St. Petersburg Bowl Pairs Rutgers and Central Florida

Head coach Greg Schiano has built the Rutgers Scarlet Knights into a solid program. Schiano arrived at Rutgers after the 2000 season. He won just 12 games in his first four years at the school. The tide began to turn in 2005, his fifth year at Rutgers. His team posted a 7-5 record that year, losing to Arizona State in the Insight Bowl. In 2006, Rutgers won 11 games and beat Kansas State 37-10 in the Texas Bowl. Rutgers won eight games in each of the next two years, and won their bowl game in both years. Schiano has led Rutgers to an 8-4 record this year, despite starting true freshman Tom Savage at quarterback. Savage had a solid year, throwing 12 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Junior running back Joe Martinek ran for 923 yards and nine touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Tim Brown is only 5'8" and 165 pounds. But, he led the Scarlet Knights in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. While Rutgers posted an 8-4 overall record while playing in the Big East, they went just 3-4 in conference play, and did not play anybody that qualified for a bowl game in out-of-conference play.

The Central Florida Knights play in Conference USA., but they faced three top 15 teams this year. They won one of those games, a home game against 15^th ranked Houston. The Knights finished the year with an 8-4 record, and they didn't lose consecutive games at any point of the year. They come into the St. Petersburg Bowl riding a three-game winning streak, which began with their victory over Houston. Senior quarterback Brett Hodges threw 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and threw no interceptions in four of his 11 games. Sophomore running back Brynn Harvey rushed for 1,077 yards and 14 touchdowns. Harvey piled up more than 30 carries in three games, including Central Florida's win over Memphis, when he carried the ball 42 times for 219 yards and a score.

Rutgers and Central Florida both finished the year with identical 8-4 records. Rutgers would appear to be the superior team because they play in the Big East, while Central Florida plays in Conference USA. But, Central Florida may have actually played the tougher schedule.

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