It was a productive day for Rutgers as it racked up 515 yards of total offense and cruised past Akron 49-17.
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It was a historic day for Kyle Monangai as he rushed for a career-high 208 yards (ninth in program history in a single game) on 27 carries and scored three touchdowns. He broke his previous record of 165 yards with 11:39 remaining in the third quarter. Monangai also moved into ninth place all-time in program history for career rushing yards, passing Bryant Mitchell (1966-68).
After going into halftime trailing 21-3, Akron (0-2) cut it to a 21-10 game with 11:45 remaining in the third quarter following an eight-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 32-yard touchdown pass from Ben Finley to Adrian Norton. Rutgers (2-0) answered though with a methodical 12-play, 75-yard drive that saw Monangai run it in from two yards out for his third score of the day and make it 28-10 with 4:56 left in the quarter.
Rutgers went ahead 35-10 following a 58-yard pass from Athan Kalaikmanis to Chris Long with 3:14 remaining in the third. Kenny Fletcher added an eight-yard touchdown catch with 13:25 remaining in the fourth to make it 42-10.
Kaliakmanis finished 14-for-23 for 230 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
Antwan Raymond recorded his second-career touchdown with a one-yard rush to give Rutgers a 49-10 lead with 11:30 left in the fourth quarter.
Rutgers appeared to score a touchdown late in the second quarter following an eight-yard touchdown catch by Long, but the play was waved off due to an illegal man downfield. The Scarlet Knights punched it in four plays later though thanks to a deflected pass that fell into the arms of KJ Duff for a six-yard touchdown to put them ahead 14-3 with 1:54 left in the second. The score marked Duff's first career touchdown.
Monangai pushed it to a 21-3 game with nine seconds remaining in the half following a one-yard touchdown run. The rush capped off a nine-play, 80-yard drive.
Monangai finished the half with 17 carries for 162 yards and two scores while Kaliakmanis went 10-for-19 for 118 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Rutgers got on the board with 47 seconds left in the first quarter thanks to a three-yard rushing touchdown from Monangai. Monangai set up the score with a 46-yard run a play prior.
The Scarlet Knights' defense also came up big in the opening quarter as Akron got the ball down to Rutgers' eight-yard line with 4:43 left, but came up empty following an 11-yard sack from Malcolm Ray and an eventual missed field goal.
Akron made it a 7-3 game with 6:06 left in the second quarter with a 41-yard field goal from Garrison Smith following an eight-play, 37-yard drive.
Jordan Simmons recorded a 73-yard touchdown run for Akron to make it 49-17 with 10:11 remaining in the game.
RFOOTBALL PLAY OF THE GAME....
KJ Duff records his first career touchdown off a deflected pass to put Rutgers up 14-3 with 1:54 left in the second quarter.
UP NEXT....
Rutgers will travel to Blacksburg following a bye week to take on Virginia Tech on Saturday, Sept. 21.
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