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TagsBY MIKE VORKUNOV
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Antonio Lowery struggled to put words to it. To how he felt with 2:21 remaining in the game and how he felt in a somber locker room afterwards.
When the game was still up for the taking, after Lowery and the defense created a second chance at redemption by forcing a North Carolina three-and-out, he felt the game in his grasp. After the Scarlet Knights did nothing with a perfect opportunity, he felt like someone had clawed it out.
Following a Tar Heel punt and five-yard penalty, the Knights started a potential game-winning drive with just 34-yards between them and probable victory. An offense and a quarterback that had struggled for the previous 57-minutes was spared a long-drive. And despite ample time remaining, Rutgers went to the air to cover up a ground game that was going nowhere.
In 51 seconds, that second chance was wasted. Rutgers did not complete a pass with quarterback Tom Savage throwing three incompletions and taking a sack.
"We played our football and we...just...aaahhh," said Lowery after the 17-13 loss, finding it difficult to match up his mouth with his heart.Rutgers (2-1) took their first loss of the season in front of 52,038 at Rutgers Stadium at the hands of a depleted Tar Heel team. Despite missing seven starters to NCAA indiscretions, North Carolina (1-2) overcame a ten-point deficit and withstood two fourth-quarter drives to leave New Jersey with a win.
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After giving themselves a little breathing room following a Casey Barth 25-yard field goal that extended their lead to 17-13 five minutes into the fourth quarter, the Tar Heels had to play defense the rest of the way.
Savage missed almost the entire third quarter after a hit to the ribs before halftime that forced him to see the trainers, but was back out to try to lead the Knights' comeback. Starting with the ball on their own 22-yard line, he led the offense on a 12-play drive down to UNC's 19-yard line. Then trying to hit Jeremy Deering on a crossing route across the middle, he threw behind him and into the chest of Matt Merletti for his second interception of the game.
With 2:42 remaining the game looked over and the fans started to pile out of the stadium. But a stop by the defense and three timeouts gave Rutgers one more try. Once again it was no good.
It ended a day to forget for Savage and the offense. They combined for 244 yards, but struggled to run the ball. With Joe Martinek hobbling, they ran it 37 times for 87 yards, a meager 2.4 yards per carry.
"Obviously, I am concerned [about the offense], because we are not doing the things we need to do," said head coach Greg Schiano. "You know, you need to be able to run the football, we rushed for 87 yards, I think it was I think it was, yeah. There's some good plays we are making, but we are just not we are making too many that aren't good. We just got to go back to the drawing board and figure it out."
For at least a quarter they seemed to have it figured out. Riding Mohamed Sanu, Rutgers jumped out to a 10-0 lead on a San San Te field goal and Sanu 10-yard touchdown run out of the Wildcat offense.
As part of his busy day, Sanu accounted for 25 of the 69 plays from scrimmage. He carried the ball 15 times for 41 yards, caught nine balls for 74 yards and completed his only pass for seven yards.
"We maybe maybe we locked into Sanu more than we should have," said Schiano. "I'll look at that. I'll look at it and review it. Pretty good player, too. I want to get him the ball. One of my fears that I always have to be careful of is: Is he getting tired, running the ball, calling it in the huddle, running the ball, going to wide out, running the route. I think we've really got to keep a close eye on if we wear him out."
He was used often, but after a while it began to look like that was the only weapon in the Knights' arsenal. The offense withered out as the game progressed, giving North Carolina room to come back. They scored the last 17-points of the game. Johnny White scored on a one-yard run in the second quarter and Ryan Taylor started the scoring in the second half with a five-yard touchdown catch that barely broke the plane, fumbling it before the score was upheld by official review.
While few, the Tar Heels didn't need many more points as it became a battle of the defenses. Quan Sturtevant (12 tackles, one sack), Bruce Carter (seven tackles, one interception), and Quinton Coples (three sacks, four tackles for a loss) harassed Rutgers. In the second half, the Tar Heel 'D only gave up 98 yards. Carter also blocked a punt.
The Knights defense was also stingy. They kept North Carolina to less than 100 yards rushing, sacked quarterback T.J. Yates twice and forced three turnovers.
"I thought the defense, save a few plays, I thought they played at a high level," said Schiano.
