Sports

Rutgers Football a Team in Transition Heading Into Pinstripe Bowl

The Scarlet Knights face Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium Saturday at noon on ESPN.

The Rutgers University football team is at a crossroads heading into Saturday afternoon’s New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.

The coaching staff remains in a state of flux after head coach Kyle Flood fired three members of his staff the day after the regular season ended, including the quarterbacks coach, offensive line coach and defensive coordinator.

On Dec. 18, the program named Mitch Browning the offensive line coach. Offfensive coordinator Ron Prince will coach the quarterbacks and Joe Rossi is serving as interim defensive coordinator.

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The interim coaches had 19 days between the announcement and Saturday’s game to prepare for a game that will not just mark the end of the 2013 campaign, but will serve as Rutgers’ opportunity to make a statement heading into the Big 10.

The Scarlet Knights wrapped up their only season of play in the American Athletic Conference (formerly the Big East) with a 6-6 record overall and a 3-5 conference mark. While representing the conference in Saturday’s game, Rutgers has a chance to take the next step by scoring a victory over one of college football’s most storied programs before joining one of the sport’s most storied conferences.

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Rutgers is 0-4 all-time against the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame was 8-4 this season after appearing in last year’s national title game.

While providing an opportunity, the game could prove a daunting task for Rutgers, which gave up an average of 38 points a game and 3,596 passing yards, the most in school history, according to espn.com.

The Scarlet Knights allowed 31 passing touchdowns, according to scarletknights.com. That’s more than twice the number of rushing touchdowns the team has given up (15).

Notre Dame senior quarterback Tommy Rees passed for 2,398 yards and 27 touchdowns, according to und.com. 

Senior T.J. Jones caught 65 passes for 1,042 yards and nine touchdowns for the Irish.

Rutgers has rushed for 1,604 yards and 17 touchdowns as a team this season, ranking 98th in the nation, according to ncaa.com. Notre Dame was 82nd, with 1,792 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The highlight of the Scarlet Knights’ rushing attack was sophomore running back Paul James, of Glassboro. James rushed for 833 yards and nine touchdowns this season. He missed four games with a lower leg injury.

The Fighting Irish defense has given up 2,104 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns this season.

Juniors George Atkinson III and Cam McDaniel each had three rushing touchdowns for Notre Dame offensively. McDaniel led the team with 659 yards on the ground, according to und.com.

The passing game was an adventure for Rutgers, which started the year with junior Gary Nova at quarterback. Nova threw for 2,159 yards with 18 touchdowns and 14 interceptions through 10 games, but after throwing six interceptions in four games, three of which were losses, he was replaced by senior Chas Dodd.

Dodd started the final two games of the season, including the win over South Florida that clinched the appearance in the bowl game for the Scarlet Knights.

Dodd quarterbacked the Knights in the 2011 Pinstripe Bowl, a 27-13 win over Iowa State. Dodd passed for 176 yards in that game, including an 86-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Coleman with 5:47 left in the fourth quarter to seal the game, according to espn.com.

Saturday’s game will the be the last for Coleman. The junior announced he will enter the 2014 NFL Draft on Dec. 14.

Junior tight end Tyler Kroft led the team in receiving yards with 530 and four touchdown catches. Sophomore wide receiver Leonte Caroo, of Edison, had 478 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

Opponents have passed for 2,994 yards and 27 touchdowns against Notre Dame this season.

While Notre Dame is expected to bring in a large number of fans due to its national appeal, Rutgers' main campus is less than 50 miles from Yankee Stadium. Although the team is staying in a hotel in New York City, the team has had the luxury of practicing at its own facilities leading up to the bowl game. 

The Scarlet Knights practiced through the Christmas holiday, but the players' families who will be attending the game were able to spend some time with them, and the Pinstripe Bowl arranged a trip for the team to the Christmas Spectacular, Flood told reporters on Wednesday.


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