The Rutgers Scarlet Knights bent but did not break in a down-to-the-wire 21-18 win over the Washington Huskies on Friday night as the team moved to 4-0 for the first time since 2012.
Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis and running back Kyle Monangai led the offense, and when they needed it, several boneheaded penalties by the Huskies helped Rutgers out.
The nationally televised game against the Huskies was the Scarlet Knights’ first Big Ten game of the year after facing Howard, Akron and Virginia Tech to start the 2024 season.
Kaliakmanis finished the game completing 14 of 24 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown pass.
Monangai had his third consecutive 100-plus yard rushing game on a night that he surpassed Isiah Pacheco for seventh on Rutgers’ all-time rushing list.
Monangai finished the night with 132 yards on the ground, which included a commanding rush in which he broke a number of tackles for a 42-yard gain in the third quarter.
The Huskies managed to make the game interesting with a final drive in the last minute of the game down by just three.
Washington was able to get the ball into Rutgers territory with a series of passes before kicker Grady Gross missed a 55-yard field goal attempt wide left to end the game.
It was his third missed field goal of the game.
Monangai’s 1-yard rushing touchdown run with 11:16 left in the second quarter erased a 3-0 deficit for the Scarlet Knights on a drive that included a 19-yard pass from Kaliakmanis to wide receiver Chris Long.
It was later in the second quarter when the Scarlet Knights took advantage of one of the Huskies’ biggest blunders of the night.
Washington forced Rutgers to attempt a 38-yard field and blocked the kick only to have that negated when Vince Holmes was called for an illegal substitution giving Rutgers new life on the drive.
On the ensuing play, Kaliakmanis connected with receiver Ian Strong for a jump-ball touchdown to extend the Scarlet Knights’ lead to 14-3 with 30 seconds left in the half.
Washington finally found the end zone late in the third quarter on a six-play drive that culminated with Huskies quarterback Will Rodgers finding Denzel Boston for a 51-yard touchdown pass, which featured a crucial block by Keleki Latu to allow the play to develop.
While the late third-quarter touchdown pulled the Huskies within five, Rutgers answered with a touchdown of their own 4:03 into the final quarter.
Samuel Brown V bulldozed his way through a hole and scored on a 37-yard touchdown run to extend the Rutgers lead to 21-10.
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The Huskies managed to make it close with a late-game drive in the fourth quarter to cut the Rutgers lead back down to three on a drive that started on Washington’s 24-yard line.
It culminated with the Huskies keeping it alive with a short rush on fourth-and-1 and then Rodgers connected with Boston in the end zone.
They completed the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 21-18 with 1:40 left on the clock.
Washington scored first on a 22-yard field goal, had marked the first time since Nov. 25 that Rutgers allowed an opponent to score in the first quarter.
Friday night was the first time that the Huskies and Scarlet Knights faced one another since 2017 and it marked Washington’s first road game against a Big Ten opponent as a member of the conference.
Washington was a member of the Pac-12 up until last year, which wasbeen the final year the conference existed as football fans knew it after conference realignment caused massive changes.
The Huskies played their first Big Ten game of the year last week in a win over Northwestern at Husky Stadium.
The Blackout Game at SHI Stadium drew 54,079 fans, which was the second-highest attendance in its history.
