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Quick Lane Bowl: Rutgers handles favored North Carolina

Ryan Dunleavy
USA TODAY Sports
Rutgers running back Robert Martin celebrates after a touchdown with offensive lineman Betim Bujari and tight end Tyler Kroft.

DETROIT – Just for good measure, the Rutgers football team won once more as an underdog to conclude a season that is best summed up as an upset victory.

Rutgers punctuated its surprise first trip through the Big Ten by dominating 3.5-point favorite North Carolina to the tune of 40-21 behind a smart senior quarterback, a couple of emerging star running backs, a hard-hitting defense and some trademark special teams excellence in the inaugural Quick Lane Bowl.

It was the first bowl victory for head coach Kyle Flood, who lost in two previous appearances, and it allowed Rutgers (8-5) to reach eight wins for the seventh time in the past nine seasons.

"I feel like the team confirmed everything I felt about them," Flood said. "I never agreed with what the public perception was of this football team. I thought we had a good football team, I thought we'd be competitive. I thought we'd be playing in the postseason. In every way, this football team made me right."

Gary Nova didn't break the school record for passing yards or interceptions but he did slip a few pinpoint throws into an otherwise clean performance managing an offense led by bowl MVP Josh Hicks. Nova finished 9-of-20 for 184 yards and two scores in earning his first career bowl victory in front of 23,876 at 65,000-seat Ford Field.

"This really was the only thing out there for him that he hadn't accomplished," said Flood, who was given a Gatorade shower. "Gary was very emotional in the locker room, which I would expect because he's poured so much of his life into this program over the last four years."

The good vibe continued for Rutgers after the game when star receiver Leonte Carroo, who had two catches for 43 yards while playing with an injured wrist, announced he is foregoing the NFL Draft to return for his senior year.

"I announced it to the team and everyone was going crazy," Carroo said. "To get that love and support from my teammates and for them to think that highly of me is awesome."

The Quick Lane Bowl, run by the Detroit Lions, paid $1.2 million to both the Big Ten and the ACC for the matchup, though North Carolina (6-7) hardly looked worth the price. Actually, UNC, which fell far short of its preseason expectations looked like it wished the season ended 27 days ago in a loss to NC State.

Nova moved the offense 75 yards in the first five plays, capping the drive with a 34-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Andre Patton. Then the reborn senior, who uncharacteristically gave his team a fiery motivational talk in the pregame huddle, seemed content to let the likely next wave of stars take center stage as freshmen backs Robert Martin and Hicks both scored touchdowns.

"You try to avoid this moment and thinking about the end of the game, but this is a great moment in here with the guys," Nova said. "I'll remember it for a while."

Martin (100 yards and two touchdowns) and Hicks (202 yards and one touchdown) joined Ray Rice as just the second and third true freshmen in Rutgers' 10-game bowl history to reach the century mark. It was the first time with two 100-yard rushers in a game since Rice and Brian Leonard in 2006.

Rutgers, which presumably will get star halfback Paul James back from injury to join a crowded mix next season, rushed for 139 yards in building a 23-0 halftime lead. At that point, Rutgers outscored Maryland, against whom it rallied from 25 down, and UNC by a combined 47-3 score over four straight quarters.

"After the season is over, you can't really imagine it going much better than this," linebacker Kevin Snyder said. "Especially with how dominant we were."

A defense that finished the season allowing a school-record amount of total yardage for the second straight season seemed refreshed by its long layoff. Not only did the back seven clean up its tackling issues, it hit with force, generating a pair of fumbles, both of which were recovered by Lorenzo Waters.

In his final game, Waters added a blocked field goal to his stat line as North Carolina accepted that even special teams points were hard to come by. Earlier in the first half, Darius Hamilton blew through the blocking to stifle a fake field goal attempt by hitting the holder before the play ever truly developed.

"Our defense did a good job of getting off the field without giving up points," Flood said. "I thought we played really opportunistic defense today."

The near-unanimous pick to finish last in the Big Ten East Division, Rutgers won eight of the nine games in which it was not a heavy underdog, with only a heartbreaking loss to Penn State in a burgeoning rivalry standing in the way. That run included upsets against Washington State, Navy and Maryland.

The game wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated as Rutgers led 40-7 with less than seven minutes remaining until a frenzy of two touchdowns and two onside kick recoveries.

Ryan Dunleavy writes for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press.

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