With the 2012 season nearing a close, Rutgers has a chance to make school history. The Scarlet Knights are ranked 21st in the nation and is on the verge of winning its first Big East title in the history of the school as they travel to face the Pittsburgh Panthers at Heinz Field.
It's better late than never for Rutgers, who announced on Tuesday that the team will leave the Big East for the Big Ten conference in 2014. Maryland has also said they will join the conference, which will grow to 14 teams.
The team has played extremely well under first-year coach Kyle Flood, who has Rutgers one win away from just the third 10-win season in over 140 years of football. According to ESPN.com, Flood would become the first coach in school history to win that many games in the first year of the job.
Rutgers can win the Big East outright and clinch a spot in a BCS bowl game with a win on Saturday and a victory against No. 19 Louisville at home next Thursday. The Cardinals are behind Rutgers in the standings with a 4-1 record and play Connecticut on Saturday.
The Scarlet Knights are 5-0 in the Big East and can also clinch the conference championship on Saturday with a win over Pittsburgh combined with a Louisville loss to the Huskies.
"I think when you have the opportunity as a football program, as a coach, as a player, to do something that's never been done in the history of your program ... we are a very focused group," Flood said. "The football people in this building are focused on one thing, and that is trying to be 1-0 against Pitt."
Rutgers has been one of the most impressive defensive teams in the nation this season, ranking fourth in scoring defense with just 12.4 points allowed per game. The team is 5-0 on the road this season, including last week's 10-3 victory last Saturday against Cincinnati.
The Bearcats didn't score until there were 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter, something that bothered linebacker Khassem Greene, who was named Big East defensive player of the week for the second straight week, still wasn't satisfied.
"I was very disappointed about losing the shutout," said Greene, whose half-brother Ray Graham is Pitt's leading rusher. "I'm not going to lie to you. We played hard enough and worked hard enough to get the shutout."
Rutgers has been solid running the ball all season, but running back Jawan Jamison may not be fully healthy after injuring his ankle last week. In the win against Cincinnati, he had 37 yards rushing on just four carries and has gained 990 yards this year with four touchdowns.
Sophomore Savon Huggins picked up the slack against the Bearcats, rushing for 179 yards on 41 attempts.
"Whatever guy is in there, we have confidence in," Flood said. "We don't change the offense because one guy is in there or the other."
Quarterback Gary Nova has been up-and-down for Rutgers this season, passing for 2,125 yards and 19 touchdowns while completing over 60 percent of his passes. He passed for four touchdowns in the teams 35-10 win against Temple, but has six interceptions in the team's lone loss to Kent State.
In the past five games Nova has thrown nine interceptions in the past three games, compared to just three in the previous seven.
Rutgers started the season with seven straight wins, including a 35-36 victory on the road at Arkansas on Sept. 22. The team lost at home 35-23 against Kent State on Oct. 27, but has rebounded to win two straight.
Last year the team went 9-4 in the final season under coach Greg Schiano, who left to coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team finished in fourth place in the Big East with a 4-3 record and played in the Pinstripe Bowl where they beat Iowa State 27-13.
Pittsburgh enters the game desperate for a win after losing back-to-back-games heading into a bye week. Saturday's game against Rutgers will be the final conference between the two, as the Panthers will move to the ACC next season.
The team will become bowl-eligible under first-year coach Paul Chryst if it can win its final two games against Rutgers and South Florida next week,
"We're definitely in touch with reality and what we have to do," wide receiver Devin Street said.
Pittsburgh has been a streaky team all season, winning and losing in two-game intervals since opening with losses against Youngstown State and Cincinnati. After winning two games against Virginia Tech and Gardner-Webb, the Panthers lost at Syracuse and at home to Louisville 45-35.
The Panthers have struggled in two games since winning 47-17 against Temple on Oct. 27, losing to Notre Dame 29-26 in tipple-overtime and against Connecticut 24-17 last Saturday.
Senior quarterback Tino Sunseri had a solid game against the Huskies, throwing for 302 yards and two touchdowns. According to the Associated Press, "he has completed 67.3 percent of his passes this season and has thrown only two interceptions -- none in 202 attempts over his last seven games."
In last season's matchup Rutgers defeated the Panthers 34-10 at home behind two Nova touchdown passes.
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