Rutgers beats Miami in Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium

Sitting at the dais a little less than two hours before his team would play its final game of the season, Rutgers athletic director Patrick E. Hobbs made an impassioned argument to any and all high school football players interested in what he had to say:

Come to Piscataway. Winning is now the standard.

“We’re taking the next step,” Hobbs said prior to the Scarlet Knights’ 31-24 win over Miami in a misty, dreary Pinstripe Bowl Thursday at Yankee Stadium.

“Every year we expect to go to a bowl game,” Hobbs said. “That’s a message to young people that Rutgers can be a place where you can succeed. You can succeed in the New York metropolitan area and there’s no better place to do it.”

The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Rutgers, which finished the season 7-6 overall and 3-6 in the Big 10. It was also Rutgers’ first win in 12 all-time games against the Hurricanes.

“To finally get one against a storied program (like) the University of Miami, it does feel good,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said.

The 13th iteration of the late-December bowl game drew an announced 35,315 to the ballyard in the Bronx, many of whom were clad in scarlet despite being the visitors.

What they saw from Rutgers was not exotic but it was more than effective. The Scarlet Knights bullied Miami, and unlike the Howard Schnellenberger and Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson and Larry Coker teams, the Mario Cristobal Hurricanes (7-6, 3-5) did not have an adequate response.

The Scarlet Knights received the opening kickoff, and marched 75 yards on 13 plays, capped by Gavin Wimsatt’s  tush-push score gave the Scarlet Knights a 7-0 lead. Wimsatt was 7-for-15, for 84 passing yards; and had nine carries for 11 yards and two touchdowns.

Two drives later, the lead was extended to 14-0 after Kyle Monangai’s 7-yard touchdown run.

Monangai finished with 170 yards on 25 carries and was named the game’s MVP. Overall, Rutgers finished with 208 yards on 45 carries and three touchdowns.

“Obviously, we have to improve,” Cristobal said of Miami’s run defense.

Whereas the Scarlet Knights started relatively fast, the Hurricanes’ first two possessions ended with a punt and an interception. However, on its third drive, Miami cut the deficit to 14-7. The Hurricanes drove 75 yards on nine plays, culminated by Jacurri Brown’s 7-yard touchdown run with 3:19 left in the first half. Brown was 20-for-31 for 181 yards, one touchdown, one interception; and had 15 carries, for 66 yards and two touchdowns.

Andres Borregales’ 35-yard field goal at the end of the first half cut the deficit to 14-10.

Miami took its only lead of the game, 17-14, on the first drive of the second half when Brown connected with Xavier Restrepo on a 30-yard scoring pass.

Rutgers regained the lead, 21-17, when Trevor Yeobah-Kodie blocked Dylan Joyce’s punt at the Miami 1-yard line and Timmy Ward recovered the loose ball in the end zone. It was the 70th blocked kick (field goal, extra point, and punt) and the 14th time the Scarlet Knights scored off of a blocked punt in Schiano’s tenure at Rutgers.

“Obviously, (a) block and touchdown at the same time was massive, massive in terms of momentum,” Cristobal said.

Wimsatt put the game away with his second touchdown plunge 3:03 into the fourth quarter. While the junior quarterback got the touchdown, it was Monangai who put him in position to score.

On second-and-1 from the Miami 41-yard line, Monangai took the handoff from Wimsatt and was immediately met by a wall of humanity. The junior running back bounced to his left and sprinted 40 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the 1-yard line. Two plays later, Wimsatt tush-pushed his way into the end zone.

Jai Patel’s 35-yard field goal with 2:35 remaining stretched the lead to 31-17. Brown’s plunge from the 1-yard line with 27 seconds left ended the scoring.