Sports

 
               === No. 24 Rutgers continues dominance of Army ===
 
 Piscataway,  NJ (Sports Network) - Brandon Coleman caught two touchdown passes
 and No.24 Rutgers held off Army, 28-7, Saturday in Piscataway.
 
 Coleman  caught Rutgers'  first score on an option pass from Jawan Jamison and
 later  hauled in  the go-ahead touchdown from Gary Nova in the fourth quarter.
 He finished with three catches for 53 yards for the Scarlet Knights (8-1), who
 now  stand alone  atop the Big East after Syracuse shocked No.11 Louisville on
 Saturday.
 
 Nova  completed  an efficient 14-of-17  passes for 123  yards and had just one
 interception  after throwing six in a loss to Kent State two weeks ago. Coming
 off  a bye,  Jamison rushed  for 90  yards on  22 carries  for Rutgers,  which
 defeated Army for the ninth straight time.
 
 Army  had success  running its  triple-option offense,  rushing for  281 yards
 on  the  nation's fourth-ranked rushing  defense, but was plagued by turnovers
 and missed opportunities throughout.
 
 Trent Steelman rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, Larry Dixon
 ran  six  times for 81 yards  and Raymond Maples  finished with 58 yards on 13
 touches for Army (2-8), which was coming off a win against Air Force.
 
 The  Black Knights moved  the ball down the field for most of the day, but the
 Scarlet  Knights got enormous play out of their defense and special teams when
 they needed it most, blocking two field goals and recovering three fumbles all
 inside Rutgers' territory.
 
 Army  scored its  only  points on  its  first possession  of  the game.  After
 converting  on  third down  five times and  once on fourth  down, Army used up
 nearly  seven minutes  on a 16-play opening drive which Steelman capped with a
 1-yard touchdown rush.
 
 Set  up by a  Dixon 26-yard scamper on 3rd-and-5, the Black Knights had a 1st-
 and-goal  at the Rutgers  6. Three plays later, Steelman ran the option to his
 right, spun off a tackler and fell across the goal line to give Army the early
 7-0 lead.
 
 A pair of long runs by Dixon and Chevaughn Lawrence on the Black Knights' next
 touch  put  them in field goal  range for Dan Grochowski. However, his 43-yard
 attempt  was blocked by  Marcus Cooper, who got around the line and put a hand
 on it to keep it a one-score game.
 
 Rutgers  quickly  capitalized off the big  special teams play, thanks in large
 part to Jamison.
 
 After  a series  of running plays, Rutgers faced 4th-and-1 when Jamison took a
 handoff  up the middle for four yards to give the Scarlet Knights a new set of
 downs. On the next play, Jamison took a toss to his right and lobbed a pass to
 end  the zone  for Coleman, who made a  move around a defender to make the 16-
 yard  catch  and even the score  at 7-7 for Rutgers  with 11:51 to play in the
 second quarter.
 
 Steelman  rushed  for 29 yards on  the ensuing Army possession -- converting a
 3rd-and-8  and  then a  4th-and-1 with  his feet --  but was  the culprit of a
 costly  fumble. A  facemask penalty on Rutgers' Khaseem Greene put Army at the
 Scarlet  Knights' 13, but Steelman lost the football on the next play and Ryan
 Logan of Rutgers recovered and ran it back 18 yards.
 
 However,  Rutgers went three-and-out following the turnover and punted back to
 Army.
 
 Following a Josh Jackson 34-yard return, Army took over at midfield, but again
 was denied on a scoring opportunity.
 
 The  Black  Knights converted again on  fourth down, as Steelman found Malcolm
 Brown  for  a 16-yard gain inside  the Rutgers 20. Then on 3rd-and-7, Steelman
 fired  a pass  to the end zone  for Lawrence, who appeared to make a touchdown
 catch  but  officials ruled that  the ball came out  before he hit the ground,
 resulting in fourth down.
 
 Again the Rutgers special teams came up big, with the unit blocking its second
 kick  of the half when Grochowski's 30-yard attempt was batted away by Lorenzo
 Waters, keeping the score tied heading into halftime.
 
 "I  think they are critical," said Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood regarding the
 blocked  kicks.  "Certainly they keep the  game 7-7 at halftime, as opposed to
 13-7,  and I  think their momentum swings  in the game. I think it's something
 that gets you excited and keeps the defense going sometimes."
 
 Punt exchanges filled the third quarter until Army got the ball back with 3:53
 to  go in the  period. They were able to advance deep into Rutgers' territory,
 but once again came up empty.
 
 From  the Scarlet Knights'  15, Dixon took the carry up the middle but had the
 ball  knocked out of his hands. Marvin Booker of Rutgers jumped on it and gave
 the ball back to the offense to end another Army threat.
 
 Rutgers  advanced  the ball to  past midfield early  in the fourth, but Nova's
 pass  intended  for Miles Shuler  was intercepted  by Justin Trimble after the
 ball hit off Shuler's hands.
 
 After  the Black  Knights  were forced  to  punt, Rutgers  took  over in  Army
 territory after Chris Boldt's kick traveled just nine yards.
 
 Following  three straight  carries by  Jamison, Nova  took the  snap from  the
 shotgun  and  threw a strike near  the corner of  the end zone to Coleman, who
 made  the grab for a 31-yard touchdown to put Rutgers on top 14-7 with 8:49 to
 play in the game.
 
 The  Scarlet  Knights secured the win  after forcing Army three-and-out on its
 next  touch.  Getting ready to  punt, the snap to  Boldt sailed over his head.
 Army  recovered. but lost  33 yards on the play and Rutgers took over at their
 opponent's 1-yard line.
 
 On  the  second play  of the  drive, Savon Huggins  broke the  goal line for a
 score, making it 21-7 Rutgers and a two-possession game.
 
 Army  turned the  ball over on downs  on its next possession before A.J Schurr
 fumbled  on the  following touch, which resulted in a 73-yard touchdown return
 for Rutgers' Duron Hamron to account for the final margin.
 
 
                                   Game Notes
 
 Rutgers  is off to its best start after nine games since 2006, when they began
 the  season  9-0. They  will play at  Cincinnati next week  ... Dating back to
 1991,  the  Scarlet Knights  have defeated  the Black Knights  13 times in the
 last 15 meetings between the teams ... Rutgers secured an eight-win season for
 the  sixth  time in the  past seven seasons ...  Army has not won back-to-back
 games since 2010 and extended its losing streak on the road to 12 games.
 
 
 11/10 18:24:07 ET