Rutgers football prepares for 'knock-down drag-out fight' with Miami at Pinstripe Bowl
The Rutgers football team is just a few days out from its 12th bowl game appearance in program history. In the last few weeks, the Scarlet Knights (6-6, 3-6) have prepared to take on Miami in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.
The Hurricanes (7-5, 3-4) will travel from the warm Southeast to the frigid Northeast as head coach Mario Cristobal looks to snatch a win from his former colleague. When head coach Greg Schiano was Miami’s defensive coordinator in 2001, Cristobal was a graduate assistant. The pair got to know each other after Cristobal picked up Schiano from the airport when the latter was initially interviewing for the defensive coordinator role.
“Instantly he was the hardest worker in the building. It’s someone I patterned my habits after. Someone that was a rising star in the profession,” Cristobal said of Schiano. “When he got this opportunity at Rutgers, he afforded me the opportunity which was a tremendous blessing and honor.”
After Schiano got his start as head coach on the Banks, he brought Cristobal with him to serve as the team’s tight ends and offensive line coach until 2003. Since then, the two have had a great bond – one that will need to be temporarily forgotten on December 28.
One of the biggest storylines coming into the Pinstripe Bowl is the loss of Hurricanes starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to the transfer portal, where he eventually joined Wisconsin. Van Dyke started in 10 of the 11 games he played for Miami this season, throwing for 2,703 yards along with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Jacurri Brown is set to start at quarterback in place of Van Dyke. Brown has yet to play a game this season but played in a couple of games last season. Rutgers’ defense, which sits at 20th in the nation in yards allowed per game, will look to capitalize on Brown's inexperience.
The Hurricanes have a balanced team as their defense allows the 27th least yards per game in the nation, and their offense averages the 24th most yards per game. Miami is second in the competitive ACC conference, averaging 441.2 yards per game.
The Knights received a huge boost to their bowl game efforts when junior running back Kyle Monangai announced that he will stay with Rutgers for his senior season. Monangai was the Big Ten regular season rushing yards leader and expressed his excitement to play another game with his teammates, many of whom also announced their intentions to return to the Knights.
“A lot of teams are losing guys to whether it be (the) draft or (the) portal,” Monangai said. “I think we’ve had a good turnout in being able to retain some of the core guys… It’s a good feeling to have going into this bowl game.”
Rutgers now looks forward to Thursday when it returns to the field after a month off to take on the Hurricanes in the Pinstripe Bowl. Kickoff is set for 2:15 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN as well as 88.7 WRSU-FM.
“We got a great opponent in University of Miami which is going to be a great challenge,” Schiano said. “I know how Mario Cristobal will prepare his team. They’ll be tough, they’ll be resilient, so it’s going to be a knock-down drag-out fight at Yankee Stadium.”
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