Rutgers Scarlet Knights football

Rutgers Scarlet Knights football
2011 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team
First season	1869
Athletic director	Tim Pernetti
Head coach	Kyle Flood
	0 year, 0–0  (–)
Home stadium	High Point Solutions Stadium
Stadium capacity	52,454
Stadium surface	Field Turf
Location	Piscataway, New Jersey
Conference	Big East
All-time record	617–604–42 (.505)
Postseason bowl record	5–2
Claimed national titles	1 (1869)
Conference titles	29 (Middle Atlantic)
Heisman winners	0
Current uniform
Colors	Scarlet
Fight song	The Bells Must Ring
Mascot	Scarlet Knight
Marching band	Marching Scarlet Knights
Rivals	Army Black Knights
Website	Rutgers Scarlet Knights

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team represents Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) play. Since the 1991 season, Rutgers has competed within the Big East Conference, having finally abandoned the status of an Independent team.

The Rutgers football program is among some of the most historic in the nation. In 1869, the original Rutgers football team defeated Princeton University in the first intercollegiate game ever played. Rutgers won the game by a score of 6 to 4.

From 2001 to 2011, Rutgers was coached by Greg Schiano who has oversaw a revival of the program. Schiano's teams struggled for the first four years of his tenure until 2005, when Rutgers achieved its first winning record in more than a decade. Since 2001, the Scarlet Knights have compiled a 59–56 record and appeared in six bowl games, winning its last five in a row. Rutgers is currently tied with Mississippi State for the longest active bowl game winning streak in the nation.

History

Throughout much of its history, Rutgers has been known for putting solid football teams on the field. It has fielded 52 ranked teams throughout its school history. In 1869, when Rutgers and Princeton met for the inaugural intercollegiate football game, they were the only two teams playing. Rutgers won the first game with a score of six "runs" to Princeton's four, on November 6, 1869. However, Princeton was victorious in the next game, played the following week, with a score of eight to zero. A planned third game, scheduled November 29, 1869, did not occur as the faculties of both schools presumably thought that the game would interfere with the studies of the respective school's student bodies. Other sources claim that it may have been cancelled due to disagreement over what set of rules to play under. In spite of the fact that there were only two teams playing "football" at the time, both showing 1–1 records, Princeton and Rutgers have been regarded as having shared the 1869 national championship.

Drawing from the first football game played between Rutgers and Princeton.

From 1929 to 1975, Rutgers was a member of the Middle Three Conference, which consisted of a round-robin against Lafayette College and Lehigh University. Starting in 1940, the 'conference champion' received the Little Brass Cannon. Following Lehigh's capture of the Little Brass Cannon in 1951, Rutgers became an independent team in 1952, though it still played Lafayette and continued the Middle Three round-robin in 1953. Although Rutgers continued to be a part of the Middle Three until 1975, the Scarlet Knights became a member of the Middle Atlantic Conference from 1958 to 1961. The college won the conference championship in three of those four years (1958, 1960, and 1961) and was awarded the Wilmington Touchdown Club Trophy. The 1961 season was particularly remarkable as it was the Scarlet Knights' first undefeated season (9–0)—with Alabama, one of only two undefeated teams in the nation—and the team was captained by future college football hall-of-famer Alex Kroll. In 1961, Rutgers was considered a contender for the Rose Bowl, but was not selected because university president Mason Welch Gross did not express interest with the Rose Bowl's organizers. The following year, Rutgers once again went independent, and remained so until it joined the Big East Conference in 1991. In 1976, Rutgers declined an invitation to play an unranked McNeese State University at the Independence Bowl, feeling snubbed by more prestigious bowls despite its undefeated 11–0 season.

The Rutgers College football team in 1882.

Greg Schiano took over as head coach for the 2001 season. His first four years resulted in losing seasons, however, in 2005, the team achieved its first winning season since 1992. In 2006, the Scarlet Knights achieved a record of 11–2, including a first-ever postseason victory. In the following year, Rutgers received its first ever preseason rank. Since that break-out year in 2005, Rutgers under Schiano achieved a winning season in five consecutive years. The streak ended in 2010, a year marred by a spinal cord injury suffered by defensive lineman Eric LeGrand in the sixth game of the season. Rutgers lost its final six games to finish with a record of 4-8. After the 2011 season, Schiano left Rutgers to become the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Scarlet Knights have had three players drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft. In 2010, Anthony Davis was chosen No. 11 overall by the San Francisco 49ers, and Devin McCourty was chosen No. 27 overall by the New England Patriots. In 2009, Kenny Britt was chosen No. 30 overall by the Tennessee Titans. Britt, an Associated Press All-America selection, is the first player in Rutgers history to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Ten Scarlet Knights have been drafted in the last three years. 2010 also marked the fourth consecutive year that a Scarlet Knight has been taken on the draft’s first day after Brian Leonard (2007) and Ray Rice (2008) were both second round draft selections.

Logos and uniforms

Black jerseys and pants have been rarely used by the team. Although black pants were worn on a couple of occasions with white jerseys on the road, the black jerseys (with black pants) have only been used twice, in 2007 and 2011. They were worn on October 27, 2007 at Rutgers Stadium versus West Virginia in a torrential rain storm during a 31-3 loss, and with black helmets against Pittsburgh on October 8, 2011 in a 34-10 victory. The black jerseys were also used against west virginia on October 29, 2011 in a 41-31 loss.

Recognized Players

Rutgers has had many key contributing players in its 142 year history of college football. Dating back to the 1950s, the University has had several All-American candidates as well as a couple of once potential Heisman Trophy candidates in its storied history.

1950s Bill Austin, a native of Fanwood, NJ was one of the first recognized players from Rutgers. Gifted with a twisting and elusive running style, Austin lead the Scarlet Knights in rushing three straight seasons. Despite being undersized at 5'11 and 170 lbs, Austin rushed for 2,073 yards will ranking up 204 points in his career with Rutgers. His 32-touchdown career ranks second in the Rutgers annals among all-time scorers and he had 13 interceptions from his defensive back position, which is one short of the all-time mark.

BIll was inducted into the Rutgers Football Hall of Fame in 1988 and was recognized as an AP All-American in 1958. That year, Austin lead the team to an 8-1 record , though the team could've gone 9-0 if Austin did not sit out the Quantico Marines game with an apparent hand injury. Austin was also considered a potential Heisman Trophy candidate, though the award was won by Pete Dawkins of Army that year. Austin went on to play for the Washington Redskins after being drafted in 1959.

1960s By the 1960s, Alex Kroll came onto the scene as a formidable opponent. At 6'2 228 lbs playing center, Kroll played was enrolled at Yale for two seasons before serving in the Army. He later formed a bond with the football captains at Rutgers before deciding to transfer there. Kroll was extremely physical in the trenches, giving way to his spot as the captain of the team in 1961. In his senior year biography,“his performance and leadership in 1960 helped Rutgers to a season which surpassed even the most optimistic of the previews. He has size, speed, hustle, and an uncanny ability to call defenses best equipped to stop the enemy.” Kroll was an excellent student in the classroom, played linebacker at times, and helped lead Rutgers to a 17-1 record in his time at Rutgers, earning him AP All-American center award in the undefeated season of 1961.

1970s The 1970s featured several great players for the Scarlet Knights. From 1971-1973, running back JJ Jennings tore up the record books, ranking him 3rd all time at Rutgers with 2,935 yards rushing. He also lead the nation in scoring during the 1973 season, with Honorable Mention of the AP All-American team.

In the late 1970s, Rutgers football, lead by legendary coach Frank Burns, showed the nation its capabilities with an undefeated record in 1976 (11-0). That year, key contributors Nate Toran, who finished his career with 52 sacks including 17 in 1976. Toran earned 2nd team AP All-American that year and was joined by honorable mentions John Alexander, Jim Hughes, Henry Jenkins, and Mark Twitty.

1980s An array of different players from the 1980s lead Rutgers to match ups against teams such as Penn State, Michigan State, Alabama, and more. During the time, Deron Cherry, a standout safety for Rutgers, was an honorable AP All-American in 1980, followed by his teammate quarterback Ed McMichael.

Other standouts included Jim Dumont Sr., Tyronne Stowe, who holds the all time record of 533 tackles. In the late 1980s, Scott Erney was an Honorable AP All-American mention leading the team to key victories in 1988 over Michigan State and Penn State. Wide Receiver Eric Young, who later went on to play baseball in the MLB, was another Honorable AP All-American mention.

1990s The early 1990s brought in a great recruiting class for Rutgers Football, featuring running backs Bruce Presley and Terrell Willis. Together they were known as "Thunder and Lightning," they racked up 5,889 yards combined earning Presley 2nd team Freshman All-American honors in 1992, and Willis 1st team Freshman All-American honors in 1993.

In 1994, tight end Marco Battaglia came onto the scene as a force. In his career "On the Banks," Marco went from 27 catches, to 58, to 69 catches in 1995. With great size at 6'3 245 lbs, he was a determined and hard working player drafted in the 2nd round of the 1996 NFL draft.

2000s The one player that has stood out as an icon in Rutgers Football is running back Ray Rice. Recruited out of New Rochelle HS in New York, Rice beat out 4 other running backs his freshman year to earn a starting spot in 2005. He racked up 1,120 yards that season. In 2006 Rice finished second in the nation in rushing and was a finalist for the Maxwell Award, given to the best player in the country. By 2007, Rutgers University had set up a Heisman campaign for Rice. By the end of his career, Ray had amassed 4,926 yards on the ground and leads the Rutgers record book in almost every rushing category. He was 2nd team AP All-American two years in a row ('06-'07).

Defensive Tackle Eric Foster was also a force earning 1st team AP All-American in 2006 and 2nd team in 2007. Wide Receiver Kenny Britt, Tackle Anthony Davis, and Defensive Back Devin McCourty were also Honorable Mentions on the AP All-American team during their careers.

Bowl game results

Rutgers has gone to seven bowl games in its 140-year history in college football of which it has won five. This includes consecutive wins for the last five, tied for the longest current bowl winning streak in college football.

Date	Bowl	Opponent	Result	Score
December 16, 1978	Garden State Bowl	Arizona State	Loss	34–18
December 27, 2005	Insight Bowl	Arizona State	Loss	45–40
December 28, 2006	Texas Bowl	Kansas State	Win	37–10
January 5, 2008	International Bowl	Ball State	Win	52–30
December 29, 2008	PapaJohns.com Bowl	NC State	Win	29–23
December 19, 2009	St. Petersburg Bowl	UCF	Win	45–24
December 30, 2011	New Era Pinstripe Bowl	Iowa State	Win	27–13

Head coaches

Twenty-five men have served as head coach of the Rutgers football team since 1891, when the first coach was hired. From 1869 to 1890, and 1892 to 1894, there was no coach.

Coach	Tenure	Record (%)
No coach	1869–1890	34–59–8 (.376)
William A. Reynolds	1891	8–6 (.571)
No coach	1892–1894	7–15–1 (.326)
H. W. Ambruster	1895	3–4 (.429)
John C. B. Pendleton	1896–1897	8–12 (.400)
William V. B. Van Dyke, Jr.	1898–1899	3–15–1 (.184)
Michael F. Daly	1900	4–4 (.500)
Arthur P. Robinson	1901	0–7 (.000)
Harry W. Van Hovenberg	1902	3–7 (.300)
Oliver D. Mann	1903, 1905	7–10–1 (.417)
A. Ellet Hitchner	1904	1–6–2 (.222)
Frank H. Gorton	1906–1907	8–7–3 (.528)
Joseph Smith	1908	3–5–1 (.389)
Herman Pritchard	1909	3–5–1 (.389)
Howard Gargan	1910–1912	12–10–4 (.538)
George Sanford	1913–1923	56–32–5 (.629)
John H. Wallace	1924–1926	12–14–1 (.463)
Harry J. Rockafeller	1927–1930, 1942–1945	33–26–1 (.560)
J. Wilder Tasker	1931–1937	31–27–5 (.532)
Harvey Harman	1938–1941, 1946–1955	74–44–2 (.625)
John Stiegman	1956–1959	22–15 (.595)
John F. Bateman	1960–1972	73–51 (.589)
Frank R. Burns	1973–1983	78–43–1 (.643)
Dick Anderson	1984–1989	27–34–4 (.446)
Doug Graber	1990–1995	29–36–1 (.447)
Terry Shea	1996–2000	11–44 (.200)
Greg Schiano	2001–2011	67–66 (.504)
Kyle Flood	2012–present	0–0
	TOTAL	617–604–42 (.505)

Local media coverage

Rutgers has a contract with SportsNet New York to air various football-related programming during the season. This includes games broadcast by the Big East Network, which formerly aired over local television.

Football games air on the Rutgers Football Radio Network, which consists of three stations. The flagship is WOR in New York, a 50,000 watt clear channel station that is also the flagship for the university's men's basketball team. The other two stations in the network are WCTC, a low-power AM station that also carries Rutgers sports, and WPEN-FM, a Philadelphia area sports talk station. These games are produced by Nelligan Sports Marketing, a firm that finances college sports broadcasts throughout the nation.

Chris Carlin is the voice of Rutgers football, with Ray Lucas serving as his color analyst. Bruce Beck subs for Lucas when he isn't available. MSG Network reporter Anthony Fucilli works as the sideline reporter while WFAN radio host Marc Malusis is the studio host.

External links

• Official website