2008
PapaJohns.com Bowl
Rutgers (7-5) vs. North Carolina State (6-6)
Dec. 29, 3:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
Payout:
Not Available Location: Legion Field, Birmingham AL
-
2008
PapaJohns.com
Bowl
Player Profiles, Histories, & More
 |
|
National
Rankings |
|
NC
State |
Rutgers |
|
Total Offense |
|
88th 326.33 ypg |
41st 395.17ypg |
|
Total Defense |
|
81st 387.08 ypg |
32nd 323.92 ypg |
|
Scoring Offense |
|
81st 23.5 ppg |
41st 29 ppg |
|
Scoring Defense |
|
65th 26.08 ppg |
18th 18.5 ppg |
|
Run Offense |
|
85th 125.5 ypg |
81st 128.83 ypg |
|
Run Defense |
|
67th 144.25 ypg |
54th 139 ypg |
|
Pass Offense |
|
71st 200.83 ypg |
22nd 266.33 ypg |
|
Pass Defense |
|
94th 242.83 ypg |
29th 184.92 ypg |
|
Turnover Margin |
|
15th 0.92 |
72nd
-0.17 |
|
NC
State
at S Carolina L 34-0
Will & Mary
W 34-24
at Clemson L 27-9
ECU W
30-24 OT
S Florida L
41-10
Boston Coll L
38-31
Florida St L
26-17
at Maryland L 27-24
at Duke W 27-17
W Forest W 21-17
at UNC W 41-10
Miami
W 38-28 |
Rutgers
Fresno State L 24-7
No Carolina L
44-12
at Navy L 23-20
Morgan State W
38-0
at West Va L 24-17
at Cincinnati L 13-10
Connecticut W
12-10
at Pitt W 54-34
Syracuse W 35-17
at So Florida W 49-16
Army W 30-3
Louisville W 63-14 |
|
Position
Ratings
relative to each
other |
|
NC St |
5
highest
1 lowest |
R |
|
4 |
Quarterbacks |
5 |
|
3 |
RBs |
3 |
|
2.5 |
Receivers |
5 |
|
2 |
O
Line |
3 |
|
3 |
D
Line |
3.5 |
|
3 |
Linebackers |
3.5 |
|
3 |
Secondary |
3.5 |
|
4 |
Spec
Teams |
4 |
|
5 |
Coaching |
4.5 |
|
Had the 2008 season started
around Halloween instead of
Labor Day, Rutgers and NC State
might be meeting in Miami
instead of Birmingham. The
Scarlet Knights and Wolfpack
were the hottest teams in the
Big East and ACC, respectively,
going 8-0 combined in the month
of November to reach bowl
eligibility.
Rutgers’ 7-5 record doesn’t do
justice to just how well the
school played down the stretch.
After putting themselves on life
support with an ugly 1-5 start,
the Knights stormed back with
six straight wins behind a
resurgent defense and an offense
that grew increasingly
unstoppable. The undisputed MVP
of the winning streak was QB
Mike Teel, who went from goat to
hero with 20 touchdown passes in
the final five games. The light
went on unexpectedly for the
senior, who was basically
flawless in the final month.
Since this team could have
packed it in a long time, but
didn’t, Greg Schiano is
authoring his best coaching job
since arriving in Piscataway. A
third consecutive bowl victory
will completely erase the first
half disaster, while giving the
program a boost heading into the
offseason.
For the second straight season,
NC State closed with a flurry
under head coach Tom O’Brien.
Unlike a year ago, however, it’s
being rewarded with a bonus
game. After coming close in
losses to Boston College,
Florida State, and Maryland, the
Pack broke through with four
straight victories, including
impressive efforts against North
Carolina and Miami, to reach six
wins. The program wound up
sweeping its five games with
in-state foes, a rare feat that
O’Brien can point to proudly.
State, too, was fueled by a
quarterback, though the
situation was starkly different.
Redshirt freshman Russell Wilson
grabbed the job and proceeded to
play like a fifth-year senior.
An All-ACC first-teamer, he’s
thrown a single interception all
year and exactly two touchdown
passes in each of the last six
games. Not since Philip Rivers
was in Raleigh has the Pack felt
so good about its quarterback
situation.
Players to watch:
Teel has been sizzling, but he
is getting help. Rutgers boasts
the Big East’s best corps of
receivers, led by Kenny Britt,
Tim Brown, and Tiquan
Underwood. All three can
fly, and have combined for 16 of
Teel’s touchdown passes. Britt
holds the banner for the
ensemble, a 6-4, 215-pounder
with the aspirations and skill
set to play at the next level.
This group will feast on a
Wolfpack secondary that was last
in pass defense in an ACC that’s
extremely light on quality
quarterbacks.
Protecting Teel’s backside will
be sophomore LT Anthony Davis,
the budding star of the
offensive line. Now in his
second year as the starter,
he’ll be focused on slowing down
DE Willie Young, a quick
edge rusher and NC State’s
leader with 6.5 sacks. Young is
good, but LB Nate Irving
is better. When the sophomore
wasn’t injured, he was creating
havoc for opposing offenses. He
plays with terrific range in run
defense and mimics a safety on
passing downs, picking off four
passes and batting away a bunch
more. He’s the one player on the
Wolfpack D who’s capable of
completely shifting the momentum
of the game. Irving is that
disruptive in space.
NC State’s turnaround may have
been fueled by Wilson’s play in
the pocket, but the offense got
a ton of support in November
from running backs Andre
Brown and Jamelle Eugene.
With Brown providing the punch
and Eugene the flash, the Pack
did an about-face on the ground
in the second half of the
season. O’Brien’s teams have
always been built around
relentless running attacks and a
low-risk passing game, so the
emergence of Brown and Eugene
has been well-received. Tracking
their every move will be Rutgers
LB Ryan D’Imperio, who
enjoyed a strong finish of his
own. Starting for the first time
in his career, the junior
parlayed 88 tackles and 11
tackles for loss into a spot on
the All-Big East second team.
Rutgers will win if...
Teel maintains the momentum he
had at the end of the regular
season. Yeah, the defense and
even the running game stepped
up, but no one left a bigger
imprint on the Knights’ six-game
winning streak than the senior
hurler. He’s been like a
completely different player
since Oct. 25, helping Rutgers
to a 46-point scoring average
over the last five games. The
Scarlet Knight receivers versus
the NC State secondary will be
the biggest mismatch in Legion
Field, which Teel needs to
exploit for his side to be
successful.
NC State will win if...
it can grind out at least 175
yards on the ground. The
Wolfpack must keep the Rutgers
offense off the field as much as
possible, while wearing down a
defense that can be beaten with
a straight-ahead running game.
In the season-ending wins over
North Carolina and Miami, NC
State rushed for 416 yards and
five touchdowns. That is not a
coincidence. It’s going to need
another big game from Brown and
Eugene, which will also make
Wilson more effective when he
takes to the air.
What will happen: A month
away from live action can do
funny things to momentum.
Rutgers and NC State clearly had
it in November, but it’ll be up
to both coaching staffs to
recapture it in Birmingham. The
Scarlet Knights were playing at
such a high level when the
regular season ended, it won’t
have much problem kicking back
into gear. They’ll provide Teel
enough time to outduel Wilson in
the battle of the two
quarterbacks. He’ll throw three
touchdowns passes, two to Britt,
in the final collegiate game for
both players.
Line: Rutgers -7
... CFN Prediction:
Rutgers 31 ... NC State 21
-
2008
PapaJohns.com
Bowl
Player Profiles, Histories, & More