2008 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

After losing star halfback Ray Rice to the NFL Draft, Rutgers faced a rebuilding season. Senior Mike Teel was forced to step up his game at quarterback without being able to rely on Rice so frequently. Rutgers started off very slowly, dropping 5 of the first 6 games, including two to Big East rivals West Virginia and Cincinnati. With dreams of a Big East championship now completely eroded, Rutgers now had to recover to try to at least secure a fourth consecutive bowl berth. Starting with a 12-10 win against Connecticut on homecoming weekend, Rutgers never lost another game. The next week, they posted an impressive 54-34 win over #17 Pittsburgh. They won their next four games, finishing the season 7-5 with a solid 5-2 conference record. Rutgers earned a bowl berth in the PapaJohns.com Bowl, and they won a close game against NC State for their third consecutive bowl win.

2008 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football
PapaJohns.com Bowl champion
ConferenceBig East Conference
Record8–5 (5–2 Big East)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJohn McNulty (3rd as OC, 5th overall season)
Defensive coordinatorGreg Schiano (4th season)
Home stadiumRutgers Stadium
(Capacity: 41,500)
2008 Big East Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 17 Cincinnati $  6 –1   11 –3  
Pittsburgh  5 –2   9 –4  
No. 23 West Virginia  5 –2   9 –4  
Rutgers  5 –2   8 –5  
Connecticut  3 –4   8 –5  
South Florida  2 –5   8 –5  
Louisville  1 –6   5 –7  
Syracuse  1 –6   3 –9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 14:00 pmFresno State*
ESPNL 7–2442,508
September 117:45 pmNorth Carolina*
  • Rutgers Stadium
  • Piscataway, New Jersey
ESPNL 12–4442,502
September 203:30 pmat Navy*
CBSCSL 21–2337,821
September 273:30 pmMorgan State*
  • Rutgers Stadium
  • Piscataway, New Jersey
SNYW 38–042,411
October 412:00 pmat West Virginia
SNYL 17–2459,122
October 1112:00 pmat Cincinnati
SNYL 10–1332,370
October 1812:00 pmConnecticutdagger
  • Rutgers Stadium
  • Piscataway, New Jersey
ESPNUW 12–1042,491
October 253:30 pmat No. 17 Pittsburgh
ESPN360W 54–3451,161
November 812:00 pmSyracuse
  • Rutgers Stadium
  • Piscataway, New Jersey
ESPNUW 35–1742,172
November 1512:00 pmat South Florida
SNYW 49–1647,216
November 2212:00 pmArmy*
  • Rutgers Stadium
  • Piscataway, New Jersey
SNYW 30–342,212
December 47:45 pmLouisville
  • Rutgers Stadium
  • Piscataway, New Jersey
ESPNW 63–1442,347
December 293:00 pmvs. NC State
ESPNW 29–2338,582
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP polls released prior to game.
  • All times are in Eastern time

References


    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.