Reaction: Rutgers topples Cincinnati

Here is some of the reaction to Saturday's 10-3 victory by Rutgers over Cincinnati, a victory puts the Scarlet Knights (5-0 Big East, 9-1 overall) firmly in control of the conference and a potential BCS bowl berth.

Rutgers rolls 10-3 - On the Banks

What do you know. Rutgers played a team that they were legitimately worried about losing to for the first time in months, and that also happened to spur the Scarlet Knights to look like a genuine top 25 team again.

Rutgers' Savon Huggins makes most of opportunity in win over Cincinnati | NJ.com

Huggins rushed for 179 yards on 41 carries behind a dominating offensive line that provided hole after hole for an offense that gained 234 of its 420 total yards on the ground and had 37 minutes, 13 seconds of possession time.

Huggins had 311 yards on 108 career carries in 16 games before yesterday. He matched the school record for carries in a game that Jamison set Sept. 13 at South Florida.

"I seized my opportunity and I did my job," said Huggins. "The more carries I get, the better I get. As the game goes on the defense starts to slow down and I started to make my cuts more decisively. That’s with any great running back: I feel the more carries you get now you’re going to see what the defense and the D-line does and how you need to play it."

Rutgers' defense stands up to test of Cincinnati, Big East's highest scoring offense | NJ.com

Khaseem Greene was offended when Cincinnati decided to go for a fourth-and-1 at the Rutgers 7-yard line on the Bearcats’ opening drive of the second half Saturday afternoon. Rutgers was leading 7-0 but UC was threatening to tie the score.

Running back George Winn never got close to converting the play into a first down, let alone a touchdown. He was met by a wall of defenders, led by linebackers Steve Beauharnais and Greene, who threw the Big East’s leading rusher for a 1-yard loss and preserved Rutgers’ lead.

The defense did that time and time again Saturday as the Scarlet Knights left Nippert Stadium with a 10-3 win that has them one game from clinching at least a tie for the conference championship. Eight times UC entered Rutgers territory but the Bearcats, the highest-scoring team in the Big East, came away with just a 36-yard field goal by Tony Miliano with 15 seconds remaining.

"We feel that someone is disrespecting us when they go for it on fourth down against us. We take that real personal," said Greene. "That was the message; If they’re going to go for it, we’re going to make them pay for it. That’s exactly what we did."