Throw Back Thursday: this week in Rutgers football history, Week 11

It was a long meeting of the #TBT staff to determine what to include. So many choices. Bottom line: We threw in everything we had! But then we had computer issues! Technology! Fortunately Peabody took care of that. Now the dog, Sherman, and the rest of the staff are ready for....

This Week....in Rutgers....Football....History (*echoing* history...history....history)

Last year: November 5 and the Knights were hosting the Hoosiers. IU was 4-4 as they came to Piscataway. It was a back and forth affair until the third quarter. With Rutgers leading 24-13 at the beginning of the third quarter, the Hoosiers scored three consecutive touchdowns to take the lead for good. Gio Rescigno threw for a season-high 258 passing yards, including a career-long 68-yard touchdown pass to Andre Patton. Redshirt freshman Jawuan Harris had career-highs in receptions (8) and receiving yards (118) to lead RU. Senior Justin Goodwin led Rutgers with 147 all-purpose yards. The Knights fell to 2-7, 0-6.

2007, Ten years ago: We got nothin’. Rutgers was on a bye in a 7-4 season. For the record, they were coming off a win over UConn and would return from the off week to top Pitt.

Now, the fun stuff!

1972: My senior year. Nov. 11 and the Terriers of Boston University come to town. Sadly, BU no longer plays football, but on this day, Rutgers did....and very well.

Classmates Dave Rineheimer and Andy Malekoff were the co-captains (BRING BACK THESE PHOTOS!!) and the team - John Bateman’s last as head coach - posed on the field in front of the old press box. RU finished the season at 7-4.

1968: An 8-2 season for the Knights as they hosted Connecticut on Nov. 9. It was a good day for RU, topping the Huskies, 27-15.

A little humor and some personality in the cover art; that’s a hint to the producers of today’s programs!! And as happened in an earlier program, the band got its recognition in a feature on its halftime show, a salute to the Broadway show “Man of LaMancha”. Again, can we figure out a way to do this?

1964: Yes, another season with a winning record (6-3). See, boys and girls, we were not always bad. The Knights met Lafayette at Rutgers Stadium on Nov. 7 and easily handled the Leopards, 31-6. It was the first year of two-platoon football in NCAA football. If you don’t know what that is, look it up! Or just reference the opposite of Myles Nash from this year’s squad.

The program reflected that it was election time - can’t we do something topical and current on our programs? - and Bob Norton was team captain.

1958: I would not have thought of this until I saw the program. 1958 was the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Stadium. Prior to this, games were played on Nelson Field, which is where Records Hall is on the College Avenue Campus. Of course, the current configuration of the stadium came about from the 1994 rebuild and the 2009 expansion.

In an 8-1 season, the Knights took on Lafayette (again) on Nov. 8 and downed the visitors, 18-0.

The captain of the 1958 squad? All American Billy Austin, remembered here in a really great tribute by nj.com’s Keith Sargeant. Again, with an abandoning of history, note the 17Q66 at the top, a tribute to Queen’s College, Rutgers’ earliest incarnation. If you don’t preserve your past, you lose it. Yes, I taught history.

1954: Guess who we played this week in 1954....go ahead, guess. If you said Lafayette, we’ve got a winner! Yes, Nov. 6, 1954 saw the Leopards come into Rutgers Stadium and stumble out with a 7-0 loss to the Scarlet.

Next week: It’s another westward trip to the land of quarries. No, not Bedrock, although some of the writers on Crimson Quarry do remind us of cavemen. Indiana’s calling (which reminds me of another song!) and we’ll be here on #TBT to look at what happened the week of Nov. 12-18 in Rutgers....Football....History (*echoing* history...history....history)