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Syracuse University
Rutgers
Syracuse Loses at Rutgers, 24-7
11/29/2003 3:15:30 PM | Football
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Syracuse football team lost to Rutgers, 24-7, at Rutgers Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 29. Junior wide receiver Jared Jones tied his career high with five receptions for a personal-best 76 yards, including a 37-yard reception on SU's final possession of the game.
Senior quarterback R.J. Anderson completed 14-of-32 passes for 161 yards. He needs three more completions to set the SU single-season record. Anderson has completed 169 passes this season; Marvin Graves set the record in 1993 with 171 completions.
Junior running back Walter Reyes finished the game with 92 yards of offense, including 52 yards on four receptions. His 42 career receptions place him in a tie with Robert Drummond for seventh place on SU's career list of catches by a running back. With 40 rushing yards on the day, Reyes passed his 2002 season mark to move into fourth place on SU's single-season rushing yards ledger. Reyes has 1,158 rushing yards in 2003, 23 more than he had last season.
Senior linebacker Rich Scanlon tied his career high with 17 tackles, including a personal-best 11 assisted stops. One of his six solo tackles was for a loss of 12 yards. Senior Christian Ferrara recorded a career-high 10 tackles, including two-and-a-half tackles for a loss of three yards. Ferrara now has 25.0 tackles for a loss of 68 yards in nearly four seasons, which is tied for fifth on the career list with Antwuane Ponds (1994-97). Senior Josh Thomas had two tackles for a loss of 19 yards, which moves him into eighth place on the career tackles for a loss ledger with 22.0 stops behind the line of scrimmage. Senior Louis Gachelin set a career high for the second straight game, recording a personal-best nine total tackles.
Rutgers scored a 23-yard field goal by Ryan Sands with 7:29 remaining in the game, making the final score 24-7. The Scarlet Knights' scoring drive was eight plays, covering 24 yards, and taking 4:01 off the clock.
Rutgers scored two touchdowns in the first five minutes of the second half to take a 21-7 lead. RU fullback Brian Leonard scored on a two-yard touchdown run with 10:28 left in the third quarter. Rutgers gained possession when it covered its own kickoff on the SU 33-yard line. The Scarlet Knights scored on a four-play drive that took 1:06.
On SU's opening drive in the second half, Rutgers cornerback Eddie Grimes intercepted an R.J. Anderson pass and returned it 51 yards to the SU three-yard line. Rutgers turned the possession into a score three plays later when Hart scored on a three-yard run, giving the Scarlet Knights a 14-7 lead with 11:36 left in the third quarter.
In the first quarter, SU took a 7-0 lead when sophomore Anthony Smith blocked a Scarlet Knights punt and sophomore Steve Gregory recovered the ball in the endzone with 13:06 remaining in the first quarter. Rutgers tied the score, 7-7, with 25 seconds remaining in the first half on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Hart to Tres Moses that capped a five-play, 42-yard drive that took 41 seconds.
The blocked punt is the second of the year for Smith, who scored a touchdown after his block against Boston College earlier this season.
It is Gregory's second special teams touchdown of the season. He also scored in the first quarter against Pittsburgh when he recovered a fumbled punt snap and returned it seven yards for a touchdown.
Gregory's touchdown was the fourth special teams touchdown of the season and the eighth time SU has blocked a punt for a touchdown during head coach Paul Pasqualoni's 13-year SU tenure. It is the 30th special teams touchdown during the Pasqualoni era.
Thomas blocked a second RU punt with 2:49 remaining in the first quarter. It was his first career blocked kick.
The Orangemen had a chance to extend their lead to 10, but kicker Collin Barber's 42-yard field goal attempt missed wide right with 50 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
With 10:24 remaining in the second quarter, Thomas made another big play on a 23-yard field goal attempt when he tackled Rutgers holder Ted Trump for a loss of 18 yards after a fumbled snap. The play gave SU the ball on the Syracuse 22 yard line. The tackle for a loss is the 21st of Thomas' career, which moves him into a tie for eighth place on SU's career tackles for loss record list with Keith Bulluck and Morlon Greenwood.
SU's defense had another big play when sophomore Thomas Whitfield intercepted a Ryan Hart pass and returned it 17 yards with 4:48 remaining in the first half. It was SU's 15th interception of the season, and the first of Whitfield's career.
