PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) – San San Te kicked a 34-yard field goal with 13 seconds to play and Rutgers rallied for 10 points in the final 3:53 to beat Connecticut 27-24 on Friday night.
Freshman quarterback Chas Dodd threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Mark Harrison to tie it with 3:53 to play and set up Te’s winning field goal with a 45-yard pass to Jeremy Deering.
Dodd, making his first start in place of the injured Tom Savage, completed 18 of 29 passes for 322 yards, including a 46-yard scoring pass to Deering
Te also had a 28-yard field goal and Mohamed Sanu scored on a 2-yard run to help Rutgers (3-2, 1-0 Big East) snap a two-game losing streak.
Jordan Todman ran for 123 yards and a touchdown, Cody Endres threw a 22-yard TD pass to Kashif Moore and Nick Williams scored on a 100-yard kickoff return for Connecticut (3-3, 0-1). The loss was the Huskies’ second straight to Rutgers on a late score. The Scarlet Knights won 28-24 last year on Savage’s 81-yard TD pass to Tim Brown with 22 seconds to play.
Rutgers’ comeback started after Dodd led Rutgers from its own 5 to the Connecticut 13 midway through the fourth quarter. Faced with a third-and-2, Rutgers failed to make any yards on the next two downs and turned the ball over.
Rutgers’ defense, which was ranked fourth nationally giving up 12 points a game, forced Connecticut into a three and out and Rutgers took over on its own 48. Dodd went play action on first down and found Harrison all alone behind Blidi Wreh-Wilson for an easy score.
The teams each got the ball twice in the final 3:53. Dodd got Rutgers into position for the win with his long pass to Deering down the left side, the same side that Harrison was all alone. Te hit the winner three plays later.
Connecticut scored 17 points in the final 6:36 of the second quarter to take a 24-17 halftime lead.
Limited to 13 yards on his first eight carries, Todman ignited the comeback by darting through a gapping hole in the middle of the line and scampering 66 yards for the longest TD run of his career.
After a 33-yard punt return by Taylor Mack, Endres put Connecticut ahead with his 22-yard touchdown pass to Moore.
An official’s review overturned a 26-yard pass play to the Rutgers 40 late in the half and that allowed the Huskies to take over at their own 46. They drove the Scarlet Knights 1 before settling for Dave Teggart’s 17-yard field goal on the final play.
The opening quarter featured a 21-point explosion in a 2:44 span. Dodd hit Deering on a 46-yard pass and run to put Rutgers ahead 7-0, but Williams tied it 16 seconds later with a 100-yard kickoff return, the second straight year the Huskies had a 100-yard yarder against the Scarlet Knights.
Joe Lefeged returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to set up Sanu’s 2-yard TD run, and Te pushed the Rutgers lead to 17-7 with a 28-yard field goal 9:43 before halftime.
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