Saturday, September 8, 2012

Howard Coach stresses mental edge


PISCATAWAY, New Jersey - Howard squeezed out a close win last weekend in its season opener against Morehouse. Freshman quarterback Jamie Cunningham led a 30-29 victory en route to being named MEAC Rookie of the Week. But the Rutgers football team is not Morehouse, and Howard head coach Gary Harrell knows that.

“We know it’s going to be a situation where they’re bigger, supposedly stronger,” he said. “I just think it’s going to be mind over matter. We just have to be mentally into the game.”

On paper, the Scarlet Knights have a clear advantage, the most glaring difference being the subdivision. Rutgers is a BCS school while Howard is an FCS school. Although BCS schools are traditionally more powerful than FCS schools, Knights head coach Kyle Flood sees the two subdivisions mixing as a positive.

“You get one more Saturday experience for the fan base in your area,” Flood said. “I think it gives the FCS opponent a great opportunity to showcase their program.”



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Rutgers closing in on sellout for home opener Saturday against Howard

PISCATAWAY, New Jersey - Rutgers' prospects for its first home crowd of 50,000-plus in two years is moving closer to a reality, with a school official saying just 4,000 seats remain for Saturday's home opener against Howard at High Point Solutions Stadium.

The crowd is expected to be bolstered by a strong showing from the students, with nearly 10,000 students claiming tickets.

High Point Solutions Stadium has a capacity of 52.454, but the last home crowd to top 50,000 was on Sept. 25, 2010 against North Carolina, when the attendance was 52,038. It was announced as a sellout.

The game against Howard, a MEAC school that plays at the FCS level, is the team's only home game this month.

Rutgers averaged 43,761 for its seven home games last season compared to an average of 46,195 during 2010.

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