Tiquan Underwood
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Tiquan Underwood (born February 17, 1987) plays wide receiver for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the NCAA college football tournament. Underwood, along with teammate Kenny Britt, have been a steady source of passing game for Rutgers to compliment former rusher Ray Rice's ground game. As a junior, he posted impressive numbers in receptions (65) and receiving yards (1,100) to become only the second player in school history to register 1,000 yards in a season. His 248 receiving yards in the junior season opener against Buffalo is a school record for most yards in a game, likewise his four straight 100 yard games to open the season.
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Personal Life
Tiquan got into football at a very young age, approximately 7 years young. His uncle Daikiel Shorts, of Clayton and his aunt, Kheesha Underwood-Shorts were the ones who got him started playing the sport. He decided to become a receiver because he was considered by many as very quick and his body type also suits the position. Aside from football, Tiquan is also into track and basketball. He attended Conerly Road Elementary School in the township and Linwood Middle School in North Brunswick for his primary education and is now majoring in sociology at Rutgers University.
High School
Underwood attended Notre Dame High School where he was a three-sport athlete, playing basketball, football, and track. As part of NDHS' outdoor track team, he competed in hurdles and triple jump and owns the state record for sophomores and juniors in the triple jump. Inside the hardwood, Underwood was a two-time starter as a sophomore and junior and emerged as the team's leading scorer in 2003-2004. On the football field, the versatile 6 ft 2 in, 180-pound Underwood also played both as a quarterback and wide receiver @ NDHS, registering 35 catches for 606 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore. The following year, he switched to the quarterbacking role and recorded 1,144 passing yards and 16 TDs after connecting on 70-of-103 passes as a junior to earn a second straight all-County honors. He also rushed for two touchdowns and caught 10 passes for 212 yards and five TDs that year. As a senior, Underwood was supposed to revert back to the receiver position but an injury forced him to sit out all but two games where he caught just 17 passes for over 400 yards.
College
Despite receiving only a two-star ranking from Scout.com as a wide receiver and an abbreviated senior season in high school, Underwood was still pursued by several teams including Maryland, Vanderbilt, Purdue, and Boston College. He decided to go to Rutgers because he said he felt comfortable with the coaching staff and believed that he fit well with the other players on the roster.
2005
Underwood was able to play in all of the Scarlet Knights' 12 games as a true freshman, also being utilized as a quarterback to take direct snaps during shotgun formations. He caught his first pass in Rutgers' first win of the season against Villanova (17 yards) and established his career rushing bests a couple of weeks later with 8 carries for 28 yards against Pittsburgh and 8 carries for 37 yards against West Virginia. He also caught only his second pass of the season, a 14-yarder, in a loss against the Mountaineers and returned his first kickoff, a 30-yarder, in a win over the Panthers. He posted his season long of 59-yards return at Louisville where he finished the game with 133 yards on four returns before ending the season with his third catch of the year (9 yards) in the regular season ender against Cincinnati. Underwood then went on to make his postseason debut in the Insight Bowl against Arizona State, catching a pass for 7 yards with 1 punt return in the loss to the Sun Devils. He ended the year with 4 receptions worth 47 yards, had 19 carries for 63 yards, and had 11 kick returns for 298 yards with a Big East leading (19th overall) kick return average of 27.1 yards.
2006
Underwood saw much more of the field as a sophomore, seeing action in 12 outings with a total of 9 starts. He made his season debut @ North Carolina and caught a pass for 12 yards in the win over the Tar Heels before catching a couple more passes the following week for 28 yards in the win over Illinois. Underwood was used sparingly on special teams and had his sole kick return in RU's third game of the season, an 11-yarder in the win over Ohio. With teammate Shawn Tucker sidelined with a broken ankle in only the 4th game of the season against Howard, Underwood was given the starting role. In the road game against the Navy, he posted his first touchdown of the season and ended the game tallying 4 catches for 64 yards and 2 TDs. He also established a season high of 5 catches the following week against Pitt for 41 yards and TD number 3. He caught touchdown number 4 (26 yards) in the first quarter of the win over Louisville, catching 2 passes for 36 yards as well. Underwood's breakthrough season however did not have a fairy tale ending as he had broken a bone on his leg during the second quarter of the regular season finale against West Virginia, leaving the game with three receptions for 39 yards. He ended the year sitting out RU's Texas Bowl date with Kansas State in Houston, but still finished the season as the team's 4th leading catcher with 23 receptions for 290 yards and a team-leading 4 scoring catches.
2007
By the time he was a junior, Underwood has already emerged as the team's leading catcher and proved that right off the bat with a career game in the season opening win over Buffalo. Underwood posted the second best game by a receiver in the league's history after tallying 10 receptions for 248 yards with a couple of touchdowns (65 and 66 yards) to lead the Scarlet Knights to a 38-3 win and earning for himself a Big East Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors. He scored a couple more on TD receptions against Norfolk State and Maryland before tying his season high of 2 TDs in a win over South Florida. He also established a new career high in receptions with 11 for 114 yards in a loss to UConn. For a third straight year, Underwood also made plays on the special teams, returning two kicks for 51 yards against the Huskies before returning a season high 68 yards on 2 kickoffs in a win over Army the following week. He ended the year with an International Bowl stint against Ball State in Toronto, helping RU's cause by catching 3 passes for 72 yards and a TD.
Underwood finished the season registering 65 catches for 1,100 yards and 7 TDs with 7 kick returns for 177 yards and a 25.29 average. He became only the second player in Rutgers history to record 1,000 yards receiving in a season while establishing records in receiving yards in a single game (248) and consecutive 100-yard games (4). Together with Britt, the duo became only the 26th pair and the first in league history to record 1,000 yards a piece in the same season. Their combined total of 2,135 was also the most by a duo in Rutgers' single season history. Underwood capped his career season with a spot at the Big East First Team selection.
Highlights
| Tiquan Underwood's second touchdown catch in the 2007 season opening win over Buffalo. |
Achievements
2007
- AT&T All-America Player of the Week nomination (vs. Buffalo)
- Big East All-Conference First Team
- Big East Offensive Player of the Week (vs. Buffalo)
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #18 Player in the Big East
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #3 Wide Receiver in the Big East
- Phil Steele All-Big East First Team
- USA Today Player of the Week nomination (vs. Buffalo)
References
- Rutgers player visits kids
- Tiquan Underwood Interview
- Tiquan Underwood Rutgers Profile
- Tiquan Underwood Stats @ cfbstats.com
- Tiquan Underwood Stats @ ESPN.com
- Underwood named BE POW
