ROOTING FOR RUTGERS
Fans don red, hope for repeat season while supporting Rutgers at opener against Buffalo.
By RICK MALWITZ
Staff Writer
PISCATAWAY -- Encore! Encore! Encore!
What some Rutgers football fans called for when the red team took the field Thursday night against Buffalo is simply more of the same.
"They don't even have to improve on last year," said Bill Rella, a senior from Ramsey, looking back to last year's 11-2 record, and the first bowl victory in school history.
Others had something more in mind, including students wearing red T-shirts with the optimistic message: "12-0. Only Three Months To Go."
But one thing Rutgers fans could agree on was how it was a summer to remember, when wearing anything red and Rutgers was a conversation starter.
Wearing her red Rutgers shirt, said Jessica Stephens, a junior from Point Pleasant Beach, meant strangers saying with envy, "Oh, my God, you go to Rutgers."
Retired Union County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Weiss said he had a lobster dinner in Cape Cod interrupted when someone noticed the "R" on his hat, and struck up a conversation.
When someone noticed Nick Burzichelli, a 1984 graduate, wearing a Rutgers golf shirt on the Atlantic City boardwalk, a Rutgers' cheer broke out.
This was the summer Warren and Ruth Seibert's family, of Belvidere, became a Rutgers' family. Their oldest son Caleb, 14, began playing youth football, and already has a broken arm to show for it.
"It was time for him to pick a team to root for, and Rutgers is it," explained his father, who was attending his first Rutgers game, after having ignored the team when he was attending New Brunswick Seminary.
Bill Loughney, a junior from Piscataway, recalled how when he was a kid in town he could walk into Rutgers Stadium without a ticket.
"It was typical New Jersey apathetic," he said. "Now, it's great to talk Rutgers to my college friends," Loughney said.
Last night, he wore a hard hat and construction vest, as a member of the Road Crew -- a group of students that makes its presence known at home and away games. Loughney and Michael Shafai, a junior from Freehold, spent the summer text-messaging each other with a countdown to kickoff, beginning when there were 200 days until last night's season opener.
Chris Lugo of Edison, a 1998 graduate, recalled how Rutgers was part of the college football conversation when he attended here. "What you heard back then was, "Oh, my God, I can't believe we lost that bad to Virginia Tech."
In Lugo's senior year Rutgers opened the season with a 59-19 loss to Virginia Tech, and finished the season without a win in 11 games. Last year Rutgers became the feel-good story of the fall, finishing 11-2, and winning the Texas Bowl.
This season began with unprecedented expectations, with Rutgers ranked No. 16 in the USA Today and Associated Press preseason polls. Sports Illustrated made Rutgers part of the Rose Bowl conversation.
It was something Lugo insists he always thought possible. "In the largest media market of the world -- the geography, the size of the school -- I thought it would happen and I'm glad it's finally here," he said, tailgating in the yellow lot.
Tailgating partner Bob Graser of Iselin, a 1991 Rutgers graduate, recalled attending graduate school at the University of Miami, when that school was on top of the college football world.
"It's nice to see the anticipation here," said Glaser, who consumed as much news about Rutgers football that the modern media could deliver this summer in newspapers, the Internet and on blogs.
One of the benefits of the positive news about the football team, Glaser said, has been a spillover effect.
"You're reading more stories about Rutgers' academics. The (football) program's given much energy to the school," he said.
Glaser's college roommate Jeff Pasternak had the good fortune of visiting New Jersey this week from Rochester, Minn, where he works at the Mayo Clinic, and Glaser was able to secure him a ticket.
What the Rutgers football team did, Pasternak said, was raise the profile of his alma mater like nothing before.
"You're quite proud to say you're a Rutgers graduate," Pasternak said.
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Rick Malwitz can be reached at (732) 565-7291 or
rmalwitz@thnt.com.
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