PISCATAWAY, NJ – Kyle Monangai ran for 132 yards and a touchdown and Rutgers held Washington 21-18 on Friday night when Huskies kicker Grady Gross missed a 55-yard attempt as time expired.

Rutgers won its Big Ten opener and improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2012. Washington (3-2, 1-1) was playing its first Big Ten road game.

Washington cut it to three with 1:40 left thanks to Will Rogers III’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Denzel Boston and a 2-point conversion pass to Keleki Latu. The Huskies got the ball back with 35 seconds left when Gross’ attempt to force overtime sailed past the left goal.

“Our guys are learning how to do it,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. “We learn step by step. They (Washington) are a good offensive football team and difficult to tackle. We missed a lot of tackles but we made them when we needed to. So I’m really happy about that. “Our guys are proud of the way they fought.”

Washington had a 521-299 total yards advantage, but missed three field goals, was penalized six times for 69 yards and went 2 for 12 on third down.

Rogers was 26 of 36 for 306 yards and two touchdowns. He entered the game as the leading active FBS quarterback in career pass attempts, completions and completion percentage, and second in passing yards and touchdowns.

Rutgers took a 21-10 lead with 10:57 left when Samuel Brown V completed a 37-yard touchdown up the middle.

The Huskies had cut the score to 14-10 on Rogers’ 51-yard touchdown pass to Boston down the right sideline with 4:23 left in the third.

Monangai gave the Scarlet Knights a 7-3 lead with a 1-yard TD run early in the second quarter.

The senior running back, who led the Big Ten in rushing last season, wasn’t surprised by his team’s resilience.

“I didn’t learn anything new,” Monangai said. “I already knew we were a resilient team. We will continue to lean on each other when times get tough. Like I said, we know what we are. We just try to make it through every Saturday.”

Athan Kaliakmanis threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Ian Strong with 30 seconds left in the half to make it 14-3. The score was set after Washington was called for an illegal substitution after blocking Jai Patel’s field goal attempt.

Washington’s Vince Holmes ran onto the field thinking the game was dead and the Huskies had recovered. But the ball was still loose. The 5-yard penalty gave Rutgers a first down and the Scarlet Knights scored on the next play.

“It was a game that lasted 60 minutes,” first-year Washington coach Jedd Fisch said. “But I told the team that you can’t play against two teams. You can’t play against ourselves and against our opponent. When you get a penalty after a blocked field goal and when you miss three field goals, there are too many things coming back to get us.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Rutgers, but we didn’t take our penalties and that’s the saddest part of the night.”

Kaliakmanis was 14 of 24 for 115 yards.

NEXT

Washington: Host defending champion Michigan next Saturday

Rutgers: Next Saturday at Nebraska.

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