Ray Rice, holding the cowboy hat that served
as the game's MVP trophy
December 28, 2006: For the 1st time, the football team at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, wins a postseason "bowl game." And they didn't even have to make it up themselves.
In 1978, frustrated over not having been selected for bowl games despite some fine seasons -- 8-1 in 1958, 8-1 in 1960, 9-0 in 1961, 8-2 in 1968, 7-4 in 1972, 7-3 in 1974, 9-2 in 1975, 11-0 in 1976, 8-3 in 1977 and finally 9-3 -- mainly due to a weak schedule, Rutgers started its own bowl, the Garden State Bowl, at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey.
The Scarlet Knights invited Arizona State, which had faced a similar level of disrespect, because they had dominated the weak Western Athletic Conference, and had just joined the Pacific-8, making it the Pac-10. Maybe they should've invited a weaker team than Frank Kush's Sun Devils: They lost, 34-18.
That was a badge of dishonor: The Scarlet Knights couldn't even win a bowl on their secondary home field. So, again, they weren't invited to bowls, despite going 8-3 in 1979, 7-4 in 1980, 7-3 in 1984, 6-4 in 1986, and 7-4 in 1992. In '92, a loss to Boston College really stung, not just because their quarterback, future New York Jet Glenn Foley, had been a Jersey Boy, from Cherry Hill, but because he told the postgame media, "The only bowl Rutgers is going to is the one I just got off of."
The new Rutgers Stadium (now SHI Stadium) opened in 1994, but, having joined the Big East Conference, RU was not putting up bowl-worthy seasons. Greg Schiano was hired in 2001, and it took him until 2005 to put up a winning season, 7-4.
Finally, a bowl came calling. It wasn't a major bowl. It was the Insight Bowl, named for an Internet company. As fate would have it, Rutgers again played Arizona State, so it was like the tables were turned: Their opponent was the home team. Rutgers led 33-31 in the 4th quarter, but lost 45-40.
In 2006, Rutgers went 10-2, finishing 2nd in the Big East Conference. They were invited to the Texas Bowl, at what's now NRG Stadium in Houston. It wasn't the biggest bowl in the State -- that was still the Cotton Bowl in Dallas -- but at least it was the biggest bowl in its own metropolitan area, replacing the former Bluebonnet Bowl at the Astrodome.
The opponent was Kansas State University, who were 7-5, and finished 3rd in the Big 12 Conference North Division. Oddly for a college football game, it was broadcast on the NFL Network. Bad news for me, since my cable system didn't carry it at the time. I had to do what I had done for 90 percent of the Rutgers games of my lifetime to that point: Listen to it on the radio, on "WCTC, AM 1450, New Brunswick, Central Jersey's information leader."
But it was mostly good news thereafter. Mike Teel threw 2 touchdown passes to Tim Brown (not the Notre Dame and Raiders Hall-of-Famer) in the 1st quarter. Kansas State came back with a field goal and a touchdown, but a Jeremy Ito field goal in the last minute of the 1st half sent the Scarlet Knights into the locker room with a 17-10 lead.
Josh Freeman had a decent pro career, and had been an All-American for Kansas State. But on the 1st play from scrimmage in the 2nd quarter, Rutgers linebacker Quintero Frierson intercepted his pass, and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown. The Wildcats never threatened again. Ray Rice scored on a 46-yard touchdown run. Ito kicked 2 field goals in the 4th quarter, and the game ended 37-10 to Rutgers.
Rice rushed for 170 yards, and was named the game's Most Valuable Player. In 6 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, he rushed for 6,180 yards, before a moment of madness led to the end of his playing career.
This was the 1st of 4 straight seasons in which Rutgers won a bowl game. In the 2007 season, they won the International Bowl in Toronto; in 2008, the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham; in 2009, the St. Petersburg Bowl. After a sub-.500 season in 2010, they got to the 2011 Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. They lost the 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando and the 2013 Pinstripe Bowl, before winning the 2014 Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit. That remains Rutgers' most recent bowl game appearance.
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December 28, 2006 was a Thursday. There were 2 other bowl games played that day. Oklahoma State beat Alabama, 34-31 at the Independence Bowl, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. And the University of California beat Texas A&M, 45-10 at the Holiday Bowl, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.
There were 3 games played in the NBA that night:
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns, 101-99 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Utah Jazz, 106-83 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.
* And the Denver Nuggets beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 112-98 at what's now the Ball Arena in Denver. Allen Iverson scored 44 points for the Nugs.
There were 5 games played in the NHL. None of them involved any of the New York Tri-State Area teams:
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-1 at what's now the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 7-4 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-3 at what's now the Amalie Arena in Tampa.
* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers, 7-4 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.
* And the Phoenix Coyotes beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at what's now the SAP Center in San Jose.