| by
Raymond Rolak |
| AmericaJR.com
Web Team |
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|
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DETROIT
-- Playing in their first season in the Big Ten Conference,
Rutgers (8-5), overwhelmed North Carolina 40-21, in the first
ever Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field. The Scarlet Knights were playing
in their third straight bowl game under Coach Kyle Flood. They
were led by two freshmen running backs. Bowl MVP Josh Hicks, who
ran for 202 yards on 19 carries. Teammate Robert Martin ran for
100 yards on 19 carries, including TD runs of 8 and 28. The rushing
totals for both Martin and Hicks were career highs, with Rutgers'
340 rushing yards overall being high for this season.
The defense
for Rutgers was dominant, especially the play of senior strong
safety Lorenzo Waters. He forced two first-half fumbles and blocked
a 31-yard field goal attempt. Senior defensive end Dave Milewski
and junior defensive end Djwany Mera were outstanding in stopping
the Tar Heels rushing game.
After
the contest, Hicks complimented his blockers and gave the defense
plenty of credit, "I felt our defense showed up tonight and
did a great job. They practice hard every day and it all paid
off tonight for us."
Rutgers
scored on the game's opening possession with senior quarterback
Gary Nova throwing a 34-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Andre
Patton to highlight a 75-yard drive. They never looked back as
Nova finished with 184 air yards and two touchdown passes.
North
Carolina (6-7) never got started as duel threat junior quarterback
Marquise Williams was bottled up by the Scarlet Knights defense.
After falling behind, 40-7, the Tar Heels scored two touchdowns
in the final 6:45.
After
the game, Coach Flood told his team to stay on the field with
the Quick Lane Bowl winning trophy as long as you like. He said
smiling, "Soak this great feeling up."
"Well,
it's not the way we want to finish up a season, but it is what
it is," North Carolina coach Larry Fedora said. "So,
hopefully, we're going to learn from it and become a better football
team."
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