Rutgers vs. UNC: Score and Twitter Reaction for 2014 Quick Lane Bowl

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights capped off a successful debut season in the Big Ten with Friday's 40-21 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2014 Quick Lane Bowl.

In the process, senior quarterback Gary Nova exploited a defense that entered the contest ranked 119th, going 9-of-20 for 184 yards and two scores.

ESPN College Football tweeted the final score and pertinent numbers:

As ESPN Stats & Info pointed out, Rutgers was far from the favorite entering Friday's showdown:

Even without leading rusher Desmon Peoples, the freshman duo of Josh Hicks and Robert Martin led the way for the Scarlet Knights on the ground with 202 yards and a score and 100 yards and two scores, respectively. Both found the end zone in the second quarter to help build a 23-0 halftime lead that would prove insurmountable.

Nova, who threw for 2,667 yards and 20 touchdowns with 12 interceptions this year, got things started with an opening drive that spoke volumes to the game's eventual course. He led the Scarlet Knights down the field 75 yards on just five plays and then hit Andre Patton for a 34-yard touchdown.

Jason Radowitz of DoubleGSports.com summed up the precision of the offense:

The floodgates opened shortly thereafter.

Hicks reached the end zone first on a dash from 21 yards out to cap off a 91-yard drive in just seven plays. Martin followed him on the next drive with an eight-yard score of his own to make it 20-0.

As many—including Dan Duggan of NJ Advance Media—could see, Rutgers appears to have some burgeoning talent in its backfield:

North Carolina proved worthy after halftime, though.

Junior Tar Heels signal-caller Marquise Williams was one of the nation's more underrated dual-threat quarterbacks this season, thanks to 2,870 yards and 20 touchdowns with another 737 yards and 12 scores on the ground.

The Charlotte native put that on full display right out of the break by leading a 12-play drive capped off by a quarterback keeper to cut the deficit to 23-7.

As WCHL 97.9 FM's Matt Oakes noticed, though, the Rutgers' defensive front overwhelmed UNC's line for most of the night: 

After a brief flirtation with competitiveness, North Carolina's defense once again collapsed.

The Tar Heels score to start the half woke up Nova, too. The senior hit Andrew Turzilli for a 34-yard score before Martin broke free for a 28-yard touchdown near the start of the final frame, bringing it to 37-7.

To their credit, the Tar Heels then made an epic run to improve upon the lopsided 40-7 score. In fact, they recovered not one, but two onside kicks in the span of a couple of minutes while posting 14 points.

ESPN's Dustin Fox wondered if another bowl classic was set to unfold:

Williams hit Jack Tabb for a touchdown, and then backup Mitch Trubisky tossed a touchdown to Kendrick Singleton to make it 40-21. That proved to be the end of the spark, as the drive after the second successful onside kick ended with a pass out of the end zone on fourth down.

For some, the conference implications of the Rutgers win are noteworthy, as CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli explained:

"

You can tell Rutgers is new to this whole B1G thing because it’s winning a bowl game.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) December 27, 2014"

The triumph means Rutgers can now turn a confident eye toward next season. Peoples and other offensive weapons will be back in the fold, as will dominant nose tackle Darius Hamilton, who recorded a sack and shut down a fake field goal Friday. The importance of Hamilton's return after Friday's defensive performance is not lost on coach Kyle Flood.

"He's a great player for us and will be a great leader for us going forward next year with the experience he's had with the three years he has been here," Flood told reporters before the game.

Things are bleaker for North Carolina, a trendy preseason pick to win the ACC Coastal division before finishing the regular season at .500. Coach Larry Fedora faces a serious rebuilding task now that the program's record has dipped in each of the past two campaigns.

Statistics and info courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.