ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — With versatile freshman Mohamed Sanu doing a little bit of everything, Rutgers extended its string of postseason success with a 45-24 rout of Central Florida in the St. Petersburg Bowl.
The multithreat receiver ran for two touchdowns out of the wildcat formation and also scored on an 11-yard reception from Tom Savage, another true freshman who threw for a career-best 294 yards Saturday night.
Rutgers (9-4) claimed a school-record fourth consecutive bowl win to finish with at least nine victories for just the sixth time in 140 years. UCF (8-5) fell to 0-3 in bowl games under coach George O’Leary.
Billy Anderson scored on a 19-yard interception return for Rutgers, which shut down 1,000-yard rusher Brynn Harvey, limiting the running back to 32 yards on 13 carries to end his streak of three consecutive games with at least 129.
Sanu — the first Rutgers player since 1993 to run for a TD, throw for a TD and catch a pass for a TD in the same season — rushed for 41 yards on 13 carries and had four receptions for 97 yards.
He also set up UCF’s first touchdown, fumbling a punt that was recovered inside the Rutgers 10. Three plays later, Brett Hodges threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Kamar Aiken for a brief 7-7 tie.
Tim Brown, whose status had been uncertain because of an ankle injury, put the Scarlet Knights ahead for good less than a minute later, catching a pass over the middle and turning it into a 65-yard TD play.
UCF won five of six after a 3-3 start to earn its third bowl bid in six years under O’Leary — a 106-mile ride from Orlando that’s the shortest trip any Football Bowl Subdivision team will make for a bowl game this postseason.
UCF 7 10 0 7 — 24
Rutgers14 14 10 7 — 45
First quarter: Rut — Sanu 5 run (Te kick), 8:37. UCF — Aiken 7 pass from Hodges (Cattoi kick), 4:31. Rut — T.Brown 65 pass from Savage (Te kick), 3:54. Second quarter: UCF — FG Cattoi 25, 14:56. Rut — Sanu 1 run (Te kick), 5:50. UCF — Aiken 34 pass from Hodges (Cattoi kick), 2:32. Rut — Anderson 19 interception return (Te kick), 1:38. Third quarter: Rut — Sanu 11 pass from Savage (Te kick), 12:37. Rut — FG Te 43, 8:09. Fourth quarter: UCF — J.Davis 2 run (Cattoi kick), 2:23. Rut — Munoz 35 kickoff return (Te kick), 2:18. A — 29,763.
TEAM STATISTICS
UCFRut
First downs1415
Rushes-yards 30-3532-86
Passing220294
Comp-att-int18-35-214-28-1
Return yards1140
Punts-avg.8-39.34-39.5
Fumbles-lost0-02-1
Penalties-yards5-4510-80
Time of possession28:5331:07
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — UCF, Harvey 13-32, Calabrese 4-26, Kelly 1-4, J.Davis 7-1, Hodges 5-(minus 28). Rutgers, Martinek 14-44, Sanu 13-41, Brooks 1-4, Team 1-(minus 1), Savage 3-(minus 2).
PASSING — UCF, Hodges 13-28-2-175, Calabrese 5-7-0-45. Rutgers, Savage 14-27-1-294, Sanu 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — UCF, Aiken 4-65, Ross 4-49, J.Davis 3-29, Guyton 2-13, McDuffie 1-22, Nissley 1-18, Kay 1-12, Harvey 1-7, Newsome 1-5. Rutgers, T.Brown 4-99, Sanu 4-97, Martinek 3-66, Harrison 2-15, Graves 1-17.
