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Author: Bob Coustic Senior fullback Brian Leonard (Gouverneur, N.Y.) became the career scoring leader in Rutgers history as he scored two rushing touchdowns, leading No. 15/16 Rutgers (10-1, 5-1 BIG EAST to a 38-7 BIG EAST win over Syracuse (4-8, 1-6 BIG EAST) in its home finale at Rutgers Stadium on Saturday.
Kenny Britt
Tiquan Underwood congratulates Kenny Britt after a first-quarter touchdown.
The Scarlet Knights finished with a perfect 6-0 record at home in 2006, marking the first time since 1984 that Rutgers has gone unbeaten on their home field. The perfect mark at Rutgers Stadium is the first since the facility was built in 1994.
Leonard led the Scarlet Knights with 133 all-purpose yards, including 106 yards on 19 carries. The senior fullback scored two rushing touchdowns, the 30th and 31st of his career. With the fourth-quarter touchdown, Leonard became the all-time leading scorer in Rutgers history with 266 career points, breaking the previous record of 261 points, set by placekicker Kennan Starzell from 1976-79.
Rutgers running back Ray Rice (New Rochelle, N.Y.) ran for 107 yards on 23 carries, the 13th 100-plus-yard game in his career and his eighth on the season. True freshman wide receiver Kenny Britt (Bayonne, N.J.) made four catches for 94 yards, a career-best, while also scoring his first two career touchdowns against the Orange.
On its first drive of the game, Rutgers took an early 7-0 lead as Rice scored his 17th rushing touchdown of the season, capping an eight-play, 88-yard drive.
Sophomore safety Courtney Greene (New Rochelle, N.Y.) halted the Orange's first drive with an interception at the Syracuse 36-yard line, his fourth of the season, and returned it 26 yards. On the opening play on the Scarlet Knights' second possession, sophomore quarterback Mike Teel (Oakland, N.J.) hit Britt on a 38-yard pass, giving the Scarlet Knights a 14-0 lead on the true freshman's first career touchdown.
With 1:17 left in the first half, Britt made his second touchdown reception of the game on a 28-yard pass from Teel. During the 51-yard drive, Teel went 3-for-3 for 44 yards, finishing the first half going 9-for-11 for 123 yards.
To open the second half, Rutgers took a 28-0 lead on a two-yard touchdown run from Leonard with 7:55 remaining in the third quarter. The 48-yard drive consisted of all running plays as Rice ran for 32 yards and Leonard rushed for 16 yards en route to the touchdown.
On their first drive of the fourth quarter, the Scarlet Knights extended their lead to 31-0 on a 32-yard field goal by Jeremy Ito (Redlands, Calif.). Sam Johnson (Midland Park, N.J.) made a 23-yard catch, his first of the season, during the nine-play, 51-yard drive.
Leonard scored Rutgers' final touchdown of the game on a two-yard run to score his second rushing touchdown of the game and set a new career scoring record. During the drive, Leonard ran for 48 yards as Rutgers used 13 plays over 81 yards for the score.
Defensively, the Scarlet Knights were led by Quintero Frierson (Coral Gables, Fla.) who made a career-high 10 tackles, including three solo stops. Greene had nine tackles in the game and also forced a fumble against the Orange.
No. 15/16 Rutgers will close its regular season in Morgantown, W. Va. against the West Virginia Mountaineers at 7:45 p.m. on ESPN next Saturday night.
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