RUTGERS BEATS LOUISVILLE

[moonwise]

This is a scene from the madness that took place last night after #15 Rutgers beat #3 Louisville.

I've been at some intense games in my life, but this... may top them all.



Several weeks ago, my cousin, who lives in Denver, called me up and told me that he was coming east for his mother's birthday, and that he wanted to go to a Rutgers game with us. I got on the phone to the ticket office, and after some fast talk, got six tickets together at buy one get one free.

We thought the game might be big. Sure, Rutgers was doing well, but this was Rutgers. No way they'd be 8-0 on the season by the time L'ville came to town. We thought maybe we'd have some laughs and a bit of a tailgate.

Then, not too long after I got my tickets, I started hearing about how the game was sold out.

Then, Rutgers didn't lose. And they didn't lose again. And they didn't lose again. Suddenly, our little shindig was the biggest event of the year on campus and in New Jersey.

The sportswriters were feverishly speculating about L'ville's bowl bid. Except in the local press, the spotlight was on the Cardinals, who were undefeated at the time and taking aim at the national championship. Not too many talking heads were talking about the chance that little ol' Rutgers, the perennial losers, the Johnny-come-lately, had against the #3 team in the nation.

But NJ was excited. On the highway, you saw the signs warning of heavy traffic and street closures. In the paper, there were red helmets. On campus, there were camp-outs for tickets, and Greg Schiano making a legend out of himself by bringing the waiting students 50 pizzas. Game day approached, and you started hearing about all the bigwigs who wanted a piece of the action and a pair of tickets.

Yesterday, my boss was all too happy to give me a half day so that we could get to campus before the place went insane. Husband picked my cousin up, and we all drove down and parked on Busch campus. We took a bus over to College Ave. for sweatshirt hunting and lunch, and I finally convinced my husband to let me get him a #23 jersey to complement my #27. New Brunswick was definitely getting pumped for the game, with red shirts everywhere you looked. We got into a "R! U!" shouting match in a couple of bars, and we had plenty of drinks to prepare for game time.

Around 4 PM or so we walked (read: staggered, at least in my case) back over to Busch campus, since the buses weren't running. We got there in time to watch the team run into the locker room, accompanied by the Marching Scarlet Knights' music and a horde of cheering fans. We spent a good deal of time running around looking for my cousin's girlfriend and friends, but husband and I were safely in our seats before kickoff, singing along lustily to "On the Banks of the Old Raritan," the school's alma mater, and "The Bells Must Ring," the fight song.

The game did not bode well at first. Louisville was making yards with big plays, and after a fake punt, an insulting fourth-down conversion, and a 100-yard punt return for a TD, things were not looking good for the Scarlet Knights. Down 25-7, there didn't seem to be much to cheer about.

But the Knights didn't give up. Schiano's motto this year has been "Just keep chopping away," and that's what happened. The defense dug in and didn't allow any more points after halftime, and the running game started moving, and the passing game was good enough to come up with some great catch-and-runs. With about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Rutgers had tied up the game with a field goal, and the crowd was on its feet.

Louisville tried to move, but they had a three-and-out, and Rutgers got the ball back on its own 10-yard-line.

What happened next is the stuff dreams are made of.

Brian Leonard, the selfless fullback, made a big run into Louisville territory after a pair of Ray Rice first downs. Then Rice pounded ahead to the 33. The clock was ticking, and all that was left was for Jeremy "The Judge" Ito to put it through the uprights.

And he missed.

Penalty flag down - offsides L'ville. Ball moves to the 27.

Ito boots it in, with 13 seconds left on the clock. The crowd is screaming its collective head off.

Louisville kicks off, and after a big runback, gets tackled with two seconds left. The students lined up on the sidelines race out onto the field, but the game isn't over yet. Louisville has time for one more play, and...

SACK! GAME OVER, RU WINS!

And the crowd goes BALLISTIC.

"Celebration" starts playing on the speakers, and the goalposts were lowered and protected to prevent a cheering, happy mob from uprooting them and throwing them in the Raritan. Jeremy Ito was carried off the field, along with Greg Schiano. My friend Eric, who was watching the game in New Brunswick, said you could hear the stadium noise at the train station, nearly two miles away. Students and alums poured onto the field from all directions (us included!)

It felt like the Super Bowl.

The only other game like it that I've been to was the 2001 Giants/Vikings playoff game. Although it was terribly exciting, and I will never forget the 41-0 pasting, cheering with my mother, and Wellington Mara's "field of painted mud" speech, it wasn't as intimate or accessible. With this game, you were up close and personal, you were part of the action.

We finally headed home around midnight, hoarse and sore, but still jazzed up. It took a while to get settled down (of course, that could have been the Red Bull and vodka my cousin bought me) but we rested assured in our win.

This morning, the sports shows were full of congratulations for Rutgers, and they were all smiles for Jersey pride. There were several articles on CNNSI, and a big segment on Sportscenter. Speculation runs rampant about the BCS bowl bids, and who will end up where now that Louisville has a loss and the #3 team has been toppled. Rutgers will probably get a bowl bid of some kind, and maybe we'll have a party.

But, to my mind, they've already won the Big One.

Comments

[jaina.livejournal.com]

That's an awesome story.

One the GSP last night, the signs that normally read "accident ahead/expect heavy volume" or whatever read "Go Rutgers." I busted out laughing and wished I had a camera phone.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Hee! Husband liked your story. We drove through New Brunswick yesterday, and the same kind of road signs on Rte. 18 read "Rutgers 28, Louisville 25." NJ is happy!

[lumen.livejournal.com]

Man, that sounds so awesome. I can't even begin to imagine what you would've felt like if you had sold those tickets when the price started to go up! :x

[arafel.livejournal.com]

I think we'd feel pretty bad! :) A lot of people were jealous!

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Was that a b'ball win or a football win? I seem to associate the Tar Heels with basketball (oh I hope I got that right.) Nothin' quite like winning the big one, especially if you are one of the students and you can go out and drink like a fish afterwards.

[ladyofthesea.livejournal.com]

Everyone who came into the bank talked about nothing else today. I love football and all but I kinda couldn't bring myself to care about the Rutgers team. Congrats to them though. May they continue to kick ass.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

*grins* Well, it kinda helps if you went to Rutgers. It WAS a classic game - a real Hollywood nail-biter. You've already got two other teams to care about, though. :)