2006 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Football Team
The 2006 Rutgers Scarlet Knights campaign was considered by many to be the breakout season for the Rutgers football team. Led by Draddy Trophy winning senior fullback Brian Leonard, sophomore quarterback Mike Teel, sophomore halfback Ray Rice, sophomore wide receiver Tiquan Underwood, junior defensive tackle Eric Foster, and junior kicker Jeremy Ito, Rutgers finished the season ranked 12th in the Associated Press and Coaches polls, won eleven of thirteen games, and recorded the first bowl game win in school history.
The team started off the season going undefeated through nine games, including a dramatic win over then-3rd ranked Louisville, which was highlighted by kicker Jeremy Ito's last minute field goal to seal the win. They were defeated by both West Virginia and Cincinnati, but nonetheless received an invitation to play Kansas State in the inaugural Texas Bowl. Rutgers defeated Kansas State 37-10 for the first bowl game win in school history. Halfback Ray Rice was named the game's MVP and ran for 170 yards and one touchdown in twenty-four carries. Due to his tremendous 2006 season, in which he ran for 1,794 yards and scored twenty touchdowns, Rice won Big East Player of the Year honors. He also finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting and was a finalist for the Maxwell Award.
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Famous quotes containing the words football team, scarlet, knights, football and/or team:
“...I’m not money hungry.... People who are rich want to be richer, but what’s the difference? You can’t take it with you. The toys get different, that’s all. The rich guys buy a football team, the poor guys buy a football. It’s all relative.”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)
“The great events of life often leave one unmoved; they pass out of consciousness, and, when one thinks of them, become unreal. Even the scarlet flowers of passion seem to grow in the same meadow as the poppies of oblivion.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“Here we have bishops, priests, and deacons, a Censorship Board, vigilant librarians, confraternities and sodalities, Duce Maria, Legions of Mary, Knights of this Christian order and Knights of that one, all surrounding the sinner’s free will in an embattled circle.”
—Sean O’Casey (1884–1964)
“In this dream that dogs me I am part
Of a silent crowd walking under a wall,
Leaving a football match, perhaps, or a pit,
All moving the same way.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“I doubt if men ever made a trade of heroism. In the days of Achilles, even, they delighted in big barns, and perchance in pressed hay, and he who possessed the most valuable team was the best fellow.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)