On a Halloween Saturday afternoon, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights fell to the Michigan Wolverines 28-21 at SHI Stadium. While Michigan improved to 5-3, Rutgers now falls to 2-6 on the season.
Coming into this game as a 16.5 point underdog, Rutgers held their own all game and were in it until the very end. It’s impressive that they scored 21 points given the results on the stat sheet and who was playing. Without starter Dylan Longeran and losing star wide-receiver KJ Duff who left the game early to injury after being banged up all week, they only had three completions in the game including zero in the second half along with a total of 126 rushing yards. Who knows what the outcome would’ve been had they had the two important pieces to the offense.
“Tough loss, obvious,” Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano said in his opening during the post game press conference. “Really proud of our players, proud of our staff. Very disappointed in the final result. Very disappointed. But not disappointed in our people. And that’s what makes this place special. That’s what makes this team special, and we’re getting better just not as quickly as I’d like and everybody would like, but we are getting better and we just got to keep doing it.”
The Wolverines struck first four and a half minutes in after forcing a punt to start the game. A 10 play 92 yard drive, ended with a six yard pass into the end zone from Tommy Carr to JJ Buchanan.
After the Scarlet Knights kicked a field goal to respond, Michigan got another six points when Jordan Marshall found the open hole and ran it in at ease for the two yard score. They had two offensive possessions and two touchdowns.
Down 14-3, Rutgers came out of nowhere and scored a touchdown of their own when Jourdin Houston took it all the way for 80 yards. The pass thrown by AJ Surace tied for the longest passing touchdown in a Big Ten game. The other was a pass from Gary Nova to Andrew Turzilli back in 2014 against funny enough, Michigan.
In the next possession, Michigan would look to go up seven with a field goal, but miss. In return, it’d be the Scarlet Knights to kick one and bring them within one. It was the second field goal made by kicker Dane Pizzaro and it was now a one point game. It’d be the last score of the half and after two quarters, the Wolverines were in front 14-13.
Getting the ball to start the third quarter, Michigan added to their lead with a touchdown. It was the quarterback Tommy Carr, who literally ran around the field avoiding Scarlet Knight defenders on his way to the end zone for the 15 yard score. It was still a one score game, but they were up by eight.
Throughout the third quarter Rutgers could get nothing going. In the two offensive possessions they played, they were shut down to three and outs and couldn’t get more than five yards. The only reason they were still in it going into the fourth was because Michigan missed their second field goal of the game.
The Scarlet Knights evened the score with 11 minutes to go after Clay Thevenin got in at the goal-line. With one star KJ Duff out with an injury, they looked to the other in Antwan Raymond who delivered with a 54 yard run that set them up for the touchdown. Ben Black III caught the two-point conversion to make it 21-21.
Responding to the tie, Michigan marched down field and took the lead right back at the hands of Tommy Carr. Looking to pass, the quarterback saw an opening and ran it up the middle from nine yards out for his second rushing touchdown on the day.
With just under four and a half minutes left, the Scarlet Knights had time, but they needed to get in the end-zone. On the following drive they were forced to punt, but they had favorable time, the two minute warning, and multiple timeouts. All they needed to do was make a stop and get the ball back for one last chance.
A defensive stand they were looking to make never came as Michigan got multiple first downs and chewed out the remaining timeouts to seal it. They’d go on to survive the Scarlet Knights and win 28-21.
It may have been an ugly win for many different reasons, part of an already disappointing year, but it’s safe to say the Wolverine faithful can exhale a little after the performance from Tommy Carr. While there has been a dilemma in the quarterback room between both him and Bryce Underwood exchanging starts, it’s safe to say after today Carr will be the one to get the ball moving forward.
For the Scarlet Knights, they battled to the end, but couldn’t generate enough. They may have competed with a strong Michigan defense, but they couldn’t fulfill in moments where they needed to score.
“Yeah, I mean, that was a very good defense, and I thought the O-line played great,” quarterback AJ Surace said postgame. The backup Quarterback went 3-12 with 123 passing yards and a touchdown. “The receivers played hard, and, you know, we were close on a couple of shots. We drew a couple PIs and hit the couple explosives, but in pass game standpoint, we knew we were going to have to attack these guys and take some shots, so, obviously, you know, they got some guys that can cover very well, so, you know, it’s just how the day went.”
While Michigan plays in-state rival Michigan State next Saturday, the Scarlet Knights will look to get back on track when they face currently 25th ranked Wisconsin.
