12 Rutgers

WHILE CLOWNING AROUND on the bus ride back from a trip to the movies during preseason camp in 2005, defensive tackle Eric Foster started calling shout-outs, and his teammates repeated everything he said. The routine soon became a postgame ritual, and the Scarlet Knights have been following Foster's lead ever since. After every Rutgers victory over the past two seasons, including a school-record-tying 11 wins last year, Foster led the team in a celebratory locker-room chant. "I say whatever's in my head," says the fifth-year senior from Homestead, Fla. "Guys can't wait to get in the locker room."

Though he had only two starts to his credit and was returning from a torn left ACL that cut short his 2005 season, Foster was so popular among the Scarlet Knights that they voted him a co-captain before the '06 season. "He brings people together," says coach Greg Schiano. "He's got that special charisma." The undersized tackle (6' 2", 265 pounds) delivered a performance befitting a leader, making six sacks and 14 tackles for loss and helping his team jump from 55th in the nation in total defense in 2005 to fourth. "He's every bit as effective as any defensive lineman I've had," says Schiano, who as an assistant at Miami coached future NFL first-round draft picks Damione Lewis ( Rams, Panthers) and William Joseph (Giants). "His athletic abilities are second to none."

In Rutgers's biggest victory last year, a 28-25 upset of third-ranked Louisville on Nov.�9, Foster had seven tackles and four quarterback hurries. That win lifted the formerly horrid Scarlet Knights, who only a year earlier had ended a 27-year bowl drought, to a historic 9-0 start and turned them into the darlings of college football. A 30-11 loss at Cincinnati the following week killed some of that buzz, and a triple-overtime loss at West Virginia kept the Knights from the Big East's BCS berth, but Rutgers still finished 11-2 after pummeling Kansas State 37-10 in the Texas Bowl.

The return of running back Ray Rice, a Heisman Trophy candidate, and quarterback Mike Teel, who was at his best late in the season, plus a favorable schedule, have fans in New Jersey thinking of even bigger things in 2007. The key to securing a BCS bowl, however, remains the defense, which returns six starters. Like Foster, most of the linemen are considered small for their positions, but Schiano, who doubles as the defensive coordinator, puts an emphasis on speed and agility in a scheme based heavily on the zone blitz. "They do a lot of movement schemes," says West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, "and [ Foster] is one of the best at changing direction and making a play."

In fact, he has helped change the direction of the program.