The dream of an undefeated season and a hopeful shot to play for a national title is over for No. 18 Rutgers after an upset loss at home to Kent State.
Everything else is still in place.
The nonconference loss won't deny the Scarlet Knights a chance at the Big East Conference regular-season title and a BCS bowl bid. That is what their sights are set on now, following the stunning 35-23 defeat by the Golden Flashes on Saturday in Piscataway, N.J.
"This is a lump in the road," Rutgers linebacker Khaseem Greene said. "We control our own destiny and we can still do what we set out to do since the beginning of the year. This is all about how we respond. To the young guys, this class is different and I know they will follow the leaders, and it's on us to set the example how to react after losing the game in the way that we did.
"I'm just ready to let this soak in a little bit, keep this taste in my mouth and get back on the practice field."
Rutgers (7-1, 4-0 Big East) will have a bye week and then face Army. The conference title hopes will be determined in the final three games against Cincinnati (5-2, 1-1), Pittsburgh (4-4, 1-3) and No. 16 Louisville (8-0, 3-0). The last game will be played at Rutgers on Nov. 29.
"There's a goal that is in front of us that's never been done at Rutgers, the Big East championship," Kyle Flood said after his first lost as the Scarlet Knights coach. "We have an opportunity sitting in conference play to be able to do that over the last three games of our season. That will be conference games. I think we'll be very motivated, there's no doubt about that. But I'm always up front and honest with the team."
"This is a great win for our program," said Kent State coach Darrell Hazell, a Rutgers assistant from 2001-03. "We came on the road against a very tough opponent. We knew they were going to be tough, and they did a great job prior to playing us. I thought our kids prepared like crazy this week. We made enough plays early in the game to keep those guys off balance. Rutgers kept fighting back, and our guys kept fighting them off."
Syracuse 37, South Florida 36 - Ryan Nassib threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Alec Lemon with three seconds left as Syracuse rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit to beat South Florida (2-6, 0-4 Big East) in Tampa.
Nassib, who finished with four TD passes, all coming in the second half, marched the Orange (4-4, 3-1 Big East) 75 yards in 1 minute, 20 seconds for the winning score.
