BY MIKE McDONALD
Staff Writer
The Rutgers University football team evened its record this past Saturday by beating Villanova University, 38-6, at Rutgers.
Rutgers played well on both sides of the ball, which should help start the healing process for the heartbreaking, season-opening collapse against Illinois.
“I’m happy that we were able to rebound from a very emotional loss,” head coach Greg Schiano said. “We went out and won a game that we were supposed to win. It’s a great feeling at this point in the program. Offensively, I am pleased that we have completed two games without a turnover. Our offense is the strength of our football team. And we need to keep slugging away, and continue to get better and better.”
Junior Willie Foster got the crowd excited when he returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a Rutgers touchdown. Schiano believes that the score helped give Rutgers confidence, but never did he think Villanova was going to roll over and die.
“It was great to go up 7-0, but sometimes that can make you think that games like this will be a walk,” he said. “When you play a I-AA team early in the year, they usually have everyone healthy. I knew that this game was going to be a fight. We did what a good team is supposed to do, win the game and win it convincingly.
“These kids are much more resilient then we are, with the playing schedule and academics,” he added. “They approached this game very business-like. They came out every day and worked hard.”
Wide receiver Tres Moses, who caught seven passes for 114 yards, believed last week’s loss to Illinois actually motivated the team going into this game.
“After last week, that was a tough loss because our main focus was to go out and execute our plan,” he said. “But I’m definitely happy with the way we executed today. We used last week as more motivation to push us and make us work harder so we could come out with a W.”
Quarterback Ryan Hart, who completed 16-of-22 passes for 234 yards passing and one touchdown, believes the fans played a role in the victory.
“It’s a good win, obviously, and especially at home. We had a good home crowd. It was tough last weekend because I thought we played well, but obviously not well enough to win.”
One of the reasons that this team may have success this year is because this is a team that pulls for each other. They believe in the word team. This starts with Schiano and works its way down to the players.
“As a coach, it’s a joy to be around a team and a group of guys you like,” the coach said. “I enjoy being around these guys Monday through Friday, and I really enjoy being around these guys on Saturday.”
Rutgers fans hope to be able to say the same the rest of the way.