Huskies hushed: Three takeaways from Rutgers football's win over Washington
The Rutgers football team fended off Washington by a score of 21-18 at SHI Stadium on Busch campus under the Friday night lights of the annual Blackout game. The Scarlet Knights (4-0, 1-0) now move to 4-0 for the first time since 2012 and held onto the victory in nail-biting fashion. The Huskies (3-2, 1-1) missed a 56-yard field that would have sent the game to overtime, resulting in a mass celebration for Rutgers and its home crowd.
Here are three takeaways from the Knights’ victory.
Ian Strong remains an offensive threat
Coming off of a four reception, 110 yard game in a 26-23 victory over Virginia Tech last weekend, sophomore receiver Ian Strong once again contributed substantially in the win over Washington.
The Coram, New York, product finished with a team-high five receptions on seven targets as well as a team-high 40 yards. His biggest highlight came in the second quarter with 30 seconds remaining.
At the time, Rutgers led 7-3 with senior running back Kyle Monangai scoring first for the Knights on a 1-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.
That score would remain that way until under the 1 minute mark of the quarter. After benefiting from an illegal substitution penalty that turned a blocked field goal into five yards and a first down, the ball was in senior quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis’ hands. It was up to him to make a play.
And make a play he did, with his receiver somehow usurping him.
Kaliakmanis dropped back in the pocket and lofted a ball only his 6-foot-3 receiver could catch. Strong leaped up and snagged the pass with his own two hands and secured it for the score. Rutgers would head into halftime up 14-3 thanks in part to Kaliakmanis and Strong’s connection.
“It was the end of the half. The offense needed to make a play,” Strong said of his score. “(Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca) called a call, and we just executed it. Great throw by Athan, great protection by the o-line.”
Kaliakmanis had high praise for his receiver, and had no doubts that Strong would come down with his pass.
“One-on-one, I trust him to go make a play. He’s super athletic,” Kaliakmanis said.
Head coach Greg Schiano commended his receiver as well.
“He’s just scratching the surface,” Schiano said. “The main thing about him is he’s just so smart, really smart, and really focused. (I) can’t wait to see where he can take this thing.”
One-two punch at running back
Monangai and junior running back Samuel Brown V continue to be a dynamic duo for the Knights and that was displayed once again against the Huskies. Monangai ran for 132 yards on 25 carries and a score, while Brown complemented him with 44 yards on five carries along with a touchdown of his own.
Brown V found the endzone at the 10:57 mark of the fourth quarter after he bulldozed his way for a 37-yard touchdown. He put Rutgers up 21-10.
“The guys blocking on the perimeter, they just opened it up for me,” Brown V said on what he saw on his touchdown. “Once I got through the second level, you just gotta let your talents take over at that point.”
Washington’s head coach Jedd Fisch talked highly about the running back tandem after the game.
“They’re really good backs. (Rutgers is) able to mix and match them,” Fisch said. “(Monangai) gashed us on a couple (runs).”
Missed field goals, defensive stops key for Rutgers
For many of Washington’s drives, it seemed like it was moving the ball well. Huskies’ quarterback Will Rogers found receivers for first downs and ended up throwing for 306 yards and two touchdowns.
Washington’s only flaw was its inability to consistently put points on the board in necessary situations.
On the Huskies first drive, they turned the ball over on downs after a Rogers pass on 4th-and-nine fell incomplete.
Near the start of the second quarter, Grady Gross missed a 42-yard field goal that would have cut Rutgers’ lead at the time to 1 point.
On its first offensive drive of the second half, Washington could not convert on a 4th-and-goal at the 2-yard line. A touchdown then would have given the Huskies a 4-point deficit.
After Brown V’s fourth-quarter touchdown, Rogers completed a few passes to help his team get to the opposing 20-yard line. On fourth down, though, Gross missed a 38-yard field goal.
It would be a trifecta of misses for Gross as his potential game-tying field goal from 56-yards out with seconds left sailed wide left of the goalposts, awarding the Knights defense with another big stop and giving the team a narrow 3-point win.
Rutgers will now look to go 5-0 when it heads to the midwest for a road test against Nebraska.
"It was a battle from the jump and that game took awhile," Schiano said. "That took a lot of focus and concentration for an extended period of time. I don't know many 18-to-22-year-olds that can concentrate on anything for four hours and those kids did. I was really, really proud of them."
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