There aren’t a a lot of plays that can cause a football game and a season to take a sharp turn.
Rutgers linebacker Tyreem Powell hit the daily double Saturday with a textbook tackle that caused a game-changing late fumble that helped the Scarlet Knights turn their season around with a 26-19 victory over red-hot Minnesota in Piscataway, N.J.
The fumble that Shaquan Loyal recovered with 8:28 to play set up Athan Kaliakmanis’ go-ahead 4-yard touchdown pass to Ian Strong and helped the Scarlet Knights (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten) snap a four-game losing streak and get themselves back into the bowl picture with three games left in the regular season.
“It felt like it was needed at that time,” Powell said of the helmet-on-ball hit against Gophers tight end Jameson Geers at the Minnesota 12-yard line. “I knew the momentum was back on our side and I knew the offense was going to get into the end zone. It was needed for the team as a whole. It was like the perfect moment for that.”
A Minnesota transfer, Kaliakmanis had hit Dymere Miller on first-half touchdown passes of 1 and 17 yards before finding a wide-open Strong for a TD and a 21-16 lead with 7:41 to play.
Until that point, Minnesota (6-4, 4-3) appeared headed for a fifth straight win.
Max Brosmer had hit Marcus Major on a 17-yard touchdown pass to start the second half to put the Gophers ahead 16-14 lead.
After that, the Gophers defense pitched a shutout, until the turnover changed the momentum.
Brosmer, who finished 27 of 45 for 262, said the quick turn in momentum and losing instead of winning is just football.
“One team is going to win and one is going to lose,” he said. “Whatever team plays better that day is going to walk off victorious. We didn’t play our best so we lost.”
The Scarlet Knights’ much-maligned defense wasn’t through after Powell’s big play.
On the ensuing series, defensive lineman Jordan Walker sacked Bromer for a safety to push the lead to 23-16 and Jai Patel added a 22-yard field goal with 2:45 to make it a two-score game.
Dragan Kesich, who kicked a 51-yard field goal in the first half, added a 30-yarder with 1:10 to play and Minnesota out of timeouts. Strong recovered the ensuing onside kick to ice the game.
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano was really proud of his banged-up defense, which has allowed an average of 40 points in the last three losses.
“I think that unit laid down the line for each other,” he said. “Literally splattered their bodies all over the field for each other. That’s how you make the plays. I stand up here often and talk to you guys and say, hey, football games take on a life of their own, and they do. They do. They make sharp turns. And that hit by Tyreem Powell, that was one of those sharp turns. That writes the story.”
Kaliakmanis, who shook hands with many of his former teammates and coaches after the game, completed 17 of 33 passes for 240 yards.
“It really touched us these last four weeks as a team, but we stayed together,” Kaliakmanis said of the losing streak. “We did it out of love for each other, it wasn’t for anybody else.”
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The Gophers were limited to 35 yards on 19 carries, including an 18-yard touchdown run by Darius Taylor to open the scoring.
“We didn’t do enough things to win the football game,” Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said. “When you are in the Big Ten, you have to bring it every week. You never know. Sometimes it is just not your day.”
Rutgers pulled off the victory despite being without defending conference rushing champion Kyle Monangai who missed the game with an undisclosed injury, leaving the Rutgers running back 69 yards shy of his second straight 1,000-yard season.
Big picture
Minnesota: The Gophers, who have a bye week before playing host to Penn State and coming off a win over No. 24 Illinois last week, were not as sharp as they had been in previous games.
Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights, who face Maryland next, need to win one of their final three games to become bowl-eligible.
