PISCATAWAY, N.J. — At 0-3, Rutgers desperately needed a victory and it didn’t matter who it came against.
The Scarlet Knights would’ve taken a win over the Boy Scouts of America if they were on the schedule.
On a rainy, dreary day, redshirt freshman Jourdan Brooks rushed for a career-best three touchdowns and the Knights routed Division I-AA Morgan State, 38-0, before 42,411 at Rutgers Stadium.
Also, that loss to Navy isn’ting look quite as bad now that the Midshipmen defeated No. 16 Wake Forest, 24-17, on Saturday.
Keep reading below for quotes from head coach Greg Schiano’s and the players on the game….
Greg Schiano Post-Game Quotes
Sept. 27, 2008
Opening statement:
“It feels good to win. It’s been a little bit of a drought, but we got to play a lot of people. Some young guys got in there who don’t get in there that much usually. I’m anxious to watch what they did on video.”
On RU causing four turnovers:
“Hopefully that can be the beginning of something. We say catch the ones they throw you, we didn’t really have any of those before, we had a few of those today, those four could have been seven or eight today. We just didn’t catch the balls on defense. We made some plays and we left some on the table. But you have to walk before you run.”
On RU’s running game:
“I was a little disappointed overall in the running game that we didn’t have a little more production. I thought there were people slipping off blocks. I don’t know if it’s reads. It’s awful hard during the game to figure out if it’s reads or if it’s blocking. I think Jourdan [Brooks] is getting more and more comfortable, for sure. He is certainly showing that he has a nose for the end zone, which is good.”
On the team missing offensive lineman Anthony Davis:
“Certainly when you take a guy who’s one of your five starters you’re depleted. The reason the guys are your starters is that at the time of the game they are the best five you have. So I’m sure it had some effect.”
On RU’s defense:
“Anytime you shut somebody out it’s a great effort. We play people throughout the game, some freshmen during the game, but then in the fourth quarter we made wholesale substitutions, and I was proud that they were able to continue playing and maintain the shutout. In college football those are hard to come by, and I think any defensive unit takes pride in that. It was a good step for the unit. They did some good things. Third down defense they were o-fer, we haven’t done that in a little while, so some encouraging signs there. I’ll watch the tape, but again you’re never as good as you think you are and never as bad as you think you are.”
On RU’s offense:
“I thought the big thing was that Mike really performed well today. He had a grasp of what we were doing. The one interception was a tough guy to see, but he threw it. I thought he played well. With the exception of that he had no bad decisions. He had one bad decision. We did some different things with the run game that helped us a little bit as we tried to adjust. [Morgan State] defensively, I knew coming in they blitz a ton. We tried to run some things into the blitz and just have our way with it, and we didn’t at times. When you get blitz coverage like that a lot of times you’ll check and throw the ball, because they are one-on-one. We tried to run into it and see if we could, sometimes we did and sometimes we didn’t. Certainly we will have a lot of learning off this tape. As I have said many times, I enjoy learning off the “W” column than the “L” column.”
On quarterback Mike Teel:
“I think it was important that Mike play well today. It’s so hard being a major college quarterback. You get more praise when you win than you probably deserve and you get a lot more blame than you deserve when you lose. It has not been easy for Mike. This was a good step for him. Now we’re into the BIG EAST schedule and here we go, straight away to Morgantown.”
On the team:
“We are not nearly where we need to be, and when you look at some of the players that we are trying to replace who are playing in the National Football League right now, we’re getting better. We have a long way to go but we’re getting better. That’s all we can do. Just keep getting a little better every week. We have four more practices before we go play [West Virginia], so if we can get a little bit better each one of those practices we will be a little better next Saturday, and that’s really all you can do. It may not be where we need to be to beat them, but that’s the only way we’ll have a chance.”
On what he is most proud of about RU’s performance:
“When you play a Division I-AA opponent, it would have been easy for guys to think even at 0-3 we are better than them and all we have to do is show up, but that was not the attitude that they approached it with. They approached it with a very workman-like attitude. Again, we made a ton of mistakes, so I’m not standing up here saying we really hit it on all cylinders. But they worked hard. They practiced hard and they worked hard today on game day, and they worked for 60 minutes. As a coach that’s what you ask for. There are a lot of things we have to correct, but as long as we are putting forth that kind of effort, we’ll get there. It will just take a little bit.”
On winning:
“It’s hard to win. We only have 12 games and it’s hard to win. Anytime you can win a game it’s good for you. Next week’s game will have nothing to do with this week’s game. We need to go in prepared and play well, but it certainly beats the alternative.”
On backup quarterback Chris Paul-Etienne:
“I think Chris has worked very hard and I think he’s coming along. A quarter more than he’s ever played, so it was a great opportunity for him. He did some nice things. Under pressure he made some plays with his feet, he scrambled for the one first down. He does not look rushed, he looks under control, which is good. He is a confident guy. He has that quarter under his belt, maybe he feels a little more comfortable the next time he goes in.”
Rutgers Student-Athlete Post Game Quotes vs. Morgan State
MIKE TEEL, 5th-Sr., QB #14
“We all prepared very hard for the game today. We played smarter and were able to have fun out there. The key thing for us is that we approached the game one play at a time. Each and every play is different. All of us had to get back to the things that made us successful in the past. We slowed things down and focused, and that was instrumental in getting this win.”
“Getting the first win is an important step. Now we have some confidence as we head to Morgantown to play West Virginia. We have to be ready to play against them, and we’ll be ready. We still have things to work on, but with today’s win, it will be a lot more fun preparing for our next game.”
TIQUAN UNDERWOOD, Sr., WR #7
“The first win of the season always feels good, especially after our tough start. We were able to do a lot of things right today, and it just feels good to come out with a win.”
“Mike Teel showed how great his character is today. That’s what I like about Mike. He will always fight for us no matter what. Mike came out today and was determined to lead us. He impressed us all.”
TIM BROWN, Jr., WR #2
“Today’s win is very big for us, and gives us huge motivation for next week’s game at West Virginia. We all focused today and made the plays to get the job done. Mike Teel came through for us. He is such a tough player and a great quarterback. We knew he would be fine.”
JOURDAN BROOKS, R-So., RB, #39
“Walking into the locker room after the game today felt great after a win. It was huge for us and gives us great confidence.”
“Seeing Mike do so well today was great. We all support him. His mindset today was clear and he just focused on the game at hand today
“All of the running backs on this team work extremely hard and go out to do our best. We all support and rely on each other every game. We’re like a family.”
