Piscataway, NJ - What's more surprising - an October storm in New Jersey, or a Rutgers football victory over West Virginia?
On second thought, maybe not the answer to it. The weather on Saturday, but the Huskies did not.
On a day when the North East with a rare blast of pre-Halloween white stuff socked, Rutgers failed in his bid for the Mountain to beat for the first time since 1994, a 10-point halftime lead to bladder and eventually falling 41-31.
"It is inexcusable," said Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, who even more discouraged than he usually is after a loss.
Rutgers did not lack for inspiration suffered on Saturday, that's for sure. Just before Kickoff, Eric Legrand - the Illini defensive tackle who injured his spinal cord in a game against Army last oct. 16 - led to his former teammates of the tunnel.
It was on the field Legrand's first since a violent collision while covering a Kickoff left him paralyzed from the neck down, and the sight of him in his motorized wheelchair into the few thousand fans who defied the elements on their feet, "chanting" 52! "- Legrand's uniform number.
"It was great to have him there, and I think he enjoys that," said defensive tackle Scott Vallone, one of Legrand's former room-mates at Legrand's right at the entrance of the stadium. "But if you talk to him now, I'm sure he looks like me - low tone and everything I mean, he's still a part of this team."
Legrand helplessly watched from the press box as the Huskies the ball over three times in the second half - all three of the responsibility of the first quarterback Gary Nova.
Nova threw a pair of touchdown going into the first half, which, together with two touchdown runs by Jawan Jamison, have helped the game Rutgers to a 31-21 halftime lead. But after stop, he threw a pair of interceptions.
And his most critical mistake was his fumble with the Huskies trailing 34-31 and 6:05 still in the fourth quarter. Three players later, West Virginia salted the game away with a 20-yard touchdown connection from Geno Smith Tavon Austin.
Nova is not the play he fumbled hit. He coughed the ball easily.
"I made him move around - you better have both hands on the football when you are in the bag," said Schiano. "It can not be, it is inexcusable, we drill."
"The ball slipped from my hands," Nova said. "I have two hands on the ball slipped out of it. Simple as that."
On Rutgers's last offensive possession, still leading 31-28, the Huskies lined up for a 28-yard field goal with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game. Schiano called a fake, and the game looked promising at the start. But only by defensive back Patrick Kivlehan was broken in the end zone.
The Mountaineers then 89 meters down the field for what was eventually to win the game score marched.
"I thought we were going to hit it," said Schiano. "We put them in practice all week I thought we were going to hit it."
Rutgers (5-3, 2-2) has now suffered two devastating defeats in a row. Last week, it was poorly played a nail-biter, 16-14, lost to Louis. On Saturday the team perform better, but blew a golden opportunity to break a string of 16 losses in a row against West Virginia.
And the two schools' last meeting, at least for a while, with West Virginia's impending move to the Big 12.
The Huskies to a 2-0 start in Big East for only the second time in school history, was suddenly staggered towards another home game against South Florida next Saturday.
Nova cast with eight interceptions in the last three games and Schiano's penchant for making changes quarterback, you wonder if Chas Dodd stage - the starter at the beginning of the year, four weeks ago demoted? could get another crack.
"Gotta make that play," said Nova. "I do not use that excuse that I was a novice.
"My confidence is not going to drop, but this is just the momentum died."
Vallone was more concerned about the bigger picture. "There comes a point where we need to start learning how to win these matches and we need to start learning how to grow a program and start winning it," Vallone said. "Because it stinks in this position be? Word 10 at halftime and blew it."
"Credit goes to West Virginia," said Schiano. "They have a way to do this, we found we did not end - it's a long road we will find there are good people in the room. Sore people, good people, we will go back to work. We will get better.
"We're 2-2 in the league now Anything can happen."
Very true. But the best thing that happened on this day at Rutgers took place before the opening Kickoff.
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