2011 Kickoff Countdown: 2006, Rutgers Busts Louisville’s BCS

In the Big East Coaches Breakdown, it is noted that Greg Schiano was at one time the hottest coaching prospect in America. Consider five of the program’s six all-time bowl appearances are under Schiano, and it’s no small wonder. When the Scarlet Knights qualified for the 2005 Insight Bowl, it snapped a 27-year postseason drought. But it wasn’t until a Thursday night in November the following year that RU elevated into the public consciousness.

Louisville came to Piscataway unbeaten and ranked No. 3, with designs on a national championship. Bobby Petrino was in what would be his final season at UL, and had his best team after two previous seasons of heartbreak. UL would have likely been a BCS buster in 2004, its final Conference USA season, had it not been for Miami’s monstrous second half rally in a non-conference clash. In its first Big East season, the Cardinals would have made a BCS bowl had it again not allowed a big comeback. Then, it was Pat White running wild en route to a 46-44 West Virginia win in overtime.

With revenge exacted over WVa. the week prior to facing Rutgers, UL looked in the clear: USF at home, a trip to face a down Pitt, then finishing up with a Connecticut program that had yet to become the spoiler Randy Edsall made it in subsequent seasons. Handling RU on its home field was the true roadblock.

The Scarlet Knights were themselves undefeated and ranked, but had climbed no higher than No. 15. None of RU’s eight wins were what anyone would call marquee, and included close calls against mediocre North Carolina and USF. UL was the first accurate measuring stick.

The first quarter was like two boxers circling the ring, feeling each other out. To that point, RU had boasted one of the nation’s top defenses, and UL one of its best offenses. Anthony Allen’s touchdown midway through the first quarter opened a floodgate of 21 points in less than three minutes, as Rutgers answered with a quick Mike Teel-to-Daquan Underwood strike, which UL responded via a kick return to the house by Jajuan Spillman.

Eager to flex his team’s offensive muscles, Petrino called for a two-point conversion to further stung the bewildered Scarlet Knights, and it worked. Spillman’s return and Allen’s two-point conversion were the first leg of an 18-point unanswered streak for the Cardinals, who looked to be fastened comfortably into the driver’s seat of their national championship destiny ahead 25-7.

Then, along came Ray Rice to throw up a detour. The Rutgers back was then something of an unknown, just a sophomore and an under-recruited prospect coming out of New Rochelle High School. This night was when Rice became a nationally known superstar.

His touchdown late in the second quarter made the deficit 11 going into the locker room, a far more manageable figure. As the defenses cinched in through the third quarter, neither team could find daylight — that is, until Rice struck again. He capped an 82-yard drive with a short end zone jaunt, which Teel followed converting a two-point try. RU went into the final frame down just a field goal, and its defense grinding Brian Brohm’s and the Cardinals to a standstill.

Jeremy Ito’s 46-yard field goal early in the fourth brought the teams even for the first time since 4:31 left in the first. The Scarlet Knight defense need only hold the Cardinals off 10 more minutes to have an opportunity to win, and it did its job as it had all night. Brohm was held to his worst outing of the season, throwing more incompletions than completions (13-of-27) and managing just 163 yards.

Teel wasn’t a whole lot better: he completed just eight of his 21 attempts for 189 yards. But he did drive RU into the Cardinal red zone in the final minute. That gave Ito, who had hit that long 46-yarder previously, the chance to win it with a gimmee.

Well, maybe not such a gimmee — his 28-yard attempt sailed wide left with 21 seconds left. But if Rice was RU’s MVP of the night, Louisville’s William Gay could have been its Co-MVP. The Cardinal senior jumped offsides prior to Ito’s miss, giving the Scarlet Knight kicker another opportunity. He wouldn’t miss twice.

While the miss wouldn’t have resulted directly in a loss, continuing to stifle UL in overtime and playing on a shortened field certainly wasn’t what Schiano wanted. All the momentum was favoring Rutgers, and to miss such an easy game winner would have sucked the air out of Rutgers Stadium. Ito’s kick finalized a 21-point run, and prompted the Scarlet Knight faithful to storm the field.

RU would suffer the ever disappointing letdown a week later vs. Cincinnati, then drop an overtime decision to West Virginia in the season finale — see why Schiano wouldn’t have wanted OT vs. Louisville? The Cardinals would get their BCS bowl, but were had they defeated RU, would have played Ohio State for the BCS Championship. There’s no question the ensuing Kragthorpe era was worse, but what a three-year run of heartache UL fans endured in the final seasons of Petrino’s tenure. Three different three-score leads squandered, all of which would have resulted in big things.

As for Schiano and Rutgers, even in reaching five straight bowl games from ’05 to ’09, there hasn’t been a moment quite as electric since.