Sept. 2, 2000
Box Score
By TOM CANAVAN
AP Sports Writer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - Mike McMahon matched the school record with five touchdown passes and Rutgers got coach Terry Shea's make-or-break season off to a good start by defeating Villanova 34-21 on Saturday night.
McMahon, who completed 27 of 44 passes for 323 yards, threw scoring passes of 17 and 5 yards to Errol Johnson, 3 yards to L.J. Smith, 19 to Antoine Lovelace, and 15 to Walter King in tying the mark set by Rich Policastro in 1969.
The 13-point margin was Rutgers' largest since Shea took over the program in 1996, and its biggest since a 42-24 victory over Pitt in 1995.
The performance could not have come at a better time for Shea, who has been told by athletic director Robert Mulcahy that he has to win six games this season to keep his job.
Rutgers went 1-10 last year and was 8-36 coming into this season under Shea.
Villanova, a Division I-AA team, made Shea work for his ninth win as Brett Gordon threw touchdown passes of 10-yards to Brian Westbrook, 8-yard to Ducarmel Augustin and 3-yards Steve Ward.
McMahon, who missed the final six games of last season because of shoulder surgery, capped a 63-yard, nine-play drive to open the game by hitting Johnson underneath the defense for a 17-yard touchdown.
Villanova tied the game with 3:59 left in the first quarter after a bad snap on a punt by freshman Brian Hohmann resulted in a 38-yard loss. It gave the Wildcats possession at the Scarlet Knights' 10 and Gordon hit Westbrook for the touchdown on a slant pass on the next play.
The short scoring pass to Smith with 2:43 left in the first half came on a first-down, play-action pass and it capped an eight-play, 76-yard drive.
Johnson's 5-yard touchdown reception came seven plays after linebacker Tarell Freeney recovered a fumble by receiver Brian White on the second play from scrimmage in the second half.
The touchdown pass to Lovelace, which gave Rutgers a 27-7 lead with 1:54 left in the third quarter, came one play after Villanova was called for a personal foul for having 12 men on the field for a Rutgers' punt.
Leading 27-14, McMahon tied the record by hitting King with 2:49 to play.
