Asbury Park Press - March 10, 2008
Back in the dark ages (1964-68) when I was at Rutgers, the most important game in any sport was against Princeton. Those contests may not have been that significant to Princeton, but from our perspective it was the game we wanted to win more than any other. That was especially true of football because of the first inter-collegiate football game won by Rutgers on November 6, 1869. Although it was great to win the first game, it took almost 70 years (the two teams didn't play every year) until 1938 before Rutgers won again. By the mid 60s, the Scarlet Knights had prevailed only eight times, including four in a row from 1958-1961. That gave the class of 1962 the distinction of never having seen Rutgers lose to Princeton in football. My class had the opposite experience. Not only didn't we ever see Rutgers win, in my four years we were ahead just once for about 2 minutes before a heartbreaking last minute Princeton comeback. Our lack of success during those four years led some to question whether it would be a successful season if we beat Princeton, but lost all the remaining games. While I never got to that point, the sentiment was understandable because some games are that important no matter what else happens the rest of the season.
Asbury Park Press - March 10, 2008
During those same years, in December of 1965, I did get to experience one basketball victory over Princeton. It was the first Rutgers win in almost 20 years, prompting a large crowd of students to meet the team bus when we arrived back on campus. Since then, of course, Seton Hall has become the rivalry game in basketball and just as with Princeton, it's important no matter the circumstances. Such was certainly the case on March 9, 2008, the last game of what had been a dismal season for the Scarlet Knights. Heading into the game, Rutgers was 10-20 overall and 2-15 in the Big East, suffering through a nine game losing streak. To make matters even worse, at the time, not every team made the Big East tournament and by virtue of its record, the Knights wouldn't get to play at Madison Square Garden. Instead the final game of the season was against Seton Hall at the Prudential Center in Newark before a sellout crowd on the Pirates senior day.
Nothing in the first half suggested the game would be anything but a bad ending to a bad season. Rutgers turned the ball over 16 times in the first half and trailed by as many as 17 at one point. Fortunately, late in the first half, Corey Chandler sparked a Rutgers comeback that cut the margin to 34-23 at the break. The Rutgers run continued in the second half, a 26-3 burst over the two halves and the Knights took a 61-59 lead with just 30 seconds left. Things looked even brighter for Rutgers when a Pirates turnover and a charge negated two Seton Hall opportunities to score without them even getting a shot off. Unfortunately Rutgers couldn't take advantage of the turnover, but after the charge the Knights had the ball under their own basket with only 12 seconds left. On the inbound pass, however, Jerard Hazell of Seton Hall made a great play to force a held ball which gave the Pirates possession. An ensuing layup in traffic didn't go in, but Jamar Nutter's bank shot with 4.3 seconds tied the game 61-61.
Courier New - March 10, 2008
In what sportswriter Jerry Carino described as "the chaos that followed," Anthony Farmer took two dribbles and passed to J. R. Inman who was standing unguarded on the right wing. According to Carino, Inman off balance "lofted the shot on the move, off of one foot" from 21 feet with just one second on the clock. While he and everyone else in the sold out arena held their breath, the ball swished through the net for a 64-61 Rutgers victory. Needless to say pandemonium broke loose among the Rutgers players and fans while the bulk of the crowd went home silent and unhappy. Inman called the shot "a big exclamation point" and "the greatest feeling I've had all season." To answer the hypothetical question raised about Rutgers-Princeton football games, the victory didn't salvage a disappointing season, but wins like that in rivalry games are moments that never get old.
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