Rutgers Football: RU Squeaks By With Impressive Play From Stars Lefeged and Sanu

The Rutgers football team has been under scrutiny the past few years for allegedly scheduling cupcake games for all of their out of conference play.

You would never know it after watching Rutgers go head to head with Florida International.

The match up between the teams was a back and forth affair that saw incredibly sloppy play from both offenses.

Unexpectedly, FIU had limited resistance moving the ball down the field against the Scarlet Knights.  Their problem was holding onto the ball.

Rutgers forced an unheard of 4 turnovers in the first half, yet was able to get just 13 points for their efforts. 

Brandon Bing intercepted the first pass of the game from Panthers quarterback Wesley Carroll, giving Rutgers great field position at approximately the FIU 35.

However, the Knights could not make anything happen on their ensuing possession, failing to convert from the FIU 35 on 4^th and 5, this was the trend for the night as far as the Rutgers offense went.

Rutgers finished with an anemic 172 yards offense, after a 400 plus yard performance last week.           

Nevertheless, the Rutgers defense gave Savage and company more than enough opportunities to turn it around

Carroll fumbled on the next drive, coughing it up after getting hit and stripped by RU linebacker Antonio Lowery.

Despite starting at the FIU 31, RU had to settle for a 43 yard field goal from San San Te. 

This was a comforting sight for Knights fans, as Te missed twice last week from 40 plus yards.

The Panthers continued to shoot themselves in the foot, as wide receiver Darriet Perry was stripped by safety Joe Lefeged on their next possession.

Lefeged looked good last week, but he dialed in a career performance in this one.

The senior tri-captain finished with ridiculous stats in this one, posting an interception, two forced fumbles, and somehow even managed to block two punts.

Without Lefeged on the field, it would have been a completely different looking game for both teams.

Still, Rutgers putrid offense gave FIU a legitimate chance to win this one, and they managed to cling to a slim lead twice in the game.

FIU led 7-3 late in the first quarter after a perfectly executed 28 yard strike to wide receiver Wayne Times.

Running back Jeremiah Harden then put his team up 13-14 in the third quarter after a 23 yard reception from Carroll.

Harden had a nice day on the field, with 15 carries for 88 yards, and three catches for 26 yards and the aforementioned score.

While Carroll, a Mississippi State transfer two years ago, was nothing spectacular going 12 for 22 for 166 yards with two touchdowns, two interceptions, and a lost fumble, he looked like the second coming of Tim Tebow compared to RU quarterback Tom Savage.

Savage had one of his most horrific outings ever leading the Scarlet Knight offense, going just 7/15 with a hard to believe just 72 yards and an interception on the evening.

To put things into perspective, the Panthers pass rush was consistent all night and the Rutgers offensive line looked out of sync. 

Still, Savage missed a few throws he should not have and looked timid at times, very uncharacteristic for a proven young player with high expectations.

Rutgers had a scare when Savage was sacked and lost a fumble in the third quarter, as it appeared that Savage may have rolled his ankle.

It was not time for true freshman Chas Dodd to lead this offense just yet though, as Savage made it back out there on the next drive, despite showing he was in some pain on the sidelines. 

Furthermore, it would not be fair to talk about this game without mentioning the go to guy in this Rutgers offense Mohamed Sanu.

While Sanu is listed as the number one wide receiver on the team’s depth chart, his value to the team almost always goes above and beyond that.

To be quite honest, the Rutgers offense looked the best when Sanu lined up as the quarterback. 

Sanu hit tight end D.C. Jefferson for a 24 yard score in the second quarter, and took one to the house off of a 24 yard rush when he lined up as the quarterback in the Wildcat formation in the fourth quarter.

His second touchdown of the night was the one that sealed the game for the Knights.

Sanu is one of very few players to score a touchdown five different ways: throwing a pass, catching a pass, on a run, and from both kick and punt returns. 

While the logic is not entirely clear, he even kicked a 34 yard punt on this particular occasion.

Sanu is a true sophomore at 19 years old, so it looks like the sky is the limit for this extremely talented young player.

Despite the heroics of Sanu and Lefeged, it is easy to argue that the Panthers should have really had this one in the bag.

Even after 5 turnovers, they still could have picked up the W in this one.  However, they continued to make their lives difficult by amassing 14 penalties for 126 yards.

A few examples include a Harden rushing touchdown negated due to a chop lock, a hold on a 46 yard punt return, and a couple of holds and false starts that led to an unheard of third and 47 in the third quarter.

They even missed an opportunity to gain some momentum in the fourth quarter, when kicker Jack Griffin missed from 35 yards out.  This would have closed the gap to 19-17 with around two minutes remaining in the game.

FIU Head Coach Mario Cristobal showed some bright spots in this one, as his offense amassed 371 yards and his defense made this Rutgers offense look as bad as it ever has.

Cristobal, an assistant coach at Rutgers from 1999-2003, would like to turn this FIU program around the same way Schiano did for RU.

Still, the turnovers, penalties, and just plethora of missed opportunities showed he has a long way to go to reach that goal.

While Rutgers again dodged a bullet coming from a far inferior team on paper, this offense really needs to get going to remain competitive within a Big East conference that appears wide open this year.