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New York • This nicely sums up Tommy Rees' Notre Dame career.

The senior threw for 319 yards and no interceptions in his final college game, leading No. 25 Notre Dame to a 29-16 victory against Rutgers that was far from pretty but ultimately successful — and an offensive lineman won the MVP award.

"I was giving Tommy a hard time," said senior tackle Zack Martin, who took home the award. "I think he got snubbed a little bit."

Rees finished four years of football for the Fighting Irish packed with both memorable and forgettable moments with a solid performance, going 27 for 47. He has been "The Closer," rallying Notre Dame to victories with late drives, and "Turnover Tommy," making crushing mistakes at the most inopportune times in South Bend, Ind.

For his finale, against one of the worst pass defenses in the nation, Rees was mistake free and productive. He missed some throws that could have broken open the game, but, typically, he persevered.

"I'm a Tommy Rees fan for life," coach Brian Kelly said.

Kyle Brindza kicked five field goals for the Fighting Irish (9-4), who completed their follow-up season to last year's run to the national championship game a long way from the BCS — facing a two-touchdown underdog that was trying to avoid a losing record.

Notre Dame's play was less than inspired — Kelly said about a dozen players were fighting a flu bug — but the win prevented the Irish from finishing with eight victories for the third time in his four seasons.

"A good season that could have been a great season," Kelly said.

Notre Dame's TJ Jones scored on an 8-yard run in the first quarter and Rutgers star Brandon Coleman answered with a 14-yard touchdown catch soon after. Tarean Folston's 3-yard touchdown run with 3:38 in the fourth made it 26-16 and finally gave the Irish a comfortable lead.

On the slick turf at Yankee Stadium, the Pinstripe Bowl turned into a field-goal kicking contest. Brindza was 5 for 6. Kyle Federico made 3 of 3 for the Scarlet Knights (6-7).

The Irish dominated in yards (494-237) and time of possession (38:49) but bogged down in the red zone repeatedly.

"I loved the way we were able to stay calm and stay within our offense and continue to kind of monotonously move the ball down the field," Rees said.

Twice Notre Dame put together double-digit play drives that ended in short field goals. No. 25 Notre Dame 29, Rutgers 16

Rutgers 10 3 0 3 — 16

Notre Dame 10 3 3 13 — 29

First Quarter

ND • FG Brindza 21, 10:05.

Rut • FG Federico 36, 8:00.

ND • T.Jones 8 run (Brindza kick), 4:30.

Rut • Coleman 14 pass from Dodd (Federico kick), 1:51.

Second Quarter

ND • FG Brindza 38, 12:59.

Rut • FG Federico 18, 8:35.

Third Quarter

ND • FG Brindza 26, 6:03.

Fourth Quarter

ND • FG Brindza 25, 12:46.

Rut • FG Federico 47, 8:57.

ND • Folston 3 run (Brindza kick), 3:38.

ND • FG Brindza 49, 2:28.

Attendance • 47,122.

Rut ND

First downs 16 31

Rushes-yards 26-80 43-175

Passing 156 319

Comp-Att-Int 10-29-4 27-47-0

Return Yards 0 (-6)

Punts-Avg. 3-46.3 2-29.5

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 3-33 8-69

Time of Possession 21:44 38:16

Individual Statistics

Rushing • Rutgers, James 10-48, Dodd 10-24, Huggins 2-7, Goodwin 3-3, Team 1-(minus 2). Notre Dame, McDaniel 17-80, Folston 17-73, T.Jones 4-16, Rees 2-6, Carlisle 1-3, Fuller 1-3, Daniels 1-(minus 6).

Passing • Rutgers, Dodd 10-28-3-156, Goodwin 0-1-1-0. Notre Dame, Rees 27-47-0-319.

Receiving • Rutgers, Kroft 3-43, Coleman 2-65, James 2-22, Peele 2-3, Pratt 1-23. Notre Dame, T.Jones 5-66, C.Brown 5-54, Niklas 4-76, McDaniel 3-29, Daniels 3-25, Folston 3-21, Prosise 2-25, Koyack 1-13, Robinson 1-10.