The Rutgers Scarlet Knights, once the longest running joke of Division I-AA football, are one game away from accomplishing something nobody ever expected:
PISCATAWAY, N.J., Nov. 30 ? No matter the outcome of Saturday night?s game against West Virginia, Rutgers will have had a highly successful season. How successful depends upon what happens against a talented team that has a couple of intimidating offensive weapons and a history of dominating the Scarlet Knights. The stakes are high and the challenge is immense.
A win for 13th-ranked Rutgers (10-1, 5-1 Big East) will mean a conference championship, a likely trip to the Orange Bowl and the satisfaction of knowing that this team did something special. The Scarlet Knights have never appeared in any of the games that now make up the Bowl Championship Series. A loss to 15th-ranked West Virginia (9-2, 4-2) ? provided Louisville beats Connecticut in its regular-season finale ? will mean a third-place finish in the Big East and a spot in a third-tier bowl, in this case the inaugural Texas Bowl.
Win or lose, this will have been a great season for the Scarlet Knights, the best the team has seen since 1976. Nonetheless, I think its pretty certain that every student in New Brunswick, Newark, and Camden, along with legions of long-suffering alumni, will be cheering the Knights on against the Mountaineers and hoping for a trip to Miami.
It won’t be easy, of course. West Virginia has always been a tough game for Rutgers, and this year will be no exception…..but things won’t be quite the same this year:
The Scarlet Knights have never won at Mountaineer Field and have not defeated West Virginia since 1994. West Virginia was an 80-7 winner over Rutgers in 2001 and a 40-0 victor a year later. Last season, Rutgers lost at home to the Mountaineers, 27-14.
?That was so long ago and I knew what we were in store for,? Schiano said of the 80-7 shellacking, which occurred in his second season as the Scarlet Knights? coach. ?I knew a game like that would be a big challenge. Now, it?s not something I even think about.?
Schiano has brought the program to a point where an 80-7 loss to anyone is inconceivable. Rutgers is far removed from those dismal years. But an appearance in the Orange Bowl would be a high-water mark for a team that has struggled for decades. Rutgers is close. West Virginia is all that stands in the way.
Go Rutgers !
