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Teel rallies Rutgers past NC State in Papajohns.com Bowl

Dec 30, 2008 - 1:50 AM BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Ticker) -- Mike Teel fittingly ended his college career by kneeling out the final seconds of a bowl win for Rutgers.

Teel rebounded from a slow start to throw two second-half touchdown passes, rallying the Scarlet Knights to a 29-23 victory over North Carolina State in Monday's Papajohns.com Bowl.

It was the third postseason win in the last three years for Rutgers, a previously moribund program that had made only one bowl appearance prior to Teel's arrival in Piscataway prior to the 2005 season.

"I don't know what the score was at halftime but somehow, someway we put ourselves in a hole," Teel said. "I looked around the locker room and there was not one ounce of panic or doubt. It was just a matter of continuing to do what we have done to get us in this position and that's play one play at a time, relax and stay in the moment and that is what this football was able to do."

After not playing in a loss to Arizona State in the 2005 Garden State Bowl, Teel led the Scarlet Knights to the first two bowl wins in school history - the 2006 Texas Bowl and last January's International Bowl.

Monday's contest started inauspiciously for Teel and the Scarlet Knights (8-5), who faced a 17-6 halftime deficit against the upset-minded Wolfpack (6-7).

"It was great to see our seniors step up," Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. "I had to say very little. It was probably the most relaxed I have seen our guys as far as just pounding the football. You look at a football game after it's over and there's probably six or seven critical and obviously those are two (fake field goal and blocked punt) critical plays."

But with sensational quarterback Russell Wilson sidelined by a leg injury, North Carolina State could only watch as Teel quarterbacked Rutgers to scores on five of its first six second-half drives.

The Scarlet Knights' seventh - and final - drive ended in triumphant fashion for Teel, who took a knee as the final nine seconds ticked off the clock.

A New Jersey native, Teel finished 22-of-37 for 318 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target was NFL prospect Kenny Britt, who finished with six catches for 119 yards.

Teel and Britt gave the Scarlet Knights the lead for good with 8:30 remaining when they hooked up for a 42-yard TD pass that made it 26-23.

Rutgers padded its cushion with 53 seconds left when San San Te kicked a 24-yard field goal to make it 29-23, punctuating an 11-play drive that took over six minutes off the clock.

The Wolfpack's final comeback bid ended when Daniel Evans' desperation heave was intercepted by Courtney Greene with nine seconds left.

"You have to congratulate Rutgers," North Carolina State coach Tom O'Brien said. "They played a good game. We certainly didn't play what we feel is our best game, but we played hard and overcame some things. We turned the ball over too much, and I think that was the story of the game."

North Carolina State, seeking its first bowl win in nearly three years, jumped out to an early lead thanks to Wilson, who threw a first-quarter TD pass and also ran for 59 yards on just seven carries in the opening half.

But the redshirt freshman suffered an apparent injury to his right leg during a run near the end of the first half, forcing the Wolfpack to turn to the mistake-prone duo of Harrison Beck and Evans after the intermission.

"(Daniel Evans) got us down there and got some excitement back, but then we couldn't seem to hold onto it," O'Brien said. "I thought he did an excellent job coming in an adverse situation. The one touchdown drive was really big, and Anthony (Hill) made a great catch there to get us in, but we couldn't close the deal."

After Rutgers narrowed its deficit to 17-9 early in the third quarter, the Wolfpack went three-and-out on their opening drive with Beck under center. The ensuing punt was blocked and recovered by Rutgers' Tiquan Underwood at the NC State 16-yard line.

The Scarlet Knights closed to within 17-16 just three plays later when Teel fired a 10-yard TD to Underwood.

"I thought it was critical," Schiano said. "I thought Mike did a great job of staying patient. There was one tipped pass, that was it. We talked all week about what we thought we'd get (from their defense) and he did a great job."

The Wolfpack failed to generate any offense on their next two drives and replaced Beck with Evans after falling behind, 19-17.

The move initially paid off, as Evans punctuated an eight-play drive with a 16-yard TD strike to Anthony Hill that gave NC State a 23-19 lead.

"This program is headed in the right direction," Hill said. "We didn't get the victory today, but this is a team that's going to keep on fighting. When January 14 comes and they can start lifting weights and running again, I feel like they're going to come out there and give it all they have. This won't happen again."

But that only set the stage for Teel, who struggled mightily in the first half of this season before markedly improving down the stretch. He threw 22 of his 25 TD passes over the last six games, all wins for Rutgers.