Top 5 Quarterbacks at Rutgers
The Rutgers football team has always placed an emphasis on defense and running attacks. There have been several Scarlet Knights quarterbacks whose careers on the Banks did forge memorable moments in the history of the program.
5. Ray Lucas (1992-1995)
While at Rutgers, Lucas threw for nearly 5,900 yards and 43 touchdowns, with a passer rating of 120.2. He left a mark on the Knights record books as sixth in career passing yards with 5,896 yards and fourth in career touchdowns with 43.
He threw for 1,011 yards on 109 completions as a sophomore before tying the school record at the time the following season with 16 touchdown passes.
Then as a senior, Lucas led the Big East in total offense with 223.3 yards per game, leaving as the Rutgers all-time leader in passing touchdowns.
Despite his success on the Banks, Lucas went undrafted in 1996 and signed with the New England Patriots. He appeared in Super Bowl XXXI with the team.
After one season with the Patriots, he went onto play for the New York Jets in 1997. In 1999, the Jets finished with an 8-8 record. He stayed with New York until 2000.
Lucas then joined the Miami Dolphins for two years until 2002 before moving to the Baltimore Ravens in 2003. He finished his NFL career with 483 completions, 3,029 yards and 18 touchdowns.
After his playing days, Lucas came back home as the analyst on the Knights' IMG Sports Network, and also appears on Big Ten Network and SNY.
4. Mike McMahon (1997-2000)
McMahon finished his career leading the Rutgers offense with 6,608 yards and 41 touchdowns. He finished with a 109.7 quarterback rating on the Banks.
McMahon played under head coach Terry Shea, where the only offensive weapon was tight end L.J. Smith. He has left his mark in the Knights' record books, standing fifth in total passing yards and fifth in total career touchdowns with 41 touchdowns.
He was selected in the fifth round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. McMahon went on to play five seasons in the NFL with the Lions, Eagles and Vikings. He retired from professional football after 2012.
3. Ryan Hart (2002-2005)
Hart played in just 38 games in his four years at Rutgers, amassing 8,482 passing yards and 52 touchdowns.
He was the Knights' quarterback that ended the 27-year bowl drought, leading Rutgers to the 2005 Insight.com Bowl. Hart set up the Knights' winning culture for the new breed of Rutgers led by Mike Teel and Ray Rice.
He finished his career third in career passing yards, second in passing yards in a single season in 2002 and third in passing touchdowns with 52 touchdowns.
Hart owns almost every major passing record in school history. If he finished all his years of eligibility, he would have all the records.
2. Gary Nova (2011-2014)
Nova played for the Knights from 2011-2014. He was able to lead the team to numerous bowl games. Nova started five games in 2011 as a true freshman and led Rutgers to a victory in the 2011 Pinstripe Bowl.
In 2012, Nova was named the starting quarterback and brought the team back to the glory days of 2006. The 2013 season was an off year for Nova. He was bypassed as the starting quarterback and replaced by Chas Dodd in the final two games.
During the 2014 season, Nova won back the job for starting quarterback. His consistent play during the 2014 season lead the team to the 2014 Quick Lane Bowl where he went 9-of-20 and threw for 184 yards with two touchdowns.
Nova left his mark with the Knights by leading the team to two bowl games. He also finished first in career passing touchdowns with 73 touchdowns, second in single season passing touchdowns with 22 touchdowns and second in career passing yards with 9,258 yards.
1. Mike Teel (2005-2008)
Teel played quarterback for Rutgers and went onto playing professional football in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots and Chicago Bears. He was drafted by the Seahawks in 2009 during the 6th round.
After redshirting the 2004 season, Teel played in eight games during the 2005 campaign. He played in eight games completing 50% of his passes for 683 yards and two touchdowns.
In 2006, Teel was the starting quarterback and led the team to a 9-0 start.
This was a team featuring the NFL talent of Brian Leonard, Tyquan Underwood, Kenny Britt and Ray Rice. He finished his Big East career with 59 touchdowns.
He was honored as the Big East Conference Player of the Year in 2009. He was responsible for leading the high-powered offense to multiple bowl games.
Teel left the Knights by instilling his name into the record books as the career passing yards leader and the single-season leader with 3,418 yards.
Teel went onto the NFL after being drafted by the Seahawks. His rookie season he completed 48.8% of his passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns as Seattle’s third quarterback on the roster.
He was waived in 2010 and was signed by the Patriots. He was waived by the patriots in June 2010 and was then signed by the Chicago Bears. But, his career was over after he got hurt and place on injury reserve.
The Bears decided to cut him. Teel moved forward with his professional career as a coach. He was named the quarterbacks coach at Kean. After one year, he took a promotion to coach Division I football at Wagner College.
Then he went back to Kean for another year before serving as a graduate assistant from 2014-2015, back on the Banks.
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