Bowl Special 2010-01-19

BOWL SPECIAL P A G E B 1J A N U A R Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 0

T H E D A I L Y T A R G U M

ANDREW HOWARD/ PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

RAMON DOMPOR/ ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

T H E D A I L Y T A R G U MST. P E T E R S B U RG B OW LB 2 J A N U A R Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 0

CENTRAL FLORIDARUTGERS

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True freshman Mohamed Sanu monopolized carries out of the ‘Wild Knight’ formation and hauled in four catches for 96 yards and three total touchdowns. Along with classmateand starting quarterback Tom Savage, the young guns enjoyed a coming out party of sorts in carrying the Rutgers football team to a 45-24 win in the St. Petersburg Bowl.

BY SAM HELLMANASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. —Going into the St. Petersburg Bowl,all of the momentum was right inCentral Florida’s crosshairs.

The Scarlet Knights didn’thave enough time to get ready.They didn’t get the bid they want-ed. Their star receiver wasn’thealthy. UCF’s rush defense wastoo tough. They wouldn’t beready to play.

But Mohamed Sanu was ready.And the rest of the Rutgers footballteam followed suit.The multi-talented true freshmanwide receiver from SouthBrunswick shone in the Florida sunwith three total touchdowns, 144total yards and a Most OutstandingPlayer trophy in his case in Rutgers’45-24 win over UCF.

“It’s unbelievable,” said truefreshman quarterback TomSavage, who connected with Sanufor one of his two touchdown toss-

es. “I’m just happy we ended theseason with a ‘W’ and ended it outfor the seniors.”

Sanu completed his hat trick atthe end of the third quarter whenhe hauled in an 11-yard strike fromSavage on a slant route that put thegame out of reach at 35-17.

Sanu scored two touchdownsin the first half out of the WildKnight formation. The first, a five-yard stampede, opened the scor-ing and the second, from oneyard out, gave RU a 21-10 leadbehind a bulldozing block fromjunior left tackle Anthony Davis.

“I’m getting more comfortablein the offense and I’m able to seethings and just make it happen,”said Sanu. “I’m just letting myabilities take over. We had 11guys working as one and we wereall doing our jobs so we were justable to click.”

Going into the game, seniorwide receiver Tim Brown’s healthwas in serious doubt, missingnearly two weeks of practice with

a bad left ankle. Any questions,however, were answered immedi-ately by the Miami native playingin his last game.

He caught a 19-yard pass onthe second play from scrimmageand later hauled in a 65-yardtouchdown pass for his ninth ofthe season.

“I going to do whatever Ihad to to play in this game,”said Brown, who pulled in fourballs for 99 yards. “When I gothurt I knew I was coming back.I wasn’t missing this.” Savage had his best statistical

game at Rutgers as well, pass-ing for a career-high 294 yards.

The Scarlet Knights’ defensefaced a nightmare scenario earlyin the game when senior corner-back and team captain DevinMcCourty left the game with aneye injury. Paramedics escortedMcCourty to the hospital andMcCourty said that somethinggot in it.

“This game was very indica-tive of our season, losing DevinMcCourty in the first quarter,”said Rutgers head coach GregSchiano, who won his fourth con-secutive bowl game with the vic-tory in St. Petersburg.“Immediately we were underduress. But then it’s a fifth-yearsenior who gets the interception,a guy who was a walk-on.”

That interception came in theform of Billy Anderson who,with McCourty out, UCF contin-ually picked on. Central Floridabeat Anderson more than oncebut the walk-on corner had the

last laugh when his 19-yard pick-six gave Rutgers a 28-17 leadgoing into halftime.

“There’s no other way to goout,” Anderson said. “Fourstraight bowl wins and a prettygood game for me.”

The UCF defensive line enteredthe game as the fourth-bestdefense in the country against therun and with a reputation as toughpass rushers. The RU offensiveline, however, was up to the task,surrendering just one sack andpaving the way for two rushingtouchdowns and 86 rushing yards.

“They played really tough butI thought that we played strongagainst [them],” Davis said. “Itwas a great game.”

Knight Note: Senior tightend Shamar Graves did notreceive a medical redshirt fromthe NCAA for the 2006 seasonand is out of eligibility. He willnot be with the team next seasonas previously expected.

CONNECT FOURTrue freshmen Sanu, Savage lead charge as Scarlet Knights boggle UCF for fourth consecutive Bowl win

“When I got hurt Iknew I was coming

back. I wasn’t missing this.”

TIM BROWNSenior Wideout

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Senior cornerback Devin McCourty injured his eye at the startof the game and did not return to the St. Petersburg Bowl.

T H E D A I L Y T A R G U M ST. P E T E R S B U RG B OW L J A N U A R Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 0 B 3

BY MATTHEW STEINSPORTS EDITOR

ST PETERSBURG, Fla. —Devin McCourty was Mr.Everything for the Rutgers foot-ball team.

From playing 111 snapsagainst Connecticut to leadingthe team in regular-season tack-les to blocking and returningkicks on special teams, the seniorcaptain was involved in every crit-ical moment, making big playafter big play for the ScarletKnights all season long.

He was even referred to as “ourSuperman” by redshirt freshmansafety Khaseem Greene.

So when McCourty was escort-ed to the hospital with 3:41 remain-ing in the first quarter Saturday,unable to return and play in his finalgame for Rutgers before embark-ing on an NFL career, it stung.

Badly.“I was at the hospital and got

mad a few times and asked tosign out, just because I wanted tobe here with these guys,”McCourty said. “I was so proudthat we were able to get the win.”

McCourty said he was intouch with his brother Jason andothers while in the hospital to getgame updates.

The rest of the Scarlet Knightsexpressed that it was a travestyMcCourty was unable to competein his last game after what he haddone all season long and through-out his career on the Banks.

“It really did hurt to hear that hemay not return to the game,”Greene said. “That hurt a lot. But ashis teammate, as his family, as hisbrothers, we just picked it up. Hewas there the whole time with us;he just wasn’t on the field with us.”

A fifth-year senior part of thefirst class in program history toreach five consecutive bowlgames and win four in a row,McCourty was the prototypicalGreg Schiano defensive player.

Schiano often praised theNanuet, N.Y., native for his

efforts as a leader, player andperson, and even expressedconcern he was asking toomuch of McCourty.

“It’s incredible how much of aleader and how much all of uslove and respect Devin,” Greenesaid. “Once he went down, it waslike ‘Now we have to step up andshow that without Dev, we canstill be the defense that we are.’With him, the defense is thatmuch better.”

Even though Rutgers easily dis-patched Central Florida 45-24 in theSt. Petersburg Bowl, McCourty’sabsence left gaping holes every-where he normally played.

A number of players replacedhim as a special teams gunner,blocker and return man, thoughnone enjoyed the same levels ofsuccess as their predecessor.

Most importantly, at least untilit picked up the level of play afterhalftime, the Rutgers secondarywas beyond poor in man cover-age against the pass.

Senior Billy Anderson andsophomore David Rowe lined upagainst Central Florida’s topreceivers, and until Anderson’spick-six out of zone coverage latein the first half, UCF had its waywith 155 yards and two touch-downs through the air.

“When a guy like Devin goesdown – he’s irreplaceable really– you just take it one play at atime,” Anderson said. “After thefirst couple of series I started tosettle down.”

McCourty returned toTropicana Field just in time tosee the final plays and was allsmiles on the turf, celebratingRutgers’ victory with the rest ofhis teammates.

It was as if he was there thewhole time.

“I played the second half for D-Mac,” said senior linebackerDamaso Munoz. “We have a greatbunch of seniors. We came in in’05 and we went to five consecu-tive Bowl games. “We said ‘Hey,this one is for D-Mac.’”

McCourty spends finalgame in local hospital


Munoz flip ends seniors’ run on DBY STEVEN MILLER

CORRESPONDENT

A crowd stood together atthe end of the Rutgers footballteam’s sideline.

The redshirt freshmen, in jer-seys without pads, stood andwatched while the Knights’ defensefound a way to win without seniorcaptain Devin McCourty.

The group watched DamasoMunoz take his final steps as aScarlet Knight as he ran pastthem, ball in hand, to seal the St.Petersburg Bowl victory and flipinto the end zone, closing hiscareer with the same attentionand excitement the onlookersarrived with.

And they watched linebackerSteve Beauharnais — like them,a member of the most highlytouted recruiting class inRutgers history — lead the teamin tackles.

It was the group’s last chanceto watch, because with the depar-ture of Munoz, McCourty andothers, the Rutgers defense hassome very large holes to fill.

The reason for excitementcomes from both the smallestand the biggest bodies on thesideline — a trio of cornerbacksand massive defensive linemen.

“We were able to redshirtguys that in the past we wouldhave needed to play,” head coachGreg Schiano said at his post-sea-son press conference. “You lookat the cornerback position andthose young corners are goodplayers. They are going to havethe opportunity to really competefor some substantial playing timenext year. Same thing goes onthe defensive line. Those are real-ly good defensive lineman.”

While the mammoth duo ofdefensive tackles Antwan Loweryand Isaac Holmes will only adddepth to an already strong line,the cornerbacks have a seriousvoid to fill.

Highly rated defensive backsDarrell Givens, Logan Ryan andAbdul Smith will compete forMcCourty’s vacated starting spotopposite sophomore David Rowe.

All season long, McCourtywas the shutdown, do-it-all playerfor the Knights.

Although Rowe was an ablecomplement to him in the sec-ondary, the group initially strug-


Damaso Munoz, ESPN’s player of the game, flips into the endzone while returning a last-minute onside kick for a touchdown.


Freshman linebacker Steve Beauharnais started his third career gamein the victory, leading the team with seven tackles and two sacks.

gled when their captain left theBowl game with an eye injury.Central Florida picked apart nick-el corner Billy Anderson, beforehe returned an interception for atouchdown, and wideout KamarAiken beat Rowe for a 34-yardcatch and score.

“I got a little taste of being theNo. 1 guy tonight and it showed mesome things I need to work on tofulfill that role,” Rowe said after the45-24 victory. “We’ve got somegood young guys and I think thecompetition will make us overallbetter. We’re going to start a legacyof good corners here, hopefully.”

Along with Rowe and thefreshmen, redshirt freshmanBrandon Jones and juniorBrandon Bing will be in the mix.Bing earned two early starts, butnever recovered from the TonyPike and Mardy Gilyard showand faded out, while Jones playedin small roles all season.

“I’m excited to get them all in— we can put eight DB’s in if it

calls for it,” Rowe said. “They’rereal good and coming along real-ly well so there’s definitely goingto be some competing out therenext year.”

While the group is only eightdeep if you include safeties JoeLefeged, Khaseem Greene,Duron Harmon and PatKivlehan, the defensive line real-ly is that strong.

Departing only defensive endGeorge Johnson and tackle BlairBines, the group welcomes anumber of freshman into a corpsthat returns two-year starter AlexSilvestro, starting tackles CharlieNoonan and Scott Vallone andEric LeGrand.

The problem will be findingroom for 300-pound tacklesLowery and Holmes in the cen-ter of an undersized, but produc-tive line.

LeGrand, a sophomore tack-le, was a disruptive force in thebackfield all year and as theseason went on, Freshman All-American Vallone received asmuch attention from theawards committees as he didoffensive linemen.

Five players combined for sixsacks at Tropicana Field.

All of them — LeGrand,Vallone, Beauharnais, juniorJonathan Freeny and sophomoreJustin Francis — return next sea-son for the Knights.

“I’ve always been excited,honestly,” said junior end AlexSilvestro, a two-year starter whoshould start opposite the sack-leader Freeny. “We’ve got a nicelittle corps that will be back nextyear and keep working hard.”

Couple the young, unseen tal-ent in the secondary and on theline with the return ofBeuharnais, junior AntonioLowery and freshman Ka’LialGlaud at linebacker and theupside seems to equal the ques-tions for the RU defense.

“The freshmen are going tobe good,” Silvestro said. “Whenthey first got in here, just likeeveryone else — and I know peo-ple expect a lot of them — theyhave to understand the change ofpace. I think the redshirt fresh-men, the highly recruited fresh-men, are going to be good.”

S T . P E T E R SB 4 J A N U A R Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 0

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ANDREW HOWARD/ PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR RAM

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B U R G B O W L J A N U A R Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 0 B 5

the Trop


MON DOMPOR/ ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

MON DOMPOR/ ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR



Head coach Greg Schiano ledthe Scarlet Knights to theirfourth consecutive bowl winDec. 19 over Central Florida.RU topped UCF 45-24 in theSt. Petersburg Bowl present-ed by Beef ‘O’ Brady’s behinda three-touchdown, MVP performance by true fresh-man Mohamed Sanu and acareer-high 297 passing yardsby quarterback Tom Savage.Rutgers finished the 2009 witha 9-4 record, its fifth consecutive winning season.


South Florida fired Jim Leavitt, the only coach in the history of its football program,after he alledgedly grabbed a player by the throat at halftime of a game.

Skip Holtz, son of legendary Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz, is set totake over the reigns at USF for the upcoming season.

T H E D A I L Y T A R G U MST. P E T E R S B U RG B OW LB 6 J A N U A R Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 0

BY SAM HELLMANASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

Forget the 4-2 bowl record.The biggest story in the Big

East is the continually revolvingcoaching carousel, bringing inthree new head coaches for threevery different reasons for the2010 season.

With Brian Kelly, Jim Leavittand Steve Kragthorpe out of theBig East, Cincinnati hiredCentral Michigan’s Butch Jonesto take over, South Florida hiredEast Carolina’s Skip Holtz and

Louisville hired Florida defen-sive coordinator Charlie Strong.

Jones takes over a CincinnatiBearcat team fresh off of anundefeated regular season. Thehead coach-less Bearcats wereno match for Tim Tebow’s his-toric performance in the SugarBowl, but Jones has the luxuryof plenty to work with for thecoming season, including ZachCollaros’ deadly dual-threat styleat quarterback.

USF, after slaughteringNorthern Illinois behind 207yards from Mike Ford, fired

Leavitt, its only coach in schoolhistory, among allegations ofassaulting a player during the reg-ular season and another second-half collapse to end the season.

Leavitt’s departure makesRutgers head coach GregSchiano the most tenured headcoach in the conference.

In Louisville, everyone fromthe students to the boosters toEarl the cab driver wantedKragthorpe gone after his inabili-ty to recreate the Bobby Petrinoyears and they got their wish lessthan 24 hours after the Cardinals

dropped their season finale to theScarlet Knights.

Strong got his first head-coaching gig to replaceKragthorpe after spending sevenyears as the defensive coordina-tor in the Swamp.

With six of the Big East’s eightteams in bowl games for the sec-ond straight season, the confer-ence got reputation-boosting victo-ries in both the Meineke Car CareBowl and the PapaJohns.comBowl. Pittsburgh handed NorthCarolina its second straight loss inthe Meineke Bowl in a 19-17 affair

and Randy Edsall led Connecticutto one of the most inspiring finish-es of the season, beating SouthCarolina 20-7 after losing corner-back Jasper Howard off the fieldand a series of heart-breaking loss-es on the field to start the season.

The conference’s other losscame at the hands of Florida State,which was not about to send leg-endary coach Bobby Bowden outagainst his former team with hisfirst-ever losing season.

The Seminoles dropped theWest Virginia Mountaineers 33-21in the Gator Bowl.

Three changes make Schiano longest tenured Big East coach

GETTY IMAGESGETTY IMAGES


After three seasons in a Rutgers uniform, accumulating multiple awards, starting left tackle Anthony Davis, right, declared for the NFL Draft in late Decemberafter the Scarlet Knights’ Bowl win. Davis is projected as a first- or second-round pick by numerous Draft experts.

T H E D A I L Y T A R G U M ST. P E T E R S B U RG B OW L J A N U A R Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 0 B 7

BY STEVEN MILLERCORRESPONDENT

There were no surprises atAnthony Davis’ second majorpress conference.

The junior left tackle chose toforego his senior season with theRutgers football team and enter theNFL Draft. The announcementcame three years after the No. 1high school prospect in New Jerseyshocked the college football worldby committing to Rutgers overOhio State, Southern California andevery other school in the nation.

“It’s been in my heart,” Davissaid. “[My teammates] know I lovethem and I love this place, but it’sthe right time for me right now.”

The decision marks the thirdconsecutive year a junior elected toleave the Scarlet Knights early forthe NFL, following Ray Rice andKenny Britt, but no decisionappeared as obvious as that of Davis.

ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr.ranks the 6-foot-6, 325-pound line-man as the No. 1 offensive tackleavailable and Todd McShay callshim a potential top-10 pick.

“I just think he’s ready,” saidhead coach Greg Schiano. “I thinkhe’s ready in every way and I kind offelt like that’s what he wanted to do.Ray and Kenny struggled a bit withit. I just think AD knew what wasright for him.”

But when Davis begins the draftprocess, starting with choosing anagent and a workout site in thecoming weeks, he will undoubtedlyface questions.

The Second-Team Walter CampAll-American started 32 games and21 of the last 22 for the Knights, butit would have been 34 straightstarts if not for off-field issues.

Davis did not play againstMorgan State last season and didnot start against Army this yearfor violations of team rules. Healso started training camp with thesecond team this year after arriving overweight.

At the NFL Combine, where thenumber scored on the Wonderlictest is as important as the number ofbench press reps, Davis will bepoked, prodded and questionedabout his past.

“It’s just minor stuff,” Davis said.“I had no weight issue. I’ll be readyto explain all the questions theyhave about that and the MorganState game last year.”

For advice, there are a numberof players Davis can turn to.

The Piscataway native alreadytalked to Eugene Monroe, lastyear’s eighth overall selection whoattended Plainfield High School.Davis also played with JeremyZuttah, who starts at left guard forthe Tampa Bay Buccaneers, andwas part of RU’s 2007 line.

“Being a part of the 2007 line thatfinished second in the nation insacks allowed — that was big for meto be a part of something like that,”Davis said. “Having a running backdo what Ray Rice did, it’s nice be apart of something special like that.”

While Rutgers is producingoffensive linemen for the NFL,Davis’ departure leaves an evenbigger hole on next year’s team.

Davis joins senior center RyanBlaszczyk and senior right tackleKevin Haslam as RU linemen onthe way out.

While Schiano recognizes the hithis team takes from the loss, Davis’departure can also be used as arecruiting tool. Arguably the mosthigh-profile athlete to commit toRutgers, Davis chose to stay homewithout harming his NFL potential.

“From a head coach’s stand-point, I’m excited about that,”Schiano said. “It means we’rerecruiting and getting the top ath-letes in the country — guys whocan go to the NFL early and be inthe top rounds. It will be two firstround picks in a row — I’m confi-dent in that. And the one who was asecond round pick is the best run-ning back in the NFL right now.”

But there is still one more thingfor Davis to do: He promisedSchiano he would earn his degree.

Although Davis admits thereis more he could accomplish onthe field at Rutgers, the opportu-nity to progress was impossiblefor him to ignore. Playing offensive line in the NFL was hisgoal since he watched his firstfootball game.

“I wanted to hit things,” Davislaughed. “When I was little I’dwatch NFL games and say I hopethose guys realize what they’repart of and respect the game,because it’s big. It’s bigger thanus. I remember watching theSuper Bowls and just started cry-ing out of nowhere. I don’t evenremember who, but I’m watchingthem win the Super Bowl.”

Davis heads for greener pastures

BOWL SPECIAL J A N U A R Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 0P A G E B 8

T H E D A I L Y T A R G U M

Left tackle Anthony Davis took his immense talents to the next level,announcing his intentions to forego his senior season at Rutgers and

enter the NFL Draft during a December press conference.

Davis Declares


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Bowl Special 2010-01-19