Posted: Sunday, October 5, 2014, 3:01 AM
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - When Penn State visits Michigan on Saturday, the Nittany Lions will be facing a reeling team that continues to be among this year's biggest disappointments in college football.
The struggles of one of college football's once-elite programs continued with Saturday night's 26-24 loss to Rutgers before a sellout crowd of 53,327 at High Point Solutions Stadium.
Michigan is now 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the Big 10, and those howls for coach Brady Hoke's job won't be silenced by this performance.
Rutgers improved to 5-1, 1-1 in its inaugural Big 10 season.
Rutgers, which held a 19-17 lead at halftime, increased its advantage to 26-17 on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Gary Nova to Andrew Turzilli with 13 minutes and 12 seconds left in the game.
Turzilli had two receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
Michigan's much-maligned quarterback Devin Gardner, who wears the unconventional No. 98, cut the score to 26-24 on a 19-yard touchdown run on which he broke a tackle and sped to the outside with 9:17 left.
On their next series, the Wolverines had a fourth and 9 from the Rutgers 39 yard line with 3:07 left. Michigan's Matt Wile, whose career-best field goal was 52 yards, had a 56-yard attempt blocked by Kemoko Turay.
Rutgers then ran out the clock.
Michigan couldn't do the one thing that Penn State was able to achieve in its win this season over Rutgers - contain Nova.
Against the Wolverines, Nova completed 22 of 39 passes for a career-high 404 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.
This was against a Michigan defense that entered the contest allowing 283.4 total yards per game.
It was a drastic turnaround from Nova's performance in the 13-10 loss to the visiting Nittany Lions on Sept. 13. In that game, Nova completed 15 of 30 for 198 yards, five interceptions, and no touchdowns. He was also sacked three times.
Rutgers got field goals of 35 and 45 yards from Kyle Federico on its first two possessions.
Michigan, which scored on a 39-yard field goal by Wile on its first drive, took a 10-6 lead on Gardner's 4-yard run with 14:10 left in the second quarter.
Rutgers went ahead by 12-10 with 7:23 left in the second quarter when Nova hit a wide-open Turzilli for an 80-yard score. Turzilli caught the ball at the Michigan 35 before heading to the end zone.
Michigan scored on a 1-yard run by De'Von Smith after Rutgers, on a fourth and 10 from its own 45, faked a punt. The up-man in punt formation, Michael Burton, completed a pass to punter Tim Gleason that went for a 2-yard loss.
Nova shook off what looked like a potential sack by defensive end Frank Clark and found John Tsmis for a 7-yard touchdown pass, giving the Scarlet Knights a 19-17 lead with 22 seconds left in the first half.
It was one of many spectacular plays by the Rutgers senior quarterback.
mnarducci@phillynews.com
@sjnard
Posted by Unknown on Saturday, October 4, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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