Mountaineers top Rutgers to earn Gator Bowl berth

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — It took the Gator Bowl 10 minutes to announce it had extended an invitation to West Virginia after the Mountaineers’ 15th straight win over Rutgers.

It took West Virginia 10 seconds to accept.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to go down and represent the Big East,” said Mountaineers coach Bill Stewart after Noel Devine and Ryan Clarke each ran for a touchdown and JT Thomas had a game-clinching interception with 1:59 left in a 24-21 victory over Rutgers on Saturday.

It will mark West Virginia’s fourth New Year’s Day trip to Jacksonville in seven seasons, and its first since beating Georgia Tech in 2007. In a possible 2005 rematch, the Mountaineers could meet Florida State and former WVU coach Bobby Bowden in Bowden’s final game.

“The Gator Bowl has a great tradition and relationship with West Virginia University,” said Gator Bowl Selection Chairman Brian Goin, a WVU alum. “It’s just been a super year for West Virginia.”

After losing two out of three to South Florida and Cincinnati, West Virginia (9-3, 5-2) did not seem destined for a New Year’s bowl. But beating Pittsburgh last week put the Mountaineers back in the hunt.

“After some of those tough losses, we could have easily shut it down,” said strong safety Sidney Glover, a Warren Harding High grad whose third-quarter interception return for a touchdown opened a 21-3 lead for West Virginia. “Especially losing to teams we felt we should have beat, it’s easy to shut down. But we didn’t.”

Rutgers (8-4, 3-4) will still make its fifth straight bowl appearance and is in the mix for any of four games. But the Knights were not dwelling on that.

“I’ll just wait until [Sunday],” cornerback Devin McCourty said. “I’m sure someone will just text or call me.”

The Knights were limited to 218 yards and just 65 rushing yards in falling to 4-31-2 against West Virginia.

“I was very proud of our defense and our special teams,” Stewart said. “Our defense was phenomenal.”

Rutgers quarterback Tom Savage was 9 for 27 for 153 yards and two interceptions. Mohammed Sanu caught six passes for 105 yards.

The Knights’ defense allowed 278 yards and held Devine, the Big East’s second-leading rusher, to 65 yards, while quarterback Jarrett Brown completed 10 of 20 passes for 116 yards and rushed for 36.