Rutgers Wins Pinstripe Bowl For “Big E” With Strong Defense

Added by Gregg Snyder on December 31, 2011.

It wasn’t necessarily pretty but when it was all said and done, the scoreboard read 27-13 in favor of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. They had just defeated Iowa State to win the Pinstripe Bowl Championship.

Head coach Greg Schiano and his team stood on the field with the game’s trophy, celebrating their victory. With the microphone in hand, Schiano called up to “Big E” who was in one of the suites at Yankee Stadium. He said, “Big E, this one’s for you!”

“Big E” of course is a nickname for Eric LeGrand, the Scarlet Knight who was paralyzed last season while making a special teams tackle. LeGrand has continued to inspire Rutgers fans, and his teammates with his strength, pride, determination, and hard work toward his eventual goal of once again walking.

During his playing days, LeGrand was known amongst Rutgers fans as a hard worker, a player that would never give up. He was a gritty defender not afraid of doing the dirty work in trenches.

This years Rutgers defense played with that attitude. The Knights had a defense that kept them in games all season. A scrappy, hard nosed group that stepped up to the challenge just about every game, with the rare exception.

This past Friday at Yankee Stadium, the Rutgers defense shinned once again. Rutgers held Iowa State to 311 yards, and just 91 on the ground. They forced the Cyclones into three turnovers (1 fumble, 2 interceptions). The Knights did not allow an Iowa State touchdown until the fourth quarter.

Of course, the Rutgers offense had it’s part in the win as well. Neither quarterback, Chas Dodd nor Gary Nova, had particularly big numbers, but they were able to get the job done. Dodd had the better day, going 10-of-17 for 176 yards. 86 of those yards came on one play, a touchdown pass to Brandon Coleman in the fourth quarter. Nova finished just 3-of-7 for 20 yards.

The Knights got another nice performance from running back Jawan Jamison. The redshirt freshman once again used both power and speed to gain 131 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. Jamison was named the game’s MVP.

This season was all about the Rutger’s defense. With the offense struggling early on with essentially no running game, the defense held them in games and possibly even won them some. As the season went on, we saw the offense click a little more but it never did reach it’s potential.

Once again, in the final game of the season, we saw more of the same. The offense seemed to do enough to win the game, while the defense is the group that shut the door on the opposition.

What better way to end 2011 than a win for Big E!