Rutgers 52, Howard 14 Looking Back Recap

"We recovered, rebounded, and hung in there..." "Some groups needed to have a fire lit under them and some of them didn't." Those quotes by Rutgers head coach Chris Ash pretty well sum up how I felt about Rutgers eventual 52-14 thrashing of the Howard Bison.

The start of the game was of course a little disturbing. Rutgers actually covered the opening kickoff well, as Larry Stevens got downfield and tackled the Howard returner at his own 11-yard line. But Howard's first drive was the classic example of one team coming out with energy and ready to roll, while the Rutgers defense was caught on its heels. Indecision, poor tackling, and some hard running on the part of Howard tailback Anthony Philyaw was a recipe for disaster for Rutgers. Nine plays, 89 yards and 4:19 later, Rutgers was down 7 after cornerback Ross Douglass got smoked on a 38-yard deep ball. After the game, RU defensive coordinator Jay Niemann said, "Obviously, that's an unacceptable outcome." You could sense Niemann's frustration with this being the second straight week of his defense giving up deep balls early in the game.

A penalty on the ensuing kickoff gave Rutgers the ball on its own 15 to start the Scarlet Knights' first drive. Chris Laviano promptly threw an interception on RU's first play from scrimmage, giving Howard the pigskin on the Rutgers 24-yard line. Another quick drive resulted in Rutgers being down 14-0 with 9:26 still left in the first quarter.

Then, three things happened in a fairly quick succession that turned the game around. The first was certainly Janarion Grant taking the ensuing kickoff and weaving his way through the coverage 84 yards for the touchdown. Howard then inexplicably takes out Kalen Johnson, the quarterback who had just led them to consecutive touchdowns. Jason Collins came in at quarterback and threw two incomplete passes and then had his third pass picked off by a leaping and feisty Isaiah Wharton, who wrestled the ball away from the Howard receiver. Those three things: Grant's runback, the QB change, and the interception completely switched the momentum in Rutgers favor.

By the end of the first quarter the Rutgers defense began to wake up and midway through the second quarter it seemed Chris Laviano got his bearings and Rutgers began moving the ball. Halftime adjustments and surely a fiery "motivational" halftime speech must've worked because Rutgers came out with a renewed sense of energy in the second half. Soon the route was on.

Some additional highlights for me:

1) You can't say enough about the impact Janarion Grant can have on a game. He's an amazing talent. He racked up 248 all purpose yards and scored 3 touchdowns. He's scored touchdowns rushing, rushing out of the wildcat, and returning. He is the team's leading receiver, and supposedly he can throw, having played QB in high school. For his efforts against Howard, Grant was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week.

2) Chris Laviano was clearly rattled after the early INT. But he hung in there, improved as the game went on, and did some goods things, particularly in the second half. The block he threw to spring Grant for one of his touchdowns showed me a lot. As Coach Ash stated, he's a "tough kid, unselfish, and wants his teammates to do well."

3) The Howard defense was gassed, the game was in hand, and they weren't asked to throw, but you had to be impressed and intrigued by the hard running and success of quarterbacks Giovanni Rescigno and Tylin Oden.

4) Defensive End Julian Pinnix-Odrick was a beast out there. He tied for the team lead in tackles with 6, including two sacks. If JPO stays healthy and Darius Hamilton continues to up his reps this defensive line will be disruptive, even against the Big Ten elite.

5) Quite a few younger players have been getting in the game at defensive back and receiver. This is good. As a program, Rutgers needs to build depth at both positions so they're not left in a situation like the past couple of years where talented players were asked to completely switch gears and play on the opposite side of the ball because the program lacked the depth to sustain the losses at those position groups.

6) Rutgers finished the game with 375 yards rushing. That means 366 of those yards came after the first quarter!