Friday, August 30, 2013

Late last night Rutgers lost in overtime to Fresno St. 52-51

A late game out on the left coast ended the same way some of the games on the right coast do, with a loss.

The Star-Ledger reports the game came to an official end at 3:32 am this morning. Either way, late night or early morning losing a game Rutgers put themselves in a position to win on the road has to hurt. The Scarlet Knights were up 7 with under two minutes to play and let Fresno tie the game. Still the Piscataway 11 had a chance win on a late field goal in regulation but alas, missed. We also wonder about the decision to kick it when head coach Kyle Flood sent on kicker Kyle Federico maybe one play too early. We think Rutgers could have tried for even 5-10 more yards before that kick, they had the time to try. There was also Flood's risky (albeit successful) 2-point call in the first overtime to add more juice to the story. Rutgers will be anything but predictable this year we have a feeling.

So a tough loss in a wild shootout replete with strange coaching decisions, excitement to the very end, and plenty to work on. Way too many penalties (we know, first game) and 2 turnovers. Gary Nova had a good game out of the box throwing for 348 yards and 5 touchdowns on 26/41 passing. Junior Paul James had a strong game on the ground for Rutgers with 182 yards on 22 carries. That's huge.

Rutgers is home next Saturday to take on the Norfolk State Spartans, kickoff at noon.

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