For all intents and purposes, the Rutgers football team has clinched a bowl bid…thanks to the most improbable 28-24 Big East win at Connecticut Saturday afternoon in a game heard on Good Time Oldies, 1450 WCTC. The Scarlet Knights snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with 22-seconds left when true freshman starting quarterback Tom Savage hit senior wideout Tim Brown on an 81-yard catch and run for a touchdown, just seconds after UConn had taken the lead on a fourth down two-yard t-d run. Savage, in his first league road start, threw for three touchdowns for the first time in his young career, passing for 234 yards overall. Brown continues his brilliant final season with two t-d catches and 162 yards in a very emotional, bittersweet performance. Brown was close friends in his hometown of Miami with Huskies’ starting cornerback Jasper Howard, who was fatally stabbed on the UConn campus two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the special teams contributed another score when senior Devin McCourty took the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. So, the Scarlet Knights pick up their first Big East win in three tries and improve to 6-2 overall, needing just one win in their final four games to become eligible for a bowl bid. The first of those games is on November 12th at home against league opponent USF. Kickoff is at 7:30 that night. And when Rutgers is playing in a bowl game later this year, you’ll only have to look back to this Saturday afternoon when Savage hit Brown in near miraculous fashion to beat the UConn Huskies in West Hartford.
The Rutgers football team has a tough task Saturday afternoon when it plays a Big East game at Connecticut. R-U is 5-2 overall…0-2 in league…a eight-and-a-half-point underdog up in West Hartford. UConn comes in a 4-3 overall and 0-2 in league—a three-point loss at Pittsburgh and last Saturday’s emotional 28-24 loss at West Virginia, just one week after the campus murder of starting defensive back Jasper Howard. I’m picking the Huskies to win Saturday for two reasons—1) the emotions of UConn’s first home game since the Howard murder and 2) the fact that R-U true freshman quarterback Tom Savage will be making his first Big East road start in a very tough environment. So, I’m going Connecticut 24 Rutgers 14. Kick-off at Rentschler Field is high noon; air-time on WCTC for our pre-game show “Rutgers Gameday” is 10:30.
The Rutgers football team has taken another step towards another bowl game. The Scarlet Knights picked up a much-needed road win Friday night, beating Army 27-10 at West Point in a non-conference contest heard on WCTC. It puts R-U at 5-2, now needing just two wins in its last five games to qualify for a post-season berth. The Knights now are 2-0 on the road after beating the Cadets for the sixth straight time. It was a solid effort in the rain. Sophomore running back Joe Martinek led the way on the ground with 147-yards in 25-carries including two touchdowns. Special teams contributed again in a big way with true freshman Steve Beauharnais blocking a punt, picking it up and returning it eleven yards for the third t-d. And sophomore San San Te chipped in with two field goals. Also, true freshman quarterback Tom Savage did just enough…ten-for-twenty passing for 164-yards…to give him the victory in his first collegiate road game. So, it’s now off to Connecticut next Saturday in a return to Big East play and a chance to take another step towards that coveted bowl berth.
The Rutgers football team looks to get back on the winning track tonite when it plays a non-conference game at Army. The Scarlet Knights are 4-2 after last Friday night’s Big East home loss to Pittsburgh. Army, meanwhile, comes in at 3-4. R-U is a ten-point favorite. Now, everyone is talking about how the Black Knights are improved…and that’s true, relatively speaking. New head coach Rich Ellerson has done a good job with Army’s triple-option attack. The Cadets have a solid overtime home win over Vanderbilt. But Army still is not up to the talent level of Rutgers. AND the Scarlet Knights are well aware of the fact that this is a “must win” in their attempt to pick up three wins in the final six games in order to qualify for a bowl game. So, I pick Rutgers to win…but not to cover—R-U 21 Army 14. I hestitate to increase the margin of victory because this will be Scarlet Knights’ true freshman starting quarterback Tom Savage’s first road game. Remember, he missed the Maryland game with that concussion.
How the mighty have fallen
Wasn’t it just three years ago that the Rutgers women’s basketball team made it to the national championship game? Wasn’t it just two years ago the the Scarlet Knights made it to the regional finals? Wasn’t it just last year that R-U made it to the Sweet Sixteen? Well, how the mighty have fallen. Vivian Stringer and Co. have been picked to finish sixth this coming season in the Big East. And what stings about that is that the poll, released yesterday at Big East Media Day in Times Squre, is a vote for Stringer’s brethren…namely the other 15 coaches in the conference. That tells you what kind of a level of talent the Knights have in the 2009-2010 season. No knock on the likes of seniors Brittany Ray, Rashidat Junaid and Myia McCurdy but they’re all complimentary players. None are expected to step up and become all-league players in the absence of the now-departed Epiphany Prince, Kia Vaughn and Heather Zurich. So, get set for a long, rough upcoming season. Just ask the Big East coaches.
Where’s the perceived progress?
Wednesday was Big East men’s basketball Media Day at Madison Square Garden and the league’s sixteen coaches picked Rutgers to finish 15th this coming season…only ahead of DePaul. Keeping in mind that the Scarlet Knights were picked to finish 12th last season and the nagging question in my mind is “Where’s the perceived progress?” It’s only a prediction…but it speaks to the collective mindset of the Big East coaches and where they feel Fred Hill’s program is heading into his fourth season.
Not that any honest Rutgers football fan was holding out hope for going to a BCS bowl game this season…but, for those who were, that ship sailed for good Friday night when the Scarlet Knights lost at home to Pittsburgh 24-17. R-U falls to 0-2 in league with both losses coming at Rutgers Stadium. And they now have lost the tie-breaker to both teams that they have lost to…3-0 Pitt and 3-0 Cincinnati. So, you do the math with only four league games left including USF and West Virginia. Now that we have dispelled any thoughts of a Big East title in 2009, it’s time to focus on R-U’s drive to get to a bowl game. The Knights are 4-2 with six regular season games remaining and need to get to seven wins since they have played two Football Championship Subdivision teams in Howard and Texas Southern. It could be a push to get the three needed wins when you consider Army, the next opponent on Friday night at West Point, is improved…I already mentioned USF and WVU who will be tough albeit at home…and interesting league road games at Connecticut, Syracuse and Louisville. They’re probably are three wins in their somewhere but with a true freshman quarterback and four road games left, it’s not a slam dunk. By the way, a good job last night by that aforementioned q-b Tom Savage who set career high totals in three passing categories, going 23-for-39 for 248 yards. But it wasn’t enough to get Rutgers past a tough Pittsburgh team. Now the second half of the season begins on Friday night at Michie Stadium with the drive for a bowl game set to shift into high gear.
The Rutgers football team puts its four-game winning streak on the line tonite when it hosts Pittsburgh in Big East action…the Scarlet Knights’ first league home game since the blowout home loss to Cincinnati in the conference opener on Labor Day. R-U comes in at 4-1 overall…0-1 in league. Pitt is 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big East. But forget about Rutgers being on a four-game win streak. The Knights have been playing an extremely soft schedule since that Cincy debacle. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, is the second best team on R-U’s schedule to this point…one spot below the A-P Top-25. Pitt comes in as a three-point favorite and led by veteran quarterback Bill Stull. He will be too much for the Rutgers defense and certainly will outshine Scarlet Knight true freshman q-b Tom Savage. So, I pick the Panthers to cover tonite and beat Rutgers 21-17.
It wasn’t the 55-0 win I predicted but it was in the ballpark. The Rutgers football team ran over Texas Southern 42-0 in a Homecoming Game heard on WCTC. As expected, the Scarlet Knights completely dominated their inferior opponents out of the SWAC. Sophomore running back Joe Martinek scored twice while freshman De’Antwan Williams scored on a 44-yard run en route to a career-high 132-yards on 19 carries. On the defensive side, R-U held Texas Southern to minus-25 yards rushing, the lowest total in the nine-year tenure of head coach Greg Schiano. So, the Knights now are 4-1 and on a four-game winning streak heading into Friday night’s resumption of the Big East schedule with a home game against Pittsburgh. And the good news about that is that Schiano was able to start true freshman Tom Savage against Texas Southern after missing the Maryland game with a concussion. Savage got enough reps in Saturday’s game that should get him ready for his first start in the Big East.
Saturday at Rutgers Stadium, the R-U football team will look to improve to 4-1 when it takes on Texas Southern…a Football Championship Subdivision team. There’s no real need to break the game down. Texas Southern is awful. The Scarlet Knights will win the first-ever meeting between the two schools…and their fourth straight game…by the count of 55-0. The much bigger issue is how much playing time head coach Greg Schiano gives true freshman quarterback Tom Savage. As long as Savage is healthy, it’s imperative for him to get as many snaps as possible to get ready for Friday night’s big Big East home game against Pittsburgh…particularly with Savage missing the last game two weeks ago with that concussion. Kick-off is 3:30; coverage begins on WCTC at one with Mike Pavlichko on the Tailgate Party live outside the West Gate of Rutgers Stadium.
