1: Catches by Brandon Coleman. The Rutgers receiver was targeted five times and caught only one pass ... but it went for 86 yards and the game-clinching touchdown. Timeliness: Brandon Coleman had it.
Iowa State Vs. Rutgers Recap, Pinstripe Bowl 2011: The Numerical
The stats that mattered in Rutgers’ 27-13 win over Iowa State in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium, from Jawan Jamison’s rushing, to Khaseem Greene’s (mostly) fantastic final game, to Iowa State’s woeful passing.
10: Rutgers tackles for loss. While Iowa State roasted Oklahoma State's defense a few weeks ago, that was just Paul Rhoads' team rising to the occasion, as they tend to do a couple of times a year. The rest of the season, they were inconsistent and inefficient. And against a quality Rutgers defense, they were overwhelmed. The Scarlet Knights made a living in the ISU backfield, led by star Khaseem Greene (10.0 tackles, three tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one pass broken up) and, surprisingly, second-team all-conference cornerback Logan Ryan (6.0 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one interception and two passes broken up), who dominated all over the field. Unfortunately, Greene's season (and career) ended a few minutes before the end of the game due to a rather gruesome ankle injury. Do not click on this link, whatever you do.
21.4: Catch rate on passes thrown to Darius Reynolds and Darius Darks. They caught three of the 14 passes targeting them. Reynolds was ISU's No. 1 target all season, and while he made some big plays along the way (he averaged 16.2 yards per catch for the season), his catch rate was woeful: 48.2 percent, second-worst of any major-conference No. 1 target (ahead of only Ohio State's Devin Smith, at 41.4 percent). Darks was no better, catching one of four passes yesterday and managing just a 45-percent catch rate for the season. Some of this is on the quarterbacks -- neither Jared Barnett nor Steele Jantz were incredibly accurate; but still, they needed to make more of their opportunities for ISU to succeed at a higher level, both yesterday and all season.
31: Yards gained in James White’s first two carries. ISU came out running the read-option to perfection; their first three plays: runs of 23 and eight yards by White, and a 10-yard keeper by Barnett. But that was just about all ISU was able to manage on the ground. White’s final seven carries gained just 11 yards, and Barnett rushed just two other times for eight yards before getting banged up and leaving the game. Rutgers was pretty quickly able to make ISU one-dimensional ... and for the Cyclones, it was the wrong dimension.
131: Rushing yards gained by Rutgers' Jawan Jamison. Receiver Mohamed Sanu had to be thinking, "Now this is more like it!" A strong running game? Production from another receiver (Coleman)? Yes, please! Sanu caught six of eight passes for 62 yards, a far cry from the 14 targets per game he averaged in the regular season. But he was probably okay with that. After a couple of field goal drives by Iowa State, Jamison was able to take over and help the Rutgers defense define the narrative of the game.
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