Cavalier Corner Digital

field goal attempt as regulation time expired. In the overtime session, Flood went for a two-point conversion after cutting the margin to 52-51, but Rutgers failed on the attempt. Both Notre Dame and Rutgers had their signature victories this year Sept. 21, with the Irish defeating Big Ten champion and 12-1 Michigan State 17-13 while the Scarlet Knights rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half to defeat Arkansas 28-24. It marked the second straight year Rutgers vanquished the Razorbacks. Granted, Arkansas was 0-8 in the Southeast Conference this season — but so was Auburn in 2012, and now it's playing the BCS championship. Any victory over an SEC foe will be viewed respectfully. "Many [of our players] have looked at their schedule," Kelly said. "They hold a win over an SEC opponent in Arkansas. They played an incredible game earlier in the year against Fresno State. It's an opponent that gets our players' attention." PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES For the third time this season, Notre Dame has a chance to overtake Michigan at No. 1 on college football's all-time winning percentage list. Had Notre Dame been able to defeat Pitt Nov. 2 (it lost 28-21) or Stanford Nov. 30 (it lost 27-20), the Fighting Irish would have nudged ahead of the Wolverines, who took over the top spot in 2004. Michigan will play Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl Dec. 28, the same day Notre Dame takes on Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl. An Irish victory in the early afternoon coupled with a Michigan loss late that evening would conclude the 2013 season with the Irish slightly ahead in all-time winning percentage. Michigan is currently at .7330173, while Notre Dame is at .7327868, separated by only .0002305. — Lou Somogyi Alas, that promising 4-1 start was soon disrupted by key injuries and poor play, particularly in pass coverage, while losing five of the next six games. It began with a 24-10 defeat to No. 8 Louisville Oct. 10, which actually was a respectable performance against quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Thereafter, the bottom fell out. After having not played in 16 days, Rutgers was crushed at home 49-14 by Houston, the Scarlet Knights' worst margin of defeat in eight years. Rutgers committed six turnovers and saw former Irish recruit Deontay Greenberry catch three of the Cougars' five touchdown passes. Two weeks later, Rutgers lost by 35 points again, this time to Cincinnati (52-17), falling behind 38-7 by halftime and yielding 408 yards passing to Bearcats quarterback Brandon Key. The wheels continued to come off in a 41-17 loss to AAC champ Central Florida Nov. 21, followed by a 28-17 defeat at 2-9 Connecticut, which would hire Irish defensive coordinator Bob Diaco to help revive its moribund program. That dropped Rutgers to 5-6. Against Central Florida, junior quarterback Gary Nova lost his starting job to senior Chas Dodd. The Scarlet Knights' only two victories since Oct. 10 were against two 2-10 teams — 23-20 against Temple (which Notre Dame defeated 28-6 in the opener) Nov. 2, and then 31-6 versus South Florida Dec. 7 to become bowl eligible at 6-6. "Our team was well aware of the finality that could have ensued had that game not gone the way that it did," Flood said of the victory against USF. "I thought they performed like it. We played our most complete game. "Now we have something that we can build on through the bowl season, through the practice season, to take a young football team with 18 first- and second-year players playing a significant role and Sporting News named linebacker Steve Longa a Freshman All-American after he racked up a teambest 111 tackles, including 7.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage and three sacks. PHOTO COURTESY RUTGERS move them to the next level and come out and compete against Notre Dame." DOES RUTGERS HAVE A CHANCE? Although Notre Dame is the heavy favorite, it has had only two breathers this year: the aforementioned 28-6 opener against 2-10 Temple and then the 45-10 blowout of 2-10 Air Force Oct. 26. Yet even against Temple, after tallying two touchdowns in the first 4:41, Notre Dame outscored the Owls only 14-6 the remaining 55:19. It has not necessarily been a team that overwhelms the opposition, although the schedule in general doesn't allow for such games. ✦ PAGE 3 For Rutgers, it's one of the clichés in sport: Notre Dame is everyone's Super Bowl. It's one of the bigger, more highprofile games ever for the Scarlet Knights. With a healthy running back Paul James, who missed four games, Rutgers will be expected to be more effective than its 98th national ranking in rushing (133.7 yards per game). James, a redshirt sophomore, rushed for 833 yards, 5.7 yards per carry and nine touchdowns this season despite the absence. Because of inconsistency at quarterback and because playmaking receiver Leonte Carroo's (nine touchdowns) health status is questionable after missing the last two games with an upper-body injury, more of the onus might be on the running game. Defensively, Rutgers finished 120th out of 123 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in pass defense (311.4 yards surrendered per game), which plays into Notre Dame's strength as a pass-blocking team operating the spread. "They really struggle against teams that run spread offenses with three or four guys out wide," said Mike Vorkunov, the football beat writer for The Newark StarLedger, in an interview with Blue & Gold Illustrated. "They had the outside linebackers doing a lot of coverage, and that would hurt them. … Through all of November, it snowballed downhill, and that ultimately cost the defensive coordinator his job. "The stats against them have been gaudy, and that's the reason for the struggles defensively." Overall, Rutgers finished 3-5 in the AAC — deemed the weakest of the six BCS conferences — and lost those five games by an average of 23.8 points. On paper, it is classified as one of the biggest bowl mismatches this season. In reality, games still have to be won on the field, not on paper. ✦

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