Kyle Monangai rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown as Rutgers won its Big Ten Conference opener, defeating the visiting Washington Huskies 21-18 on a rainy Friday night in Piscataway, N.J.
Athan Kaliakmanis completed 14-of-24 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown for the Scarlet Knights (4-0 overall).
Rutgers’ Sam Brown V rushed for a 37-yard touchdown on third-and-4 with 10:57 remaining to help clinch the victory.
Jonah Coleman carried 16 times for 148 yards for the Huskies (3-2, 1-1), who were playing their first road game as a member of the Big Ten. Will Rogers III was 26-of-36 passing for 306 yards and two touchdowns, both to Denzel Boston.
Rogers’ 12-yard scoring strike to Boston and a two-point conversion pulled the Huskies within three with 1:40 left in the game.
Washington got the ball back with 35 seconds left and moved to the Scarlet Knights’ 38-yard line before Grady Gross’ 55-yard field-goal attempt as time expired was wide left.
The Huskies outgained Rutgers 521-299, but scored on just two of four trips into the red zone and committed six penalties for 69 yards.
The Huskies drove to Rutgers’ 2-yard line on their opening possession of the second half, but Rogers threw incompletions on third and fourth downs as the Scarlet Knights defense stiffened.
On Rutgers’ next play from scrimmage, Monangai burst free for a 40-yard run, breaking five tackles along the way. But the Scarlet Knights’ offense stalled and had to punt the ball back to Washington.
Rogers threw a 51-yard TD strike to Boston, cutting UW’s deficit to 14-10 with 4:23 remaining in the third quarter.
The Scarlet Knights took a 14-3 halftime lead on a 15-yard pass from Kaliakmanis to Ian Strong with 30 seconds left in the second quarter. The 10-play, 81-yard drive was extended when the Huskies were called for an illegal substitution on a fourth-and-5 field-goal attempt that was blocked. Taliakmanis connected with Strong on the next play.
Rutgers took its first lead on Monangai’s 1-yard touchdown run with 11:26 left in the second. That capped a 15-play, 75-yard drive.
The Huskies opened the scoring on a 22-yard field goal by Gross with 4:10 left in the first quarter.
Gross missed from 42 yards midway through the second quarter and 37 yards with 7:21 left in the fourth.
–Field Level Media
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