Maurice Evans Eager To Put Past Behind Him

By John Sears

The defensive end from Penn State has left school early to start his professional career. “I just feel real confident I’m ready…the decision I made was with my coaches and family.” When questioned about his run-in with the law on marijuana charges, and if he's tired of answering questions Evans states, “It’s old. I’ve learned my lesson and am ready to put that behind me. I now know I never want to be in a situation that would put my NFL career in danger.“

Evans sounds excited about any opportunity to play in any defense, whether it be in an odd- or even-man front, although he states he feels more natural with his hand on the ground. Later on, he admitted being a little smaller would potentially sway him in to a stand up position, but felt confident in doing so.

Speaking of his “smallness”, Evans has bulked up significantly from training. He was listed in the 250-255 range at Penn State and weighed in at 274 at the combine. At 6’1”, his frame is looking a lot like Lamarr Woodley's (6’2”, 265). Woodley, another former Big Ten defensive end and current Steeler, is currently celebrating a Super Bowl victory after an impactful season for the Steeltowners. Speaking of the Steelers, that is one of the teams Evans listed as having contact (unofficial) with. Cleveland, Atlanta, New England, New York Jets, San Diego, Carolina, Tampa Bay and the New York Giants were among the others. There seemed to be a bigger smile when Evans mentioned the Giants which was not surprising considering he's a Brooklyn native. He repeatedly mentioned playing for the home team would be the only rival to his experiences playing in Happy Valley.

So the “Brooklyn Brawler” says he's ready to play anywhere in any system. Evans seems to have his future figured out. Evans' former Head Coach Joe Paterno likes to needle his former player about their shared hometown of Brooklyn. Evans chuckles, “He always tells me [being a Brooklyn guy] how he used to run Brooklyn back when he was younger, and how I’m not really from Brooklyn.”

According to Paterno, Evans may not know how to run Brooklyn, but he’ll be running down quarterbacks in the NFL soon enough.

Stay tuned for more from the NFL combine.

On Location - RU Ready To Go Bowling?

PISCATAWAY, NJ -- When you score on seven of your first eight drives and only one of those drives takes more than two minutes, it’s pretty safe to say a win is in the cards. On a night when the Rutgers Scarlet Knights were hitting on all cylinders in front of a national audience, everything went right for them as they secured their fourth-straight bowl appearance.

The Scarlet Knights not only beat the Louisville Cardinals, they thoroughly embarrassed them, 63-14.

Right from the outset it was evident that the Scarlet Knights (7-5, 5-2 in Big East play) were out to finish the season strong after starting 1-5. Rutgers took the opening kickoff and went on a four-play, 49 yard-drive in 1:51 to put themselves up 7-0. They would never look back.

The Scarlet Knights amassed an astounding 671 yards of total offense in the contest. That total was the most in Greg Schiano’s eight years as head coach and led to 49 first-half points, the third most in a half in Big East history.

Fifth-year senior quarterback Mike Teel was as accurate as a surgeon en route to a 21-of-26 for 449 passing effort. Teel set two school records and tied the Big East record with his seven touchdowns. But Teel wasn’t alone in setting school records on Rutgers’ senior night--junior wide receiver Kenny Britt broke his own single-season receiving yardage mark which he set a year ago.

Even though Britt set the single-season record, junior Tim Brown had the better numbers in the game: a career best 173 yards and two touchdowns on four catches.
In winning their sixth-straight game the Knights became just the seventh team in college history to start a season 1-5 and end up in a bowl game.

There were basically only two things that were lost for Rutgers in the contest: the opening coin toss, and one of red-shirt freshman running back Jourdan Brooks’ dreadlocks – which was ripped out of his head as he was dragged down after a 62-yard run. Brooks finished with 124 yards on 11 carries in place of leading rusher Kordell Young, who was out with a head injury.

Up next for the Knights is a trip to Birmingham, Alabama to take on North Carolina State in the Papajohn’s.com bowl. The bid has been received with mixed emotions…but after starting out the season 1-5, the Knights should be happy they’re bowling at all.

On Location: Rutgers 35, Syracuse 17

By JOHN GARRETT - RUTGERS BEAT REPORTER

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Down 14-0 at the end of the first quarter to Syracuse, Rutgers’ hopes of a bowl bid were looking as bleak as the rainy New Jersey sky.
But the resurgent Scarlet Knights settled down, started moving the ball, and forgot about the two big plays that burned them early.

Rutgers (4-5, 3-2 in Big East play) quickly capitalized when quarterback Mike Teel found Tiquan Underwood for a 5-yard TD pass with 9:29 remaining in the second quarter to make the score 14-7. With the Knights still trailing, Teel stepped up in veteran fashion, going 9-for-12 after an early interception, and connected with Kenny Britt for a 16-yard touchdown with 4:54 to go in the half.

“We were down 14-0 and not a lot of good things were happening,” head coach Greg Schiano said. “We had a lot to overcome. We didn’t feel like today was particularly our day. We just needed to keep going.

“What happens to football players and coaches is you get a little anxious. There is no play that scores 14 points; you can only go one-at-a-time. We needed to do that, it’s a long game, so it’s easy to lose sight of that when you fall behind.”

After Britt’s score, Rutgers now had a clean slate with the game knotted at 14 and momentum now on their side.

The Knights’ defense held Curtis Brinkley to 8 yards on five carries in the first half, and eventually snapped his streak of five straight 100-yard rushing games.
Other than the two early plays for the Orange – an 82-yard touchdown run by Doug Houge, and a Da’Mon Merkerson recovery of a blocked punt in the end zone – Syracuse (2-7, 1-4 in Big East play) found themselves limited to 168 total yards, with only 35 coming via the passing game. Brinkley ended his day with 67 yards on 18 carries, while quarterback Cameron Dantley went 3-of-12 passing for 19 yards before leaving in the third quarter due to a leg injury.

Mission accomplished for the Knights’ defense.

Early in the third quarter, defensive back Zaire Kitchen sacked Dantley and forced a fumble for the second week in a row. After a Ryan D’Imperio recovery, the offense, which still had some unfinished business, went right to work.

Teel, who ended his day 26-for-36 throwing the football, with 276 yards through the air, hit Dennis Campbell to give the Knights the ball at the 1-yard line. After the great field position Kordell Young, who was named Big East Offensive player of the Week after finishing with 143-yards rushing, punched it in for the go-ahead score as Rutgers went up 21-14.

“I was happy today that we ran the football better,” Schiano said. “There were times in that game… the ball was wet, it was raining pretty hard, the wet football just scares you out of doing some things. So the fact that we were able to run it better is a positive.”

Joe Martinek sealed the deal for Rutgers when he lined up in – what would a football game be these days without it – Wildcat formation and took the direct snap 45-yards down the sideline, increasing the lead to 28-14.

After another Teel-to-Underwood connection in the fourth quarter made the score 35-17, the Knights were thinking about South Florida, not only for the climate change, but as their next opponent.

Photo Credit: Tom Ciszak, Rutgers Athletics

On Location: Syracuse 28, Louisville 21

SYRACUSE, NY – On Legends Day at the Carrier Dome, it was Orange running back Curtis Brinkley who stole the show, rushing for 166 yards and a touchdown in Syracuse’s surprising 28-21 victory over Louisville. Brinkley set the Syracuse single-season record by rushing for over 100-yards in five consecutive games. The senior averaged 5.0 yards per carry and was exuberant after his team’s win. Brinkley rushed for 166 yards, giving him 899 yards on the season, fourth in the conference. He has become tremendous in short yardage situations, and his leap over the pile knotted the score at seven in the first quarter. Brinkley took to the air twice in critical spots for the Orange—once for a touchdown and another for a key first down as they were in unfamiliar territory, milking the clock late in the game.

“One thing I really like about Brinkley is how he responds to first contact,” said Don McPherson, who was honored at the Carrier Dome for being a member of the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2008. “He really does explode through tackles. You can’t arm-tackle him to bring him down and he changes directions off of tackles as well.”

The Syracuse offensive line had arguably their best game of the season. Led by guard Ryan Durand, the unit was strong throughout the game as the offense was able to run the ball at will, posting a total of 207 rushing yards. Freshman Antwan Bailey rushed for his first career touchdown on a 39-yard scoring scamper in the second quarter.

Syracuse quarterback Cameron Dantley was effective enough, throwing for two touchdowns, both off of play action. On his first touchdown pass, Dantley was able to show off his arm strength, hitting wide out Da’Mon Merkerson for a 38-yard touchdown. Senior fullback Tony Fiammetta caught his first touchdown pass of his career late in the fourth quarter to give the Orange a two-touchdown cushion. Fiametta also delivered a key block on a screen pass to Doug Hogue that went for 39 yards.

“Fiametta has proven with his play (he is one of the top fullbacks). If you want to know how good a fullback is, you really have to watch him, because they’ll make blocks on plays where you don’t really know how important he was,” McPherson said of the Syracuse fullback. “He’s almost like the sixth or seventh lineman when you count the tight end.”

The Louisville offense was less than impressive. Although he was the victim of several dropped passes, Hunter Cantwell was shaky all night. He finished with 214 yards but struggled on third downs. The Cardinals missed a big opportunity when wide receiver Troy Pascley dropped a pass that would have easily led to a score. Instead, Louisville had to punt the ball.

It looked like the Cardinals had caught a break when Syracuse return man Bruce Williams muffed a punt that was recovered by Louisville. However, the Cardinals gave the ball right back when Syracuse defensive end Jared Kimmel forced a fumble. Louisville finished the game with two turnovers and eight penalties that resulted in a loss of 81 yards.

The Orange must have headman Steve Kragthorpe’s number—this is the second straight year that Syracuse has defeated Louisville.

The performance on Saturday may not have been a flashback to the 1987 season when McPherson led the then Orangemen to an 11-0-1 season. McPherson, who finished second in the Heisman Trophy, won both the Davey O’Brien Award and the Maxwell Award that season. The win did mark Syracuse’s first conference home win since 2006 against Connecticut.

Photo Credit: Syracuse University Athletics

On Location: Rutgers 12, UConn 10

By JOHN GARRETT -
RUTGERS BEAT WRITER

PISCATAWAY, NJ – Just like in the real estate market, football is all about location, location, location.

And just like a shrewd agent, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights were able to reap the benefits of good location.

Starting the second half of play on homecoming weekend tied 3-3, Rutgers (2-5 overall, 1-2 in Big East play) stopped UConn red-shirt freshman kick returner Robbie Frey on the 1-yard line, then forced the Huskies to go three-and-out.

Although they weren’t able to convert the succeeding drive into points, it was a preview of things to come for Rutgers.

Punter Teddy Dellaganna, who performed brilliantly for the Knights, helped the special teams once again win the battle of field position, pinning the Huskies on their own 1.

“He (Dellaganna) had a big, big day,” Head coach Greg Schiano said after the victory. “I thought he did a great job. He picked up steam, and away he went.”

On a second-and-11 from their own 2, UConn starting running back Donald Brown appeared to be stopped in the end zone, but his forward progress was ruled to have gotten him out.

“One thing I’ve learned over the years is that for it to be called a safety, it clearly has to be a safety,” Schiano said. “If it’s close, it’s not going to be.”

The Scarlet Knights, benefiting from great field position once more, would not let the next opportunity slip away.

On a drive that started at the Huskies’ 37-yard line, the Knights converted on a third-and-seven from the 22 on a nice pass from starting quarterback Mike Teel to speedy receiver Tim Brown. They would eventually cash-in on a first-and-goal from the 6-yardline when starting running back Kordell Young scampered in for a touchdown to make the score at 10-3.

The third quarter was a sore spot for Rutgers through the first five games of the season – it wasn’t until their sixth game, against Cincinnati, that they were able to convert their first points in the quarter. The Scarlet Knights continued to buck that non-scoring trend in the third quarter of this contest, forcing the Huskies to start with poor field position and converting that into points for themselves.

After a failed Knights drive, Dellaganna again pinned UConn inside the 5. This time, however, Rutgers was able to get the safety when Brown was stopped by defensive tackle Blair Bines for what would turn out to be the game-winning points.

Although the Knights played well on defense for most of the game, a blown coverage allowed UConn to score on a Zach Fraser to Kashif Moore 47-yard touchdown pass with 8:33 left, bringing the Huskies within 12-10.

Later in the fourth quarter, Rutgers’ defense allowed the Huskies (5-2, 1-1 in Big East) to march right down the field, but held them to one final 42-yard field goal attempt.

Tony Ciaravano lined-up for the attempt and missed his third field goal of the day, hitting the right upright to seal the win for the Knights.

Rutgers eventually ran out the clock to record the 12-10 victory, their sixth consecutive homecoming win.

On Location: Penn St. @ Wisconsin

Penn State quarterback Daryl Clark is still feeling like his team is the underdog or the worst-of-the-best of the country’s elite, despite his team continuing to pounce on the opposition. He said Quarterback Coach Jay Paterno uses internet fodder downplaying Penn State’s strong start to keep his team focused. Saturday’s convincing 48-7 victory against Wisconsin solidifies that not only are the Nittany Lions the class of the Big Ten but may be the best all-around team in America.

The offensive statistics were far from gaudy (377 total yards) compared to previous weeks, but big yardage was unnecessary after jumping on Wisconsin early 17-0 and converting scores in short-field situations. Clark (16-25, 244 yards, one touchdown, one interception, two rushing touchdowns) passed his toughest litmus test of the year by making smart decisions consistently against a conference foe on the road (his only misfire was a 4th quarter interception after, which came after Penn State had cushioned their lead at 41-7). He distributed the ball well by connecting with seven Nittany Lion receivers.

What was probably most surprising was the aerial assault Penn State deployed starting the third quarter, already up 24-7. The opening drive started with five of the first six plays as passes, punctuated by a Clark sneak up the middle for his second rushing score of the night. During the post-game interviews the Penn State signal caller stated that the gameplan in the second half was to come out passing and to keep pushing offensively. Coach Joe Paterno echoed these sentiments in his interview by reminding us of many games he has coached that looked in control and was suddenly lost when letting up.

Defensively, the Badgers were contained to 313 yards total offense and turned the ball over four times. Wisconsin’s first pass completion did not come until almost halfway through the second quarter. The defensive front for Penn State was causing fits for Wisconsin’s scheme, meeting Badger runners or quarterback Allan Evridge in the backfield on several occasions. Defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu ended a Wisconsin drive with a third down sack and defensive end Aaron Maybin and linebacker Navorro Bownman notched tackles-for-loss in the second quarter alone. The defensive play in the second quarter really stalled Wisconsin’s momentum, driving a wedge between the teams’ scoring opportunities.

On special teams, Kevin Kelly started the scoring for Penn State with a 50-yard field goal (finished 2-2 on attempts) and Derrick Williams rattled off a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown. Punter Jeremy Boone rounded out the clean special teams play with solid punting, averaging just under 45 yards per boot. Kick and punt coverage was strong as well, surrendering on average less than 20 yards per kickoff.

What is left for Penn State now is control of their post-season destiny, facing the only other undefeated teams left in the conference [Ohio State (6-1, 3-0) in two weeks and Michigan State (6-1, 3-0) to close the season]. Outside of those two weeks, Michigan (2-4), Iowa (4-3) and Indiana (2-4) are all that are left standing in the way of potential national championship contention. Is the team looking ahead of Michigan with their eminent clash against Ohio State proceeding? No indication from the players or coaches. Paterno, Clark and wide receiver Deon Butler stressed the importance of beating Michigan in their own right – Penn State has not won in their last seven chances against the Wolverines, and by extension, Butler recognized that no one on their current team has beaten Michigan period.

We oftentimes hear that teams who play-up the “no one believed in us” mantra tend to overcome their perceived odds and end up winning the big game (see: New York Giants, 2007). Penn State continues to bill itself as the school that no one believes in and they are responding accordingly. It looks like Jay Paterno’s tactic is working well.