Despite a second-half scare, Rutgers eked out a 26-23 win against Virginia Tech to secure its first victory at Lane Stadium in program history.
Here are three thoughts after the game….
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A game of momentum
Head Coach Greg Schiano has discussed in the past how much football is a game of momentum, which is what made some of Rutgers’ decisions all the more baffling.
With Virginia Tech (2-2) on the ropes at its one-yard line and trailing 23-7 with 7:18 left in the third quarter, the Scarlet Knights (3-0) forwent a chip shot field goal on fourth down and tried to assert their dominance with a pass to Kenny Fletcher. While it is hard to argue against going for the touchdown considering Rutgers is a team built on physicality, the play call felt a bit too cute considering it appeared to be a similar play it ran several times throughout the game and did not allow the Scarlet Knights much room for error at the one.
However, the real head-scratcher of the game came when Rutgers attempted a 53-yard field goal with 3:54 remaining in the third quarter and still clinging to a two-score lead. While the Scarlet Knights’ defense forced a turnover on downs on the ensuing drive, the missed field goal not only cost Rutgers the field position battle, but gave Virginia Tech a newfound wave of momentum it eventually rode to a tied ball game with 4:35 left.
Coming up Strong
Despite some of Rutgers’ decisions and the pendulum swinging in the Hokies’ favor, the Scarlet Knights erased it all with one play when Athan Kaliakmanis connected with Ian Strong for a 63-yard screen pass that the sophomore took all the way down to Virginia Tech’s 12-yard line. Three plays later, Jai Patel kicked a go-ahead 24-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining to give Rutgers a 26-23 lead.
“Great call by Kirk Ciarrocca,” Schiano said. “That’s really what it was, really a great call.”
With the onus back on the defense, the unit wasted no time atoning for its mistakes as Virginia native Robert Longerbeam intercepted Kyron Drones three plays into the drive and allowed Kyle Monangai to ice the game.
“I was coming on the blitz and saw the quarterback was about to throw the ball, but I was too far,” Longerbeam said. “When I looked up the ball was in the air and I got under it and went down. Just coming back to Virginia and being 1-0, it meant everything to us. We put so much work into this season and to go 1-0 means the world to us.”
Changing the trajectory
Despite going from a nail-in-the-coffin type of game to a nail-biter, this was a contest Rutgers could not afford to lose if it wanted to have a special season on the banks.
“When you get after somebody and then it flips like that it’s very hard, especially in their stadium, to be able to pull it back and go win the game,” Schiano said. “And that’s what we did. I’m proud of the guys. We certainly have a lot to clean up, but in many ways, this game is going to help us. I believe that just going through this experience together.”
No matter what the final score read, the Scarlet Knights should be happy to leave Lane Stadium with a win and prepare for the Big Ten season feeling it has the talent to match up with anybody remaining on its schedule.
Rutgers will return to action on Friday when it returns to SHI Stadium to face Washington at 8 p.m. (ET) on Fox.
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