Rutgers high-powered offense proved to be too much for their MAC opponent Ball State as the Scarlet Knights routed the Cardinals 52-30. The star of the game, and it's MVP, was Rutgers RB Ray Rice who broke his own Rutgers single-game record for rushing yards in a game with 280 yards and four touchdowns.This placed Rice third overall in NCAA History for rushing yards in a bowl game. It was also Ray's 8th straight 100-yard game, a Rutgers record, and the 6th 200 rushing yard performance of his career.The 280 yards left Rice with 2,012 yards for the 2007 season,the first 2,000 yard season in Big East Conference history. The win over Ball State marked the first time the Scarlet Knights have won back-to-back bowl games in the school's 138 years of football. QB Mike Teel led the Scarlet Knight passing attack with 303 yards and three touchdowns. Teel finished the season with 3,147 yards passing, second in school history. He broke the Rutgers single-season record for TD's thrown with 20 in 2007. The Scarlet Knights could not be stopped offensively, accumulating 595 yards of total offense and the most ever by a team coached by Greg Schiano. Jeremy Ito finished his career at Rutgers on a high note, nailing a 53-yard field goal, a personal record and International Bowl record. It was the 23 field goal made by Ito in 2007, another school single-season record. Kenny Britt caught 6 passes for 125 yards and finishing with 1,232 yards in the 2007 season, a new single-season Rutgers record. Tiquan Underwood finished second in school history for receiving yards in a season with 1,100. Eric Foster finished his Rutgers career with 2 sacks and Safety Courtney Greene led Rutgers with 10 tackles in the game. It was certainly a game for records as we saw the last games of Ray Rice, Eric Foster, Jeremy Ito, Ron Girault, Brandon Renkhart, among others. Rutgers finished their somewhat disappointing season on a high note and with 8 wins for the second straight year.
Keep Choppin',
Mike
