Papajohns.com Bowl Thoughts
The Papajohns.com bowl was the culmination of what turned out to be a feel-good story for Rutgers football. Ending the season with a quality win against a quality opponent from another big conference, was to me, a much greater victory than last year’s blowout of Ball State in the International Bowl.
NC State quarterback Russell Wilson is a phenomenal talent, and I’ve agreed with the nay-sayers who’ve said that had Wilson been able to play the second half, Rutgers may not have one. However, the reality is that he got knocked out of the game after taking a few clean hits in succession. Also, Rutgers seemed to gain confidence on both sides of the ball as the game wore on, and there’s no saying that even with Wilson in the game, that Rutgers wouldn’t still have made the adjustments to outscore the Wolfpack in the second half.
Mike Teel played a spectacular game in his last college experience. I was among the fans who questioned the decision to continue to start him at the beginning of the season. But I couldn’t be happier for the way things turned out for him. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb to say that Teel has shown that he can make many of the throws necessary to play QB at the next level. It’ll be a plus for him that he has played in what is more or less a pro-style offense for the past four years. I hope that between now and the start of the NFL free agent signing period, Teel can add some more muscle mass to his frame. I believe a little more size would make him an ideal candidate for at least a few free-agent looks.
There were also a number of standouts on defense, but no one seemed to be all over the place more than linebacker Ryan D’Imperio. He was literally all over the field in the second half, and I felt he was the defensive MVP of the game. I can’t wait to see what he is able to do next year after another off season of training. He should be a candidate for all conference honors.
Finally, if anyone missed the game, SNY has announced that it will be replaying the game on Wednesday, January 7th, so check out the 28-22 win!
NC State quarterback Russell Wilson is a phenomenal talent, and I’ve agreed with the nay-sayers who’ve said that had Wilson been able to play the second half, Rutgers may not have one. However, the reality is that he got knocked out of the game after taking a few clean hits in succession. Also, Rutgers seemed to gain confidence on both sides of the ball as the game wore on, and there’s no saying that even with Wilson in the game, that Rutgers wouldn’t still have made the adjustments to outscore the Wolfpack in the second half.
Mike Teel played a spectacular game in his last college experience. I was among the fans who questioned the decision to continue to start him at the beginning of the season. But I couldn’t be happier for the way things turned out for him. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb to say that Teel has shown that he can make many of the throws necessary to play QB at the next level. It’ll be a plus for him that he has played in what is more or less a pro-style offense for the past four years. I hope that between now and the start of the NFL free agent signing period, Teel can add some more muscle mass to his frame. I believe a little more size would make him an ideal candidate for at least a few free-agent looks.
There were also a number of standouts on defense, but no one seemed to be all over the place more than linebacker Ryan D’Imperio. He was literally all over the field in the second half, and I felt he was the defensive MVP of the game. I can’t wait to see what he is able to do next year after another off season of training. He should be a candidate for all conference honors.
Finally, if anyone missed the game, SNY has announced that it will be replaying the game on Wednesday, January 7th, so check out the 28-22 win!
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