It was a cool sunny day in Boston. With the light beating down on my knees and sweat dripping from my brow, I watched nervously what I had seldom seen all day: the Rutgers offense steadily marching toward me in brutally-fought increments. The Knights were down 21-15, and after having given up some big plays and making a few mistakes in the first half, they’d tightened up in the second. About halfway through their advance up the field, starting running back Kyle Monangai went down with a minor injury. No. 26 Rutgers took his place.
The young man who donned that number was redshirt freshmen Al-Shadee Salaam.