Rice runs for 3 TDs as Rutgers piles it on Norfolk State
PISCATAWAY, N.J.-- No. 13 Rutgers produced the biggest second quarter in the school history, and all it needed was 11 plays and 91 seconds to amass 277 yards and score 42 points.
Ray Rice ran for three touchdowns and Mike Teel threw for three more in the lightning-quick outburst that carried the Scarlet Knights to a 59-0 victory over Norfolk State on Saturday.
While the result wasn't surprising, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano raised some eyebrows just before the half by calling three timeouts in an attempt to get the ball back with the Scarlet Knights (3-0) ahead 45-0.
A roughing the kicker penalty allowed the Spartans (1-1) to keep the ball, but Norfolk State coach Pete Adrian seemed to stare at the Rutgers' bench when he went on the field to help punter Brian Jackson, who suffered an Achilles' tendon injury.
The two coaches shook hands after the game ended and spoke for about a minute, patting each other on the shoulders.
Schiano rested Teel, Rice and most of his skill players on offense in the second half.
The 59 points and the margin of victory were the biggest for Rutgers since a 59-0 win over Buffalo in 2000.
Teel started the biggest second quarter at the birthplace of college football (1869) with touchdown passes of 43 yards to Kenny Britt and 28 yards to Tiquan Underwood on consecutive plays from scrimmage for the Scarlet Knights.
Rice, who now has nine touchdowns this season, scored on runs of 22, 7 and 4 yards, before Teel ended the offensive fireworks with a 34-yard scoring pass to Britt.
The scoring drives covered 52, 28, 92, 46, 42 and 53 yards and lasted two, one, two, two, three and two plays. The total elapsed time for the six drives was one minute, 31 seconds, which is all the time Rutgers had the ball in the quarter.
Remarkably, the big quarter came after Norfolk State forced Rutgers to punt on its first two possessions and then settle for a 30-yard field goal by Jeremy Ito with 4:45 left in the first half for a 3-0 lead.
Defensive tackle Eric Foster intercepted a Casey Hansen pass late in the quarter and Rice ran nine yards to give Rutgers a second-and-inches at the Spartans 43 as the quarter ended.
Norfolk State, a championship subdivision team playing its first bowl subdivision opponent, had to feel good at that point.
The optimism didn't last long for the Spartans, who have yet to produce a winning season since joining then Division I-AA in 1997.
Teel and Britt connected on a deep post on the opening play of the second quarter for a touchdown. After Norfolk State came up short on a fake punt deep in its own territory, Teel found Underwood on a sideline fly pattern on the next play for a 17-0 lead.
Rutgers got the ball back at its own 8 after a punt, and Teel and Underwood hooked up on a 65-yard pass play to the Norfolk State 27 on first down. An illegal substitution penalty moved the ball five yards and Rice, who carried 12 times for 72 yards, scored on a great cutback run from the 22-yard line.
A short punt, a 32-yard pass from Teel to Underwood and a personal foul set up Rice's 7-yard TD run. A 23-yard pass to Underwood, who had four catches for 148 yards, and a pass interference paved the way for Rice's final score.
Teel, who was 8-of-15 for 269 yards, covered the 53 yards on his final drive with passes of 19 and 34 yards to Britt, who had four catches for 121 yards.
Backup quarterback Jabu Lovelace scored on a pair of 16-yard runs for Rutgers in the second half.
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