Rutgers accomplished one major goal this season, earning a share of the Big East title for the first time in school history.
Though a 20-17 loss to Louisville in the finale dashed the Scarlet Knights’ hopes for the program’s first BCS berth, the consolation prize of the Russell Athletic Bowl presents coach Kyle Flood and his players with an opportunity to add another accomplishment.
A victory over Virginia Tech today would clinch a 10-win season, just the third since the program was credited with playing the first college football game against Princeton in 1869. It would also mark Rutgers’ sixth straight bowl win dating to 2006.
“You got to move forward in life,” said Flood, in his first bowl game as a head coach. “That [Louisville] game happened and we’re not happy about it, but it happened. Now we move forward and we try to make more history. We have tremendous goals left for us to accomplish.”
The Scarlet Knights (9-3) lost their last two games, but they’re still playing in the most prestigious postseason game in school history.
“The game on Friday, for me, is going to mean everything,” said Khaseem Greene, a fifth-year senior linebacker who earlier this month earned AP All-America third-team honors. “It is going to be a legacy, another chapter for me being closed and another chapter for this program, this family, being closed. … It’s going to determine if we’re a good team or a great team.”
With a win over the Hokies, Flood would become the only first-year coach to win 10 games in Rutgers history. Virginia Tech (6-6) is playing in its 20th straight bowl game.
There’s a chance the Russell Athletic Bowl will be Rutgers’ final game as a member of the Big East. The Scarlet Knights announced their plans to defect from the conference — of which they have been a member since 1991 — to join the Big Ten on Nov. 20. Though school officials are targeting 2014 as the arrival date, other developments could expedite Rutgers’ departure.
If the Knights do remain in the Big East for the 2013 season, they should be one of top contenders to win the league’s BCS bid in its final season as an automatic-qualifying conference. Rutgers graduates several defensive mainstays — including Greene, the two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year — but could welcome back as many as 14 starters, including sophomore quarterback Gary Nova, leading rusher Jawan Jamison and leading receiver Brandon Coleman.
MEINEKE BOWL
Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege has seen this before.
The Red Raiders head into the Meineke Car Care Bowl against Minnesota (6-6) after some serious upheaval with coach Tommy Tuberville abruptly leaving the team for the job in Cincinnati. Doege, a senior, remembers how the team came together for a win in the Alamo Bowl under an interim coach just days after coach Mike Leach was fired in the 2009 season.
The Red Raiders (7-5) have hired Kliff Kingsbury to replace Tuberville, but interim coach Chris Thomsen will lead Texas Tech against the Golden Gophers.
“It’s settled now, and the young guys are excited. I remember … when I was younger how close we became as a football team,” Doege said. “Because with all the uncertainty, all the distractions, that’s what gets you through it.”
INDEPENDENCE BOWL
It has taken Louisiana-Monroe 19 years to reach the postseason at college football’s highest level.
“This isn’t the exclamation point at the end of the sentence,” third-year coach Todd Berry said of the program’s remarkable turnaround. “This is the capital letter at the beginning.”
Louisiana-Monroe (8-4) will face Ohio (8-4) in the Independence Bowl today in front of what’s expected to be a partisan crowd for the Warhawks. The game will be played about 100 miles from Monroe, La., so Ohio can’t expect much of a neutral environment.
That’s fine with Ohio’s coach Frank Solich.
“We want to play in front of a large crowd,” Solich said.