Rutgers, Rice run over Pitt

Before the opening kickoff, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights walked out of their tunnel and onto… Before the opening kickoff, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights walked out of their tunnel and onto the Heinz Field turf as a team. Moments later, led by sophomore running back Ray Rice, they began to run all over the field.

Rice set a Rutgers (7-0, 2-0 Big East) school record in rushing with a 225-yard performance on 39 carries for one touchdown as the 19th-ranked Scarlet Knights defeated Pitt (6-2, 2-1), 20-10.

“We knew they were going to run the ball,” Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt said afterwards. “He [Rice] is a very talented back, and when you don’t control the line of scrimmage on either side, it’s hard to win the game.”

Rutgers set up its game plan early in the first quarter, establishing a rushing attack with Rice and Brian Leonard that picked up more than six yards per carry. The defense, at the same time, limited any ground game from the Panthers.

Pitt’s LaRod Stephens-Howling, who rushed for 356 yards in the previous two games, was limited to negative three yards in the first quarter and a total of 59 yards on 12 carries for the game.

Quarterback Tyler Palko accounted for the only Panther touchdown as he finished the game 16-for-26 for 169 yards and one touchdown pass. Palko expected a little more out of the Panthers in the game.

“This was disappointing,” he said. “It wasn’t how we expected to come out and play in a big game. We didn’t play well. We didn’t play well.

“We didn’t play well enough to win the football game and they did. You can’t do anything about it except get back on the horse and come back ready to play.”

Throughout the game, the Scarlet Knights won the battle of field position over the Panthers. Rutgers started nine of its 11 drives past its 25-yard line, while eight of Pitt’s 12 drives started behind its 25-yard line.

The field position for Rutgers, however, only led to a 6-0 lead at the half. On their third drive of the game, the Scarlet Knights went 23 yards in six plays, which set up Jeremy Ito for a 32-yard field goal.

After a punt and missed field goal in its next two drives, Rutgers capitalized on a Pitt fumble, taking the ensuing drive 57 yards on 13 plays for a field goal by Ito from 21 yards out.

“Defensively, the field position was horrible,” Wannstedt said. “We played right into their hands in this type of game. We got beat physically, and we didn’t hold up like we needed to.”

Pitt responded in the second half with halftime adjustments on offense and taking its opening drive 37 yards for a field goal by Conor Lee, cutting the deficit in half at 6-3.

The Rutgers running game had an answer, though. Before the end of the third quarter, the Scarlet Knights traveled 72 yards in nine plays for their first touchdown of the game — a seven-yard pass from Mike Teel to Tiqu Underwood.

Teel finished the game for Rutgers with 10 of 18 passing for 72 yards and the one touchdown.

On Pitt’s next drive, Palko marched the offense 65 yards, capping the drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Oderick Turner.

On the play, Palko skipped by two tacklers and wandered to the left side of the field. With another rusher coming in for him, he took one more step back and found Turner, who floated from the left side, wide open in the back of the end zone.

One play later, however, Rice busted through the Pitt defensive line for a 65-yard scamper downfield, which led to a Rutgers touchdown and a 20-10 lead.

“It parted,” Rice said of the hole. “I saw the hole open up and I just made a burst through it.”

“The long play was on us [the defense],” Pitt linebacker H.B. Blades said of Rice’s 65-yard run. “It’s frustrating because we had all the momentum at that point, and that just switched everything.”

Blades led the team in tackles again with 13 solo stops and six assisted tackles. Clint Session added a total of 10 tackles to finish just behind the Butkus Award candidate.

The Panthers are set up for a bye week and will wait two weeks for their next game — a matchup at South Florida on Nov. 4. Blades still has success on his mind for the Panthers.

“We can still win 10 games this season, so you can’t quit now,” he said. “This team needs to keep playing, and we’ll correct what we need to and get ready for South Florida.”

Wannstedt agreed, but added that it wouldn’t be easy.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” he said. “There’s no question about it.”