Oct 18, 2008 5:53 pm US/Eastern
Late Missed FG Helps Rutgers Top UConn, 12-10
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) ―
When Mike Teel watched Tony Ciaravino's potential game-winning field goal bounce off the right upright, just one thought ran through the Rutgers quarterback's mind.
"It's about time we got a break," Teel said after the Scarlet Knights escaped with a 12-10 win over Connecticut Saturday. "The ball finally bounced our way."
Trailing 12-10 late in the fourth quarter, Zach Frazier drove UConn from its 15 to the Rutgers 20 before an offensive pass interference call on Martin Bedard during a completion to Kashif Moore pushed the Huskies back to the 35. Bedard's reception then put it at the 25, but Ciaravino's kick into the wind hit the upright with 1:09 left.
"That was the greatest thing I've ever seen," Rutgers linebacker Kevin Malast said.
Ciaravino entered the game 8-for-11 on field goal attempts with a long of 47, but was 1-for-4 on the day.
"It's very frustrating," Huskies coach Randy Edsall said. "You just don't expect that with three field goals that are easily makeable for him."
The fifth-year senior accepted full responsibility.
"I've made that (last) kick 1,000 times during practice," he said. "There's no excuse. I should have made it. I was just thinking of putting my head down and following through with my mechanics. When I hit it I thought it was good."
The win was the first against a Division I-A team this year for Rutgers (2-5, 1-2 Big East), while Connecticut (5-2, 1-1) dropped its second straight.
Rutgers held Donald Brown, the nation's leading rusher at 177.8 yards per game, to 106 yards overall and six on 11 carries after halftime. He did not score a touchdown for the first game this year.
"The difference was, we didn't miss any tackles the second half," Malast said of a defense that has allowed 23 points the last two games. "Even the good runs he made, we fit him perfect, we just missed the tackles."
Frazier, starting his second straight game in place of injured Tyler Lorenzen, was 16-for-22 for 206 yards. He had pulled the Huskies to within 12-10 on a 47-yard touchdown pass to Kashif Moore with 8:33 left.
The beleaguered Teel, who was spelled several times by backup Dom Natale as coach Greg Schiano tried to spark a sputtering offense, was 15-for-28 for 162 yards. Kenny Britt had eight catches for 93 yards.
Teddy Dellaganna averaged 41.7 yards on seven punts and pinned Connecticut inside the 5-yard line twice in the second half and inside the 20 four times.
"He had a big, big day," Schiano said. "He did a great job, not only on punts, but kickoffs."
It was the kicking game that helped Rutgers to a 12-3 lead in the third quarter.
On the second-half kickoff, Rutgers tackled Robbie Frey at the 1-yard line, then forced a punt from the four. RU took over at the UConn 37 and five plays later Young scored the game's first touchdown to make it 10-3.
Dellaganna's next two punts pinned UConn at its three and two, respectively. After the second punt, Brown was tackled in the endzone for a safety by Bines.
"As the ball is snapped, I'm firing off and the guard pulled," Bines said. "I saw the tackle try to cut me, so I was just thinking get over the tackle and I'll get right to the running back."
UConn took a 3-0 lead on Ciaravino's 19-yarder, which was set up by Cody Brown's blocked punt. The Knights countered with an 18-yard field goal by San San Te.
Ciaravino missed two other attempts in the half, while Te missed one.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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