Oct. 29, 2005

Final Stats

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - Brian Leonard and Ray Rice each ran for two touchdowns and Rutgers clinched its first winning regular season since 1992 with a 31-21 victory over Navy on Saturday.

In winning its third straight and starting 6-2 for the first time since 1979, Rutgers became bowl eligible for the first time since '92 and snapped a four-game winning streak by Navy (4-3).

Ryan Hart, who lost his starting job to Mike Teel two games ago but got it back this week due to Teel's shoulder injury, completed 18 of 21 passes for 221 yards. Rice ran for 81 yards and Leonard added 58.

Reggie Campbell had 69 of Navy's 207 yards rushing, which was less than half the total the Middies had in last year's 54-21 over Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights kept Navy's offensive chances limited by holding a 35:22 to 24:38 time of possession.

Clinging to a 24-21 lead, the Knights put together a 62-yard drive to Rice's 2-yard touchdown run with 5:26 remaining. Hart was 3-for-3 for 56 yards on the drive, including a 16-yard completion to Leonard on a third-and-9 play.

Rutgers held Navy on its next series, than crushed any hope the Middies had when Devraun Thompson intercepted Lamar Owens' throw with 1:32 remaining. When the game ended, many of the sellout crowd of 41,716, the second largest in Rutgers Stadium history, stormed the field to celebrate Rutgers first winning season in 13 years.

Trailing 21-7, Navy took the second-half kickoff and produced a 15-play, 74-yard drive that resulted in a 9-yard scoring run by Karlos Whittaker. It was the sixth straight game Whittaker scored a touchdown.

The Knights came back with an 18-yard field goal from Jeremy Ito, although Rutgers hoped for more after getting a first-and-goal at the 2.

Navy then mounted another long scoring drive, as Owens 9-yard touchdown pass to Marco Nelson capped a 65-yard, 10-play possession. But Rutgers scored its final TD to put it away.

Rutgers took a 14-0 lead on Leonard's touchdown runs of 7 yards and 1 yard. The first score was set up by Ronnie Girault's interception, marking the fifth time this year Navy was intercepted on its first possession.

After Leonard's second score, Navy struck quickly on a career-long 60-yard touchdown run by Campbell. The Knights then drove to the Middies 4, before Ito missed a 32-yard field goal.

Navy's first play after the miss was Trey Hines' fumble that Girault recovered at the Middies 30. Seven plays later, Rice scored on a 3-yard run and Rutgers had a 21-7 halftime lead.