ESPN Big East Blog

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

	AP Photo/Gail Burton
	Mike Teel threw for 3,147 yards and 20 touchdowns for Rutgers last season.

Mike Teel had one of the best seasons in the 139-year history of Rutgers quarterbacks in 2007, setting a school record for touchdown passes and becoming just the second player to throw for more than 3,000 yards. OK, so we don't think the Scarlet Knights leatherheads were doing much throwing in that first college football game against Princeton in 1869, but still Teel's numbers were impressive.

But what's more impressive is how Teel did it.

For most of his junior year, Teel played with so much pain in his throwing hand that he couldn't practice during the week. He had trouble gripping door knobs. He get shot up with pain relievers just to make it through game day.

"It hurt every time I took a snap and every time I threw the ball," he said today in a phone interview after practice. "But I went through it for my teammates and my coaches who had worked year-round."

Teel injured his thumb in the third game against Norfolk State. Then, at the end of the first half of the Scarlet Knights' upset of then No. 2 South Florida on Oct. 18, he broke the trapezoid bone on the top of his hand. He played that way the rest of the regular season.

"It was frustrating and it was tough, both mentally and physically," he said. "The hardest part was that I wasn't able to take snaps or practice all week long, and then I'd go play. You watch and try to get as many mental reps as you can, but it's not the same. Even the best quarterbacks in the NFL need to get their reps in practice.

"And then everybody from reporters to teammates to coaches would always ask me, 'How's your thumb? How's your hand?' Three or four days a week of that. After a while it became really mentally tiring and I didn't want to answer the question anymore."

He still managed to throw for 3,147 yards and 20 touchdowns. Playing in the International Bowl finally provided extra time for Teel to heal, and he responded with 303 passing yards and tossed three scores in that victory over Ball State.

Now completely healthy for his senior campaign, Teel stands poised for an even bigger year. Rutgers is inexperienced in the running game but returns arguably the Big East's best receiving duo in Tiquan Underwood and Kenny Britt, who combined for more than 2,300 yards receiving and 15 touchdowns.

"I'm blessed to have those guys on my team," Teel said. "We did a lot of work this offseason to try to make ourselves the best we can be, whether it was throwing together on Sunday nights or three or four times during the week after workouts. Three-quarters of the way through camp now, I can tell it's really paid off for us."

Teel still needs to improve his accuracy -- his 58.2 completion percentage last year was the best of his career -- and cut down on turnovers. He's thrown 36 interceptions in the past three years, including 13 the past two seasons.

"Having our receiver corps back and with me having more experience, I should be able to be smarter with the football," he said.

With Ray Rice in the NFL, Teel is now the team's unquestioned leader, especially after the way he gritted through the pain last season. He could leave Rutgers as the school's all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns.

"When it's all done and over with, that's something to look back on," he said. "But the thing I'm most proud of is being the first quarterback to take our team to consecutive bowl games and to win them."

If the Scarlet Knights are to win three bowl games in a row, no doubt Teel will have a big hand in it.