*This game is not being televised, but Texas Southern will have a live feed of the action – in HD – on its website. You can sign up here; a one-game purchase is $9.95.

52:02 before Kickoff: The Tigers are doing lunges across their half of the field, DC Jefferson’s catching balls on the Rutgers’ half of the field and Jay-Z’s on the speakers. Rutgers was offering 2-for-1 tickets to this game and from the look of the tailgater-packed lots, this should be a pretty good Homecoming Day crowd. I wonder what former players will make it. Texas Southern’s most famous former player of course is Michael Strahan. He’s no longer a Montclair resident, though, and the Texas Southern folks tell me it’s been a long time since they’ve seen him on one of their sidelines.

41:27 before Kickoff: Every game, the Scarlet Knights spread across the field and stand on the yard lines, from the five to the 35, for their pre-game stretching. Every game, Greg Schiano goes along these lines, shakes hands with every single player and says something to each one. It never really looks cursory. I wonder what he’s saying and if it’s different for different players. I should ask some of the kids…

35:55 before Kickoff: That’s a bummer. Even though Rutgers is paying Texas Southern $400,000 for this game, that apparently wasn’t enough to cover travel for the Texas Southern marching band to make the trip. These guys are good. Maybe even better than Howard good. I guess we’ll have to satisfy ourselves with this:

30:59 before Kickoff: Okay, what do we know about Texas Southern? Besides the fact that the Tigers’ unis look an awful lot like Texas A&M’s… they have 20 transfers from FBS schools. Some were problem children, some just wanted more playing time. Like Arvell Nelson, who left Iowa for Fort Scott Junior College, led that team to a national title last year and now is quarterbacking the Tigers. One of their top wideouts (Ricky Dixon) is from LSU, their tight end (Jonathan Hannah) left Florida State and on the list goes. The Tigers won four games last year, which exceeded their total from the preceeding four years combined, and second-year coach Johnnie Cole is a trip. He’s one of nine children too.

15:03 before Kickoff: The (relatively few) people already in the stands offered a nice cheer when Tom Savage was announced as Rutgers’ starter on the big scoreboard. That’s a nice show of support for the freshman. A concussion late in the FIU game has had him sidelined since Sept. 19, but he’s looked fine in practice and he’ll need this tune-up before Pitt comes to town next Friday. Thus far, Savage has completed 53.1 percent of his passes for 543 yards and three TDs. More impressive - not that I want to jinx anything – not one of his 64 pass attempts has been picked off.

8:00 before Kickoff: Bummer that Syracuse put together such an ugly game with Jim Brown in the stands. Greg Paulus was intercepted in West Virginia territory on Syracuse’s first drive, the INT return went 60 yards and Noel Devine needed one play to score. The final’s West Virginia 34, Syracuse 13. Brown – and Martin Luther King III – were in attendance for the naming of the Carrier Dome turf Ernie Davis Legends Field.

7:24 before Kickoff: There is something so cool about seeing the glee club alum on the field, in their “civvies,” singing with the curent glee club membership. Meanwhile, a LOT of people must still be tailgating. The stadium’s not yet half filled.

12:57 left in the 1st Quarter: Interesting hurry-up offense from TSU. Pass completion for 19 yards and pass completion for 18 yards. Sandwiched in between was a 5-yard delay of game, as Nelson waited for the play call. Coming after was a fumbled snap as Nelson was busy looking for the play call when the center snapped the ball. And then, to end the drive, a fumble when Nelson took a low snap and tossed a low pitch to Joseph Warren. This could be a long afternoon.

8:47 left in the 1st Quarter: This is one of those things where you see the field from above, the play unfolds and it’s a thing of beauty. Corner David Rowe read a Nelson throw perfectly, came back and right, intercepted the ball and then ran 56 yards for a score. Ryan D’Imperio and Antwan Lowery ran ahead of him (Lowery got into the end zone first and raised his arm toward Rowe before Rowe was there), Zaire Kitchen and what seemed like the rest of the secondary ran alongside him and it was quickly this mess of red gushing down the sideline. Te’s kick is good and it’s 7-0.

That’s the third straight game with a defensive score from Rutgers. Not bad.

7:08 left in the 1st Quarter: How about what’s not good? Steve Beauharnais forces a fumble on Texas Southern’s kickoff return, Rutgers’ offense takes over at the 13, moves exactly six yards in three plays and then San San Te’s 24-yard attempt thwacks the right upright. At least fans are still streaming in.

:41 left in the 1st Quarter: Tim Brown is a rock star. Third-and-nine on the TSU 27, Savage has only completed two passes and he throws a high one up the middle. Little 5-8 (maybe) Tim goes up about two feet, catches the ball, and then gets completely flipped when Robert Joseph hits the back of his knees. Tim pops right back up, the crowd oohs again when the replay shows the hit and Joe Martinek, a p;ay later, gets in the end zone from nine yards out. Te’s kick is good, Rutgers 14-0.

14:43 left in the 2nd Quarter: Oh, awful poll up on the scoreboard. The question is: What’s your favorite Bruce Springsteen song? The choices are: Glory Days, Born to Run and Hungry Heart. Now sure, I would’ve liked to see Waitin’ on a Sunny Day or Going Down. But I don’t realistically expect AT&T to offer anything but the most recognizable Bruce songs. So then… where the heck was Thunder Road? That’s easily the best famous Bruce song. Sheesh.

13:30 left in the 2nd Quarter: Tom Savage promised us he was practicing sliding. Running 28 yards and stopping only when someone whams you to the ground - in one’s first game back from a concussion - is maybe not the smartest of moves.

9:39 left in the 2nd Quarter: Joe Martinek officially broke through Somari Clemens’ tackle, but it sure looked like it was the whole TSU front 7 that he broke through. Sixteen-yard score, Rutgers is up 21-0 and of the Scarlet Knights’ 11 rushes, he has eight (for 51 yards), Savage has three (for 36). Did anyone see Greg Schiano hand Savage his shoe after that last run? He was probably pleased Savage ran out of bounds on that.

1:22 left in the 2nd Quarter: Jourdan Brooks’ first 5-yard TD run was erased by an illegal shift call. His second 5-yard TD run stood. Te’s kick is good, Rutgers 28-0. Think the starters come out for the first series in the second half and then that’s it? The students are body surfing. I see at least six kids being tossed around out there.

Halftime: I just poured hot water out of the hot water carafe for tea. It came out pink. Rutgers is taking this Homecoming spirit thing everywhere.

Alright, fun with numbers: In a half of football, TSU has more penalties than first downs (seven to six), more penalty yards than rush yards (45 to minus-15 yards) and just 69 total yards of offense. Arvell Nelson’s been picked off once, sacked three times and his team has fumbled the ball four times. I suppose suffering through that is worth a $400,000 check.

As for Rutgers, Tom Savage is 10-of-13 for 71 yards, no scores and no picks. Rutgers has 11 first downs, 110 yards of rushing offense(Brooks had six carries for 30 yards at the tail end of the half) and is four of six on third downs, three of four in the red zone. Still, people are streaming out the north gate.

14:23 left in the 3rd Quarter: Attendance was just announced as 50,169. That’s a mite generous. Ooh, good play by Jourdan. Savage’s pass was tipped and Somari Clemons should’ve picked it off. But Jourdan seemed to bat him from behind or do something (no replay, I needed one…) to break up any potential interception.

9:13 left in the 3rd Quarter: Quron Pratt is now a wide receiver. He started every single game at Palmyra High in the defensive backfield, he finished his career with 22 interceptions, only one touchdown was scored on him in his four years as a corner and in camp, Devin McCourty told me Pratt was a stud CB-in-waiting. Of course, Rutgers has desperately needed a third option at wideout. The Rutgers media guide doesn’t say if he ever played that way in high school. I would imagine if he did, it would mention it, right?

7:24 left in the 3rd Quarter: Wow, even the students aren’t staying to see this one through. Magic_Al are you still here or are you back out in the parking lot?

5:00 left in the 3rd Quarter: Tom Savage was just sacked. The entire starting unit is still in for Rutgers. Is this really necessary? Eric Foster, Shawn Tucker and Kordell Young all suffered awful season-ending injuries in games against I-AA opponents. Not that I want to sound like Miss Doom and Gloom. But Pitt plays real smashmouth football and the Panthers are here in just six days. (BTW, Pitt’s down at home to UConn 21-6 in the third.) (BTW no. 2, Quron Pratt just saw his first ball. It was way overthrown.)

Paul Zeise has an awesome recap of what’s going wrong right now out in Pittsburgh here. He’s already ready to rank this one of Pitt’s 10 worst losses ever. If it holds up.

1:33 left in the 3rd Quarter: With 48 percent of the vote, Born to Run won the AT&T text poll thing. But you and I both know that’s only because Thunder Road wasn’t an option.

7:06 left in the game: Oooh – Pitt came back and tied things up at 21. There’s 5:28 left in that game and I have no qualms in telling you I’d much rather be watching the tail end of that one than this one. The Livin on a Prayer performance by the Guitar Hero kid in the no. 27 sweatshirt was the most exciting thing I’ve seen in about 30 minutes. Oh, De’Antwan Williams’ relative/buddy (brother? dad?) going nuts on the freshman’s first touchdown was pretty cool too. But Magic_Al, if you and your nephew are still here, well then, I’m officially impressed.

This one’s in the books, 42-0. Pitt meanwhile’s driven the whole length of the field and has a first and goal from the UConn 5 with about 2 minutes left. Do I have time to see the end before I go to the press conference? Hmmm…

Thanks to everyone who kept me company. And slick1ru2, I’ll be on the phone to USF’s sports information director tomorrow – I promise!