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Matthews propels Fresno State past Rutgers

Sep 2, 2008 - 2:06 AM PISCATAWAY, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Fresno State gave Rutgers a rude awakening: life without Ray Rice may be more difficult than originally anticipated.

The Scarlet Knights' offense sputtered in their first game without the former All-American running back while Ryan Matthews rushed for three touchdowns to propel 25th-ranked Bulldogs to a 24-7 triumph in the season opener for both teams on Monday.

"Obviously, it was a very disappointing game," Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. "We did not play as we are capable of playing today, and as a coach that starts with me. It's my job to get everyone ready."

Matthews also ran for 166 yards on 26 carries en route to exhausting the defense of Rutgers (0-1), which is coming off an 8-5 campaign capped by an International Bowl win last season.

That feat was accomplished with the immense help of Rice, who ran for 2,012 yards - a school record - and 24 touchdowns last season before being selected in the second round of the NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens.

His replacement, sophomore Kordell Young, ran for 95 yards on 26 carries, but was overshadowed by the brilliance of his counterpart.

"I thought Kordell ran extremely hard," Schiano said. "I thought there were times when we messed up on the front line a bit and he had to dodge people in the backfield, which is hard to do. But I thought he played tough."

Matthews scored from four yards out to give the Bulldogs (1-0) a 10-0 advantage with 6:59 left in the third and capitalized twice late in the fourth to put the game out of reach.

"First of all, Rutgers is a very good defensive team," Fresno State coach Pat Hill said. "They are physical and it was a tough game. I was not pleased with our level of effort and intensity in the first half and we had a chat about that at halftime. We were not playing Bulldog football. We played much more physical and aggressive in the second half.

"I'm happy for the win. That's all I care about... I'm not into stats or any of that stuff. We just needed to come here and win and now we can get on that plane and head home."

Matthews also helped Fresno State to its 13th victory over teams in BCS conferences - tied with Utah for the most in the nation for teams from non-BCS leagues.

Young scampered into the end zone with a 1-yard run with 11:20 left in the fourth to cut the deficit to 10-7, but Matthews ran for a pair of one-yard scores with 6:46 and 3:15 left, respectively.

Rutgers had many miscues, including two missed field goals, a failed fourth-and-goal play from the 3, an interception in the end zone and an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown wiped out by a block-in-the-back penalty.

"The words I would use are out of sync," Schiano said of his team's troubles. "I thought we did some good things, but we couldn't get into a good flow. It just didn't seem to flow freely. I think the team, collectively, needs to take over games. We have some great players, but I didn't think we played well enough as a team."

The Bulldogs were 9-4 last season, including an impressive win over Georgia Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl. Quarterback Tom Brandstater led an offense that gained 571 yards in the that game against one of the nation's top defenses.

Brandstater threw for 216 yards and completed 11-of-24 passes, but got all the help he would need from his sophomore running back, who was six yards from breaking a career high previously set against Nevada in his rookie campaign.

"We were not in sync in the first half but played better in the second half," Brandstater said. "The line made some real good adjustments and really took over the game. Ryan Matthews had a great game. It's nice to be able to hand the ball with someone like him and watch him go."

After a scoreless first half, Fresno State broke through on the opening drive with Kevin Goessling's 31-yard field goal.

Rutgers quarterback Mike Teel was 20-of-39 with 263 yards and two interceptions.

"Today was a very disappointing and frustrating day for all of us," Teel said. "We just couldn't establish a rhythm with the running or the passing game. There were times we could move the ball down the field, but then had trouble executing.

"Some things worked for us today, but we could never truly capitalize. It was hard to not take advantage of the scoring opportunities we had in the first half. We gave it our best shot, but the missed chances we had really hurt us in the end."