Rutgers Rebounds With Blowout Win Over Struggling West Virginia

Week 9
October 29, 2011
New Brunswick, NJ
The Scarlet Knights bounced back after suffering their first loss of the season last week with an impressive 45-21 win over the struggling West Virginia Mountaineers. Sophomore QB Chas Dodd (2 throwing, 1 rushing) and sophomore WR Jeremy Deering (2 receiving, 1 rushing) each had three scores for Rutgers in the win.
Rutgers would only be down at one point in the game and that was early in the first quarter. West Virginia QB Geno Smith drove the Mountaineers 99 yards downfield and found Cody Clay on a 21 yard pass for a 7-0 lead. Smith would throw for a career high 62 attempts in the loss and 349 yards. He did however throw 3 interceptions, one of which was returned for a TD by Logan Ryan.
In the loss the Mountaineers were without stud WR/HB Tavon Austin who was listed as probable, but did not suit up, which has hurt West Virginia who has now lost 4 of 5 games, including three straight in the Big East.
Following the pick six from Logan Ryan mentioned above which gave Rutgers a 14-7 lead, the Knights would never look back. In fact Rutgers would score 35 straight points capped by a 2 yard TD run from QB Chas Dodd. With the 28 point lead, Coach Rick Ross brought in the backups.
Against the 2nd stringers, Geno Smith would light up the box score with over 100 yards in the final minutes, finding HB Shawne Alston (9 yards) and WR Steadman Bailey (11 yards) for scores to give it a more a respectable appearance on the scoreboard.
In the win Rutgers got back on track of winning the time of possession battle which has given Rutgers success, as they haven't loss when they have had the ball longer..makes sense. Also in the win, the Knights were 8/16 on 3rd down much better then there season average.
Up next the South Florida Bulls (5-2, 2-1) make the trip north to New Jersey. South Florida is coming off of a BYE week, but there last time out they beat a sharp, ranked, Cincinnati team 27-24. Besides a conference loss to Pitt, there only other loss comes to #14 ranked Notre Dame team 38-23 in South Bend.

Jeremy Derring scores 1 of his 3 TD's with a beautiful catch in double coverage.

Duron Harmon intercepts Geno Smith in the first quarter. RU had 3 INT's on the night.
West Virginia Mountaineers at Rutgers Scarlet Knights | ||||||
Oct 29, 2011 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | OT | SCORE |
West Virginia Mountaineers (4-3, 0-2) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | - | 21 |
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (6-1, 2-1) | 7 | 14 | 7 | 17 | - | 45 |
Team Stats Comparison | ||
WVU | RUTG | |
Total Offense | 421 | 500 |
Rushing Yards | 73 | 133 |
Passing Yards | 348 | 367 |
First Downs | 18 | 23 |
Punt Return Yards | 5 | 35 |
Kick Return Yards | 63 | 56 |
Total Yards | 489 | 591 |
Turnovers | 4 | 2 |
3rd Down Conversion | 6/17 | 8/16 |
4th Down Conversion | 1/2 | 0/1 |
2-Point Conversion | 0/0 | 0/0 |
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 4/2/0 | 6/4/0 |
Penalties | 2/20 | 1/5 |
Possession Time | 13:29 | 18:31 |
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