Jersey boys turn Rutgers turnovers into 45-17 victory on the road
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Associate Sports Editor
PISCATAWAY, N.J.
For two-and-a-half quarters, Rutgers fans perched on the edge of their seats as their underdog team contended with the Irish. Then the Scarlet Knights handed the game to the Irish, and the sea of red turned into a band of blue and gold.
The Scarlet Knights came close to knotting the score in the third quarter before the Irish capitalized on a batch of Scarlet Knights mistakes to win 45-17.
Rutgers tailback Dennis Thomas dashed for the longest run of his career, a 65-yard touchdown, narrowing the Notre Dame lead to 24-17. On the ensuing Irish possession, a Matt LoVecchio pass landed squarely in the hands of Rutgers defensive back Tony Berry, giving Rutgers a chance to take control, but Berry dropped the ball.
"From where I was, I thought he had intercepted it, and I had already flipped back and gone to defense," Irish head coach Bob Davie said. "I thought he had it and was running down the sidelines. That was a huge play. If they would have intercepted that ball, it could have been a different game."
Notre Dame soon began to gather steam.
The Irish forced the Scarlet Knights into punting on their next drive, and David Givens blocked Rutgers' Mike Barr punt with the recovery by Notre Dame's Chad DeBolt. Notre Dame took over at the Rutgers 31-yard line, and a six-yard Tony Fisher run set up a 25-yard touchdown pass from LoVecchio to Javin Hunter and a 31-17 Irish advantage.
"When it was 31-17, a few guys looked up at the scoreboard and said, `Man, it's starting to get out of hand,'" Thomas said of the Scarlet Knights. "A fraction of the team started to not execute their plays. We couldn't afford that."
Rutgers only held onto the ball for seven seconds, before Notre Dame defensive tackle Anthony Weaver forced quarterback Mike McMahon to fumble the pigskin. Irish defensive end Ryan Roberts dove on the ball to put Notre Dame back on offense at the Rutgers 18-yard line.
Already in the red zone, a couple Jersey boys stuck it to their home state school. Garden State native Terrance Howard carried three times on the drive, including a two-yard touchdown run to give Notre Dame a 38-17 lead. LoVecchio had the only other carry on the drive, a three-yard run.
"I think we have proved that, during the past weeks, that we have three talented running backs that can make big plays," Howard said.
Forty-one seconds later, Rutgers again handed over the ball. McMahon sent a pass to Josh Hobbs that was caught midway there by Irish safety Ron Israel of Lawnside, N.J.
This go-round, the Irish failed to convert as Nick Setta's 41-yard field goal attempt fell short.
Rutgers' next possession again ended in disaster, as Notre Dame's Vontez Duff picked off McMahon. That interception marked the third straight Rutgers possession to end in a turnover, in addition to the blocked punt and missed interception.
The Irish got one more touchdown on a 12-play, 80-yard drive sparked by a 35-yard run by LoVecchio. Fisher, who rushed for 135 yards in his second straight 100-yard performance, found the end zone on a two-yard run.
In the first half, Rutgers struck first with a Steve Barone 30-yard field goal, the first points ever scored by the Scarlet Knights against the Irish.
Notre Dame answered with a 43-yard touchdown pass from LoVecchio to senior wide receiver Joey Getherall. The Irish came back at the Knights with a faked field goal that kicker Nick Setta tossed 25 yards to Tom Lopienski for a 14-3 Irish lead.
Rutgers' Thomas turned in a one-yard touchdown run to narrow the gap early in the second quarter. But Notre Dame opened things up again on a 33-yard Setta field goal and a one-yard Howard touchdown run.
Despite the final 28-point margin of victory, Notre Dame didn't look like a school trying to convince pollsters it was BCS-worthy for most of the game.
The Irish struggled with penalties, committing 12 for 120 yards.
"Those are mental errors that we have to correct," LoVecchio said. "Those are easy things to correct. You've just got to buckle down and stay focused until the end of the game."
Rutgers, meanwhile, looked better than its record until midway through the third quarter. It was fighting for its 13 seniors and soon-to-resign head coach Terry Shea to win their final home game, and it showed — for awhile.
But the Irish won out, leading to the third time in five years that they'll close out their season in Southern California trying to hold off the Trojans to secure a major bowl game.
All Sports Stories for Monday, November 20, 2000
