November 3, 1979: What's a Rutgers?

November 3, 1979: The football team of Rutgers University travels to Knoxville to play the University of Tennessee. UT's school paper, The Daily Beacon, teased their upcoming opponent by printing the headline, "What's a Rutgers?"

Rutgers is a Dutch surname, from the Christian name Rutger, a variant of the English name Roger, both from the Germanic combination of hrōd, χrōþi ("fame", "renown", "honour") and gār, gēr ("spear", "lance").

Henry Rutgers was a wealthy New York businessman, a veteran of the War of the American Revolution, and an elder in the Dutch Reformed Church, which founded Queens College in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1766, and still ran it in 1825. Hearing that it was bankrupt and closing, he gave them the money they needed to stay open, and they renamed themselves for him.

Tennessee fans found out what a Rutgers is: Although the Volunteers were ranked Number 17 in the nation going into the game, and it was their homecoming, and 84,265 fans came to see it (at the time, the biggest crowd ever to see a Rutgers game), the Scarlet Knights beat them 13-7. It remains one of the signature victories of Rutgers football -- which says more about Rutgers than it says about Tennessee. Tennessee finished the season 7-5, while Rutgers finished 8-3.

The '79 win over Tennessee remains a big win in Rutgers' history. By now, it should be a footnote.

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November 3, 1979 was a Saturday. Some other notable college football games played on the day:

* Number 1 Alabama beat Mississippi State, 24-7 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Crimson Tide went on to win the Southeastern Conference and the National Championship.

* Number 2 Nebraska beat Missouri, 23-20 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. That close win should have been a red flag to the Cornhuskers. 

* Number 3 USC beat Arizona, 34-7 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC won the Pac-Ten Championship.

* Number 4 Houston beat Texas Christian, 21-10 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. UH won the Southwest Conference Championship.

* Number 5 Ohio State beat Illinois, 44-7 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Ohio State won the Big Ten Championship, but lost the Rose Bowl to USC.

* Number 7 Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State, 38-7 at Lewis Field in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Sooners beat Nebraska to win the Big Eight title, and won the Orange Bowl. Nebraska went to the Cotton Bowl and lost to the University of Houston.

* Number 13 Notre Dame beat Navy, 14-0 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* Number 14 Wake Forest was upset by Clemson, 31-0 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 18 North Carolina was upset by Maryland, 17-14 at Byrd Stadium in the Washington suburb of College Park, Maryland. (It was renamed Maryland Stadium in 2015, in response to Curley Byrd's support of segregation. It was renamed SECU Stadium in 2022.)

* Number 19 Penn State was upset by Miami, 26-10 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

* Kansas beat Kansas State, 36-28 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas.

* In New York City, Columbia lost to Dartmouth, 17-0 at Baker Field in Manhattan.

* In Philadelphia, Princeton beat Penn, 38-10 at Franklin Field.

There were 8 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Atlanta Hawks, 110-107 at The Omni in Atlanta. John Drew scored 35 points for the Hawks, while John Williamson scored 32 for the Nets.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Washington Bullets, 118-97 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Kansas City Kings, 123-110 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Detroit Pistons, 114-111 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Indiana Pacers, 120-114 in double overtime at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Julius Erving, Dr. J, scored 33 points for the Sixers.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls, 136-134 in overtime at Chicago Stadium.

* The San Diego Clippers beat the Utah Jazz, 126-109 at the San Diego Sports Arena. (It's now named the Pechanga Arena.)

* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets, 130-103 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

And there were 7 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Colorado Rockies, 7-2 at the McNichols Arena in Denver. Not that it mattered, as the Rockies moved in 1982, to become the New Jersey Devils. The Devils have had their moments against the Rangers, but they can't count this one.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Atlanta Flames played the Pittsburgh Penguins to a tie, 3-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 2-0 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. It was one of the last games there, before they moved into Joe Louis Arena a few weeks later.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Washington Capitals, 7-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-1 at the St. Louis Arena, then known as the Checkerdome due to St. Louis-based Ralston Purina, with its Checkerboard Square logo, then owning the Blues.

Also, the football team at what would become my high school, East Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey, lost to Ocean County power Brick Township, 21-0 at Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick.

And the English soccer team I would one day support, Arsenal, beat Brighton & Hove Albion, 3-0 at Highbury in North London.