10/21/2001 - Football
Navy Falls To Rutgers, 23-17
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PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) _ Rutgers used the old Miami formula of big plays, clutch defense and a ton of penalties to give Greg Schiano his first coaching win at home.
For Navy, it just added up to another frustrating loss.
Freshman Ryan Cubit threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns, and Rutgers (2-5) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 23-17 victory over Navy (0-6) on Saturday.
"It sure is good to get off that little streak we were having," said Schiano, the former Hurricanes' defensive coordinator who was hired to turn around Rutgers' woeful program.
"After what's happened this season, our kids could have thought the worst and lost their edge," Schiano said. "Rather than do that, they gave tremendous effort."
Aaron Martin caught touchdown passes of 91 and 80 yards, and tight end L.J. Smith caught a 24-yard scoring pass as Rutgers overcame 18 penalties for 143 yards. It was Rutgers' first home victory since the season opener last year.
"This makes life a lot more fun to get this," said Cubit, who completed 13 of 20 passes. "Like Coach Schiano says, this is addictive. Now we just want it more."
Ryan Sands added a 23-yard field goal with 57 seconds to play to give Rutgers a late cushion in its homecoming game.
Brian Madden threw a touchdown pass, and Marlon Terrell scored on a 1-yard run in a second-half rally for Navy, which couldn't overcome three turnovers and a missed short field goal in losing for the 16th time in 17 games.
Navy has lost its last three games by a combined 20 points.
"It's frustrating being so close to a win," said Madden, who ran for 128 yards and passed for another 125. "These guys busted their butts. We've had good game plans every week and we're not executing the way we should. Now we have to get on a bus and drive three hours home, and it's not going to be fun."
Rutgers, which was averaging 136 yards passing and had the nation's worst pass efficiency rating at 80.83, used the passing game to take a 20-0 halftime lead.
After linebacker Gary Brackett recovered a fumble by Navy receiver Chandler Sims on the opening series, Cubit drove the Scarlet Knights 69 yards in four plays. He found Smith on passes for 29 and 24 yards, the latter going for the score. Sands hit the goal post on the extra point.
Cubit and Martin combined on the second-longest pass play in Rutgers' history, clicking on a 91-yard scoring strike with 4:59 left in the quarter. Martin got behind cornerback Shalimar Brazier, caught the ball at his own 49 and wasn't touched.
"It felt like the ball was in the air two hours, I was waiting for it to come down," Martin said.
The play was four yards shy of the school-record 95-yard pass from Bert Kosup to George Carter on Sept. 11, 1977, against Temple.
Martin and Cubit struck again with 4:09 left in the half, when Navy seemed to blow a coverage and left Martin all alone going down the right sideline.
Navy, which lost a fumble at the Rutgers 13 and saw David Hills miss a 22-yard field goal in the first half, made Rutgers sweat in second half.
Madden threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Gaddy on Navy's opening possession of the second half.
A 27-yard field goal by Hills with 14:21 left got Navy within 10 points. Terrell closed the gap to three less than two minutes later, scoring from the 1 after Cubit lost a fumble at his own 3.
Navy got the ball three more times but never got another first down.
"We've got to continue to keep fighting," Navy coach Charlie Weatherbie said. "We're going to turn this thing around. I really believe that."
After winning, that's the way Rutgers felt.
"This feels great going into a bye week," said Martin, who had three catches for 180 yards. "It's a confidence booster for us."
