(19) during the first quarter.
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Hamilton played in just one game this season, appearing in last week’s 28-3 loss to Penn State. But the Jayhawks never quite felt in the game against a reeling Rutgers team without its coach. Far from it, but these two teams will nevertheless confront each other and the result will go down in the books.
For the next 14 days with an upcoming bye week, Rutgers can sleep a little more soundly. The Scarlet Knights have dropped two straight since a season-opening victory over Norfolk State and will be without coach Kyle Flood on Saturday as he continues to serve a three-game suspension for breaking university policy by contacting a professor about a player’s grade, although he is allowed at practices. I asked him, can he give us better decisions and he said yes. “We let (Penn State) disrespect us”. He declined to get specific, but said Willis will likely be used in those situations.
Longa, who was his usual self with 11 tackles, set the tone for a tenacious front seven.
By all accounts, it wasn’t supposed to come easily. In the 125-year history of the program, Kansas has played 159 games against current Big Ten foes dating back to an 1891 contest against Iowa.
Key stat: After three quarters, KU was averaging 2.6 yards per carry. He went 6-of-13 for 85 yards and one interception prior to the injury.
Backed by a 41-yard scamper from senior running back De’Andre Mann, Kansas found its first points of the game to cut the Rutgers lead to six, 13-7.
Montell Cozart’s last-ditch effort on 4th-and-10 sailed incomplete down the left sideline with 2:50 to play. “We don’t know yet”.
Rutgers had its fair share of Plaxico moments.
Coordinator Ben McDaniels kept things simple and conservative, calling mostly quick curls, slants and fades in the passing game to counter Kansas’ blitzes. Through the air, Rutgers has completed 63-of-86 passes for 703 yards, adding five touchdowns to three interceptions. “Making plays on offense”. Rutgers rushed 58 times for 312 yards, behind sophomores Josh Hicks (113 yards, two scores) and Robert Martin (102 yards).
Wideout Carlton Agudosi hauled in his first career touchdown on 14-yard fade route in single man coverage, capping Rutgers’ 11-play, 91-yard drive that put the Knights up 7-0 late in the first quarter.
It has been a rough few years for Rutgers, and ironically it has come after the outlook for Scarlet Knight athletics never seemed brighter.
Miller in the corner of the end zone.
But two plays later, Lewis immediately stopped Kansas’ potential momentum shifter. The bad news: The Rutgers defense totally bottled up KU’s rushing attack, including the risky Ke’aun Kinner.
Kinner would also score from one-yard out in the third, but the Jayhawks couldn’t get closer than 13 the rest of the way. 3.
It was the first homecoming win for the Knights since October. 15, 2011, when they beat Navy, 21-20.
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And they keep Kansas, a less-than-not-very-good team winless, with the hope of that changing dwindling.
