Birthplace of College Football, NJ – Trailing UMass 21-7 at the end of the first quarter, Rutgers offense came to life to keep Chris Ash off the hot seat for the time being on the passing arm of QB McLane Carter and the legs of Isaih Pacheco to defeat a “rebuilding” Minuteman program, 48-21. Carter, a Texas Tech grad transfer, threw for 340 yards, and Pacheco mustered four TS on the ground to gain the win over new HC Walt Bell and a team finding key replacements after a 4-8 season. The Scarlet Knight defense allowed 164 yards by the end of the first, but yielded only 153 me in the final three against a UMass offense devoid of any deep-threat passing game. QB Randall West averaged only 3.4 yards per completion going 20 for 31 with one TD and one INT.
UMass dominates outset
The Minutemen opened the scoring with an easily managed 7-yard TD drive finishing it off with a 20-yard scoring pass from West to Kyle Horn. Carter threw an interception to S Joseph Norwood on RU’s first possession putting the visitors at the Knight’s 44. Two plays later, Cam Roberson sprinted 39 yards to add to the Minuteman lead. Fans including Guest Game Analyst Fran Scarpa (RU) sat stunned in bewilderment. Big Ten losses are tough enough, but UMass? Other than fellow GGA Brian Donnelly’s traditional Old Bay Spice chicken wings at our tailgate, his evening was a letdown thus far.
On the next possession, the Rutgers offense provided a glimpse of optimism mixing effective passes and a running game ending in a two -yard TD run by Pacheco to put some hope in the hearts of the 20-some thousand in Scarlet fans in attendance (don’t believe the 40,515 indicated in the box score). However, their optimism subsided aw the Minutemen countered with a 75-yard scoring drive of their own. Bilal Ally raced 33-yards for a TD to end the first period with a 21-7 UMass lead.
Rutgers busts out in the second
Carter started the second with a hot hand completing two long passes finalizing a 64-yard scoring drive with a 33-yard pass to WR Bo Melton (six for 127 yards). The Scarlet defense forced a punt. RU capped an 85-yard drive in four plays with Pacheco’s 57-yard burst to pay dirt to suddenly knot the score 21-all. The next Rutgers drive culminated with a 27-yard FG by Justin Davidovicz exciting the home crowd by giving the lead, 24-21. Rutgers continued to roll. An interference penalty on the next UMass punt spotted the Knights on the 50. On the third play, Carter fired a 28-yard TD pass to RB Raheem Blackshear (nine catches for 126 yards; 12 rushes for 39) to enhance their lead 31-21. CB Avery Young’s INT gave the ball back to RU on their 41. HC Chris Ash did not run out the clock. A 52-yard pass to Melton put the ball on the seven, and two plays later, Pacheco carried it over for a 38-21 Rutgers’ lead in front of a relieved and exuberant home crowd.
Second half, defense…defense
Rutgers moved the ball on its first possession to extend the lead on Davidovicz’s 23-yard FG. The RU defense shine from hereon out forcing two punts and a turnover on down. The offense failed on its next drive when CB Isaiah Rodgers pick off a Carter pass on his own 10, and Rodgers picked off his second on the subsequent drive in his end zone for a touchback as the period ended.
The ensuing Minuteman drive in the final period ended desperately with a sack of West by RU linemen Elorm Lumor and Jamree Komrah to turn the ball over on downs at the UMass 31. Six straight rushing plays capped the Rutgers scoring with Pacheco’s fourth TD coming in from seven yards out. Final score, Rutgers 48 UMass 21. Like last year, the Scarlet Knights started off the season with a home victory besting Texas State, 35-7, giving the RU faithful a glimmer of optimism. This year there’s hope for better, but the realization looms that the rest of the schedule will be much more competitive than a UMass team ranked deep among the 130 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Next up!
Talk about a step up. Rutgers travels to face Iowa in Iowa City next Saturday. Ranked 20th in the AP preseason poll, the Hawkeyes defeated Miami of Ohio, 38-14. Their offense is led at QB by senior Nate Stanley. Defensively, they feature All-American DE AJ Epenesa. Iowa poses a true early Big Ten test for Rutgers.
UMass will host FCS Southern Illinois next week. Walt Bell will look to revamp his offense next week still replacing the leading Minuteman passer, runner, and receiver from a year ago. WR Andy Isabella led the nation in receiving yards his senior season before being drafted by the Arizona Cardinals.
Collegefootballfan.com spent Saturday after this Friday night contest in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to watch a significant ACC opener with Boston College taking on Virginia Tech. Come back and check out our game review.
Extra points: CB Isaiah Rodgers impressed us the times we’ve seen him play going back to his freshman year. Beside being a stalwart defender, he excels in kickoff returns as well. Yesterday, he returned four kicks for 125 yards including one for 55. Look for him to pop up on someone’s draft in 2020.
Change in our schedule – We initially planned for game 588 to be played last Thursday between Stony Brook and Bryant. The Stony Brook Seawolves triumphed, 35-14. However, because my company coed volleyball team which I play for got into the Boston Property championship on Wednesday night, my birthday celebration with my family had to be postponed until hat night. I don’t regret either change. On Wednesday, my SolvayUSA team defeated Bioclinica Labs for the championship, 3-1! We finished our season 13-1 reeling off 13 straight wins after dropping our opener. On Thursday, I celebrated my birthday with my family at our favorite local BBQ place, Hot Rod’s, in Wharton, NJ.
To assure Game 600 will be celebrated on October 19 when a large group will join me for the Minnesota at Rutgers game, I had to be sure I added another game to replace this one. For my best chance to see two games on an upcoming weekend, I cancelled the Boston College at RU game on September 21. Both teams appeared on our schedule this weekend any way. On that day. We will attend two Ivy League openers. At 1 pm, we will attend Yale’s opener in the Yale Bowl against Holy Cross who fell to Navy, 45-7, last Saturday. After that, we will travel to Smithfield, RI to see aforementioned Bryant host Brown University. It will be our first visit to Bryant for a game. These Bulldogs will be going up against their former HC from a year ago, James Perry. Perry will be looking to revive a Bruin team coming off a 1-9 season. We look forward to seeing Jean Constant, Bryant’s All-American kick returner, to see what he can do.
See our 2019 schedule for updates.