Friday Night Lights: Missed Chances Lead to Rutgers Victory

© Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

In a prime-time game on Sep. 27, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten Conference) defeated the Washington Huskies (3-2, 1-1) 21-18. The crowd at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. let all of college football know that this is a different Rutgers team this season. Kyle Monangai rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown for Rutgers in the victory.

Jekyll and Hyde Offenses

Rutgers’ offense was sluggish early on, amassing 47 yards total yards. Fortunately, Washington’s offense struggled to finish drives as the Huskies led 3-0 after the first quarter although they outgained the Scarlet Knights with 116 yards. Fast-forwarding to late in the second quarter, Rutgers led 7-3. With 4:26 left to play in the first half, Athan Kaliakmanis led the Scarlet Knights 81 yards down the field. He hit wide receiver Ian Strong for a 15-yard touchdown to head into halftime up 14-3. The third quarter was much of the same as the first with the Huskies dominating the ground game, outgaining Rutgers 165-65 and trailing the Scarlet Knights 14-10 heading into the fourth quarter.

Rutgers, Washington Missed Opportunities

What ultimately separated this game were missed field goals by Washington kicker Grady Gross. He missed from 42, 37, and 55 yards out. The missed field goal that killed the Huskies was the 37-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Down 21-10, Washington drove to the Rutgers 20-yard line when Gross was called on to make it a one-score game. With 4:36 left at the Huskies' 24-yard line, quarterback Will Rogers hit wide receiver Denzel Boston for a 12-yard TD pass. Rogers connected on a 2-point conversion with tight end Keleki Latu to make it a 21-18 game.

Washington then forced a three-and-out and got the ball back with just 35 seconds left at its 39-yard-line. Rogers completed 4 of 5 passes, none greater than 10 yards, to reach the Rutgers 38-yard line. With 3 seconds left, Gross got a shot at tying the game. After Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano called a timeout to “ice” Gross, the strategy worked. Gross missed wide left to keep Rutgers undefeated. It’s a game of shoulda, woulda, coulda but had Gross potentially made one of the two field goals earlier perhaps Washington could have forced overtime.

"Our guys are learning how to do it," Schiano said after the game, according to ESPN. "We're learning one step at a time. They (Washington) are a good offensive football team and they're hard to tackle. We missed a boatload of tackles, but we made them when we needed to. So, really happy for our guys. I'm proud of the way they fought."

What's Next?

Next for Rutgers, they’ll head to Lincoln, Neb. to play the Nebraska Cornhuskers. There also could be some added excitement for Scarlet Knights fans if they end up making The Associated Press Top 25 poll. The last time Rutgers was ranked in the AP poll was back in 2012, when they reached No. 21. 

For Washington, it has a rematch of last year’s national championship game against the No. 12-ranked Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Mich.