RB Isaih Pacheco carried Rutgers' offense against Michigan

The Rutgers football team had 252 total yards of offense on Saturday in the home loss to Michigan and running back Isaih Pacheco had 161 of them.

Pacheco ran for 142 yards on 16 carries including an 80-yard touchdown on the ground in the first quarter.

The rushing score was Rutgers' longest offensive play of the season, the program's longest rush since joining the Big Ten conference back in 2014, and even the longest rush by a Rutgers freshman ever. It was also the longest play Michigan has allowed all year.

Rutgers had just 72 yards on the ground last week at Wisconsin.

“It was a huge moment. The line did a great job. It was outside zone, I saw the hole, and tried to take advantage of it, make a couple guys miss, get up field, and get on the scoreboard,” Pacheco said after the game.

After his touchdown, however, with the game still within reach (Rutgers trailed just 21-7 at halftime) Pacheco received only one carry in the second and two in the third. He had nine in the fourth, but Rutgers was just trying to milk the clock at that point.

“I wasn’t keeping count, but it is what it is. I was just looking forward to my next opportunity,” Pacheco said.

Head coach Chris Ash was asked by TKR on why Pacheco, a budding star, had just two carries over the next two frames.

“It was just a flow of the game and just things we were calling offensively to try and work against that defense,” the coach said. “We had a game plan and we were just working that plan.”

The other play of the day for Rutgers also belonged to Pacheco. In the third quarter, Pacheco took a toss right and then threw a pass back to the left to backup quarterback Gio Rescigno. The play was good for a 19-yard gain.

Pacheco under threw Rescigno a tad and it could have gone for at least a few more yards if he hit him in stride.

“My arm is a little rusty,” said Pacheco with a giggle, who was a quarterback in high school at Vineland High, “and I’m not a quarterback anymore. When we got the chance, we were like, 'alright, it's our time to shine'. I could have led him a little more."

So far this season, Pacheco is 2-for-2 passing for 58 yards and has rushed 84 times for 460 yards (5.4 yards per attempt) with three touchdowns. He also has 15 kickoff returns for 293 yards and had his best day against Michigan with four returns for 71 yards.

“I thought it was outstanding,” Ash said of Pacheco’s performance on Saturday. “I think you’ve seen glimpses of that throughout the season. To do it against an opponent and a defense like that, those are just signs of things to come.”