Rutgers football can't channel 2006 magic vs. USC

PISCATAWAY – It was a lightning bolt from the football heavens.

Facing 4th-and-21 its own 16-yard line and trailing by 10 late in the second quarter, Rutgers sent out the punt team against 12th-ranked USC.

Then punter Jakob Anderson delivered a shocker.

The Australian Rules Football veteran grabbed the long snap, pulled the ball up and lofted a perfect pass into the arms of defensive back Jesse Ofurie, who was running free down the middle of the field. The resulting 40-yard gain electrified the 25,000 fans at SHI Stadium and when Rutgers scored a touchdown five plays later capping a 95-yard drive, it sent a message to the Trojans: They were going to have to earned their 42-35 victory. The team that lost to UMass and Boston College was not in the building.

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You know who was in the building, though?

They walked out at the end of the first quarter and lined up along the goal line. Brian Leonard, Ray Rice, Mike Teel, Jeremy Ito – and dozens more members of Rutgers’ beloved 2006 football team.

They’re 40-somethings now. Some had their kids in tow. All felt the cheers from the 25,000 fans in attendance for Saturday’s game against 12th-ranked USC.

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If you’re reading this, you don’t need the background on what those boys accomplished, but let’s reminisce anyway: An 11-2 record, a No. 12 ranking in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll, an of course the epic “Pandemonium in Piscataway” victory over third-ranked Louisville on the banks of the old Raritan.

It was the season that put Rutgers football and Greg Schiano on the national map, and the tail from that autumn proved incredibly long. It laid the groundwork for the stadium’s expansion in 2009, the Scarlet Knights‘ inclusion in the Big Ten in 2014, and Schiano’s return for a second tour in 2020.

The sport is so dramatically different now. Free-agent players changing schools like socks. Roster budgets of $20 million, $30 million, $40 million. A bloated, coast-to-coast Big Ten and a Big East, which the 2006 Scarlet Knights came within a whisker of winning, bereft of football.

But Schiano is still here, fighting to stay afloat after an 0-3 start, and on Saturday his program tried to channel some of that 2006 magic. It wasn’t with the stout defensive front and multi-threat backfield of those old Scarlet Knights. It was with a pass-first offense fired by stud wideouts and a defense that hung on for dear life.

And it was with one of the gutsiest play calls of his long tenure.

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It was brilliant, and brilliantly executed. In the end, it wasn’t enough. And maybe that will be the epitaph for Schiano 2.0, whenever the time comes.

Too much has changed, and that’s why 2006 is not coming back around again. Not this year, not ever. Those players were Rutgers men, recruited by Schiano out of high school, developed as a unit over time, known to their fellow students around campus.

This is a mercenary era. Helming Rutgers football now is a different job that requires different tools. It was special, seeing the 2006 team out on the field again showered by cheers, and it was nice to see Rutgers put its best foot forward in their honor. But 20 years is a long time, and right now it seems even longer.

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers football can’t channel 2006 magic vs. USC