Rutgers LeGrand Paralyzed After Army Hit

((HT: ESPN/Youtube))

Rutgers junior defensive tackle Eric LeGrand suffered a spinal-cord injury in their 23-20 overtime win over Army and is paralyzed below the neck.

Emergency surgery to stabilize LeGrand's spine was performed Saturday night at Hackensack University Medical Center. LeGrand is currently in the intensive care unit and will remain there for at least the near future.

ESPNNew York's Kieran Darcy mentions that Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano mentioned on a conference call with reporters Sunday afternoon how LeGrand was a member of the team's leadership council the past two seasons -- second only to the team captains in terms of leadership responsibilities.

Schiano also mentioned that he spent the night at the hospital with LeGrand's family and fellow teammates.

The injury happened late in regulation after the tying score by Rutgers

Here's the play and it's not for the squeemish...


Here's coverage from our friends at the Newark Star-Ledger and nj.com

Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand carted off on backboard with neck injury

TWTW: UConn Loses Heartbreaker To Rutgers

((HT: WTIC Fox 61/Hartford Courant))

The UConn Huskies had it won with 38 seconds left. Then all of a sudden, another fourth-quarter breakdown was in the books.

Rutgers' Tim Brown silenced the place with an 81-yard catch and run with 22 seconds left as the Scarlet Knights (6-2, 1-2) escaped with their first Big East win. Brown, a childhood friend of Jasper Howard, led Rutgers to a 28-24 victory before 37,045 Saturday at Rentschler Field. Howard, who was stabbed to death two weeks ago, was honored in a pregame ceremony.

On the winning TD, the Huskies had their best cover corner, Robert McClain, on Brown. But once he got past McClain, safety Aaron Bagsby took a poor angle and Brown took it to the house.

"Crazy game," Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. "[Rutgers] kept fighting even when it didn't look so good."

Here's your late highlights and Randy Edsall post, thanks to the Courant...
 

Still Another Dirty Dozen

Settledown Saturday

Okay, so what did we learn last week? We learned that Tennesse is really bad, Florida is really fast, Georgia can play out west and Missouri can score a lot of points. We also learned that LSU may have found a quarterback and that Florida State still doesn't have one. Gosh, aren't Shakedown's fun.

Here are this weeks 12 (Not to be confused with the Big 12 which is a conference):

1. Southern Cal (Didn't play, didn't have to, they don't have any roadblocks at this point)

2. Georgia (They are for real, though they are going to have to beat a really tough Alabama team this week)

3. Oklahoma (Where the wind sweeps...anyway, they are really good, but the Big 12 will shake out here eventually)

4. Missouri (Right now they are putting up Video Game numbers, but again, things are getting ready to settle out here)

5. Florida (Damn, they are fast. They hammered a crappy Tennessee team, they may be looking ahead to LSU in a couple of weeks)

6. LSU (Jarrett Lee became a man in the 2nd half vs. Auburn, if that holds, these guys could be dangerous

7. Alabama (We get to see if they are for real this week at Georgia. They are big and nasty, can they hang with the big boys...we'll see)

8. Texas (Getting better every week, once again, the Big 12 will settle out here really soon)

9. BYU (More pinball, no competition)

10. Wisconsin (They'll lose eventually, they always do, the 10 is a poor conference)

11. Penn State (Joe Pa apparently doesn't do background checks, but his team is undefeated)

12. South Florida (How'd they get here?)

Without question Alabama at Georgia is the game of the week. We are going to find out which of these two belong here. Stay tuned to your favorite Sports Blog (us) and find out, I'll be there in person to see this one.

((Nelson Notes: Oklahoma, UGA, Florida, LSU, Mizzou, Alabama, BYU, Texas, 'Sconsin, Penn State, TCU, and Oregon State))

Bottom of the Barrel:

5. Tennessee (Welcome to obscurity Philip Fulmer)

4. UCLA (You've got a lot of work to do still Mr. Nuehiesel)

3. Washington (These guys just can't get it together, is Ty Willingham long for the coaching world?)

2. Rutgers (And to think Greg Schiano was "The" hot coaching candidate just a couple of years ago)

1. North Texas (Just because I want to say "Not so Mean and Very Green")

That is what sayeth we (or at least me), what sayeth everyone else? And oh, happy fall!

((Nelson Still Notes: USC, Notre Dame, Washington, UCLA, and USC))