivities which included a trip to Ground Zero. “To have him in the locker room right now with all his buddies, that’s special. That’s his senior class,” a beaming Schiano said.
Coach Schiano, who is in his 11th season at Rutgers, may have not enjoyed the UConn loss at the time, but in the end, it worked out the way it was supposed to—with a Bowl victory and a renewed sense of team.
“I am really, really proud of the unselfish attitude our football team has,” he said. “When you look at our quarterback situation today, those two guys just coaching each other through it. At one point I saw them both, they had their headsets on, just talking and helping each other out. To me, that is what it is all about. That is what family is about.”
Follow Kristen on Twitter @Call2theBullpen
