 "Photo: Dan Bracaglia / Multimedia Editor")
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — If senior wide receiver Tim Brown didn’t have his right ankle wrapped in black tape in the 34-14 win Friday over Louisville, there wouldn’t be any inkling of a lingering injury.
He pulled in a 29-yard pass from true freshman quarterback Tom Savage on the Rutgers football team’s first play from scrimmage and never looked back.
He even cracked a few milestones on the way.
He added to his school record in career touchdowns with his 19th career grab and closed within four games of former receiver Kenny Britt with his ninth career 100-yard receiving game.
“It feels good,” Brown said. “I’ve worked hard all year and we’ve just still got more games so there’s still more football to play.”
His 124 yards on the day gives him 1,051 yards on the year, the fourth time any RU receiver cracked the 1,000-yard plateau. His 2,158 career receiving yards put him ahead of Jim Guarantano for fifth in school history.
“He deserves it,” said head coach Greg Schiano. “It’s not been easy. He was a guy who battled. Tim Brown has done a lot for Rutgers and Rutgers has done a lot for Tim Brown. It’s really been a good thing.”
Health was an issue at receiver going into the game with Brown nursing his ankle and true freshman receiver Mark Harrison struggling with a head injury. Harrison did not play, but Savage found little help along the way from other options.
Tight end Shamar Graves pulled in a 10-yard catch before getting leveled and leaving in an ambulance. Fullback Jack Corcoran and receiver Mohamed Sanu each added a catch apiece.
The only other receiver to get a real look was redshirt freshman Keith Stroud who dropped a pass right in his chest.
Graves left the game with some sort of internal injury, Schiano said. He was the only newly injured player for Rutgers.
On the injury front, junior Antonio Lowery did not play because of previous injuries and true freshman Steve Beauharnais started in his stead at weakside linebacker.
In his second career start, the Saddle Brook, N.J. native compiled a sack and five tackles.
“Steve Beauharnais is a guy we’ve got to get on the field,” Schiano said. “I can’t wait to watch the film on the plane home because I hope he played the way I think he would have played, but I didn’t watch him at all to be honest with you.”
He wasn’t without fault, however, committing a defensive pass interference and falling behind a Louisville receiver on a big play that led to the Cardinals’ first touchdown.
The Scarlet Knights have some strange recent history when it comes to playing Louisville. Prior to the win, UofL scored a combined 97 points against RU in the last two games at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
In the last two meetings overall, however, Rutgers has a total of 97 points of its own.
Rutgers lost its last two games at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium 56-5 (2005) and 41-38 (2007).
With running back Joe Martinek’s 90 yards and a touchdown, he improves to 874 yards and nine touchdowns on the season.
“We put the Syracuse game behind us and we learned from it,” Martinek said. “We worked on our game plan all week and it feels good to have a day like we did.”
Both are school bests since Ray Rice’s departure in 2007.
Sophomore kicker San San Te (knee) booted four extra points without showing any signs of lingering pain.
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