Finally…finally…finally

There should be no parades thrown but the Rutgers football team finally has a victory in 2008.  Yes, it comes at the expense of totally-overmatched Morgan State but it’s still a much-needed win for a Scarlet Knight program that had been reeling after an 0-3 start.  Simply put, R-U did what it was supposed to do against an inferior opponent.  The Knights scored 24 points off of turnovers and held the Bears to 109 total yards in pitching the shutout, which is no small feat in any level of football.  Fifth-year senior quarterback Mike Teel emerged from his nightmarish season, completing his first eight passes, threw for a touchdown…and didn’t take a swing at a teammate.  Meanwhile, redshirt freshman running back Jourdan Brooks continues to stamp himself as the “go-to” guy, rushing for three t-ds.  Any further dissection of this game against an overwhelmed championship subdivision team would be overkill and a waste of time…so let’s just leave it as a nice win…a much-needed win…and begin to focus on the start of the Big East season next Saturday at West Virginia…a place where the Scarlet Knights have never won.

Maybe the Rutgers football team will actually win a game this Saturday!

Will the 0-3 Rutgers football team finally get into the win column this Saturday?  Will the expected heavy rains this weekend make the game even sloppier than the first three?  Will anyone show up at Rutgers Stadium?  And who will quarterback Mike Teel connect with first—a Scarlet Knight wide-out, a Morgan State defensive back or the helmet of one of his own teammates?  Those are some of the burning questions heading into Saturday’s home affair against Morgan State.  The Bears come in at 2-1…having defeated the likes of North Carolina Central and Winston-Salem State while losing at Towson 21-16.   The strength of the Morgan State team is its defensive unit which ranks number-four in total defense in the Football Championship Subdivision.  And the Bears have forced 15 takeaways including nine interceptions by eight different players…a stat which doesn’t bode well for Mr. Teel who has thrown six picks this season and only one touchdown.  On offense, Morgan State is led by sophomore running back Devan James, who averages nearly 130-yards rushing per game.  But the Bears’ passing game has struggled in a two-quarterback rotation.  There’s no line on the game since Morgan State is in the Championship Subdivision but you’ve got to believe Rutgers is a solid favorite heading in based on its Big East pedigree and quality depth advantage.  So, for the fourth straight week, I’m picking the Scarlet Knights to win…this time around by the count of 28-14.  But, win or lose, it’s the last time I’m picking R-U until it’s home “showdown” with pathetic Syracuse on November 8th.  Because, between now and then, it’s Big East road games at West Virginia, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh and a home game with undefeated Connecticut.  So, Scarlet Knight fans…enjoy this Saturday’s game, if you can….try to stay dry…and keep an eye on Teel to see if he behaves himself this week after being given a reprieve by head coach Greg Schiano, who chose not to discipline his q-b after he took a swing at teammate Glenn Lee in last Saturday’s loss at Navy.  I’m on record as saying that Teel should have been suspended for this game but Schiano has opted to “keep it in the family.”  Let’s hope that this “close knit” family can get one in the win column against Morgan State.  It’ll be their last solid opportunity until after we select Barack Obama or John McCain.

Pulling The Plug on the 2008 Rutgers Football Season

There’s no whitewashing the situation.  There will be no bowl game in 2008 for the Rutgers football team.  There will be no winning season.  In fact, the only wins on the schedule appear to be Morgan State, Army and Syracuse.  It all came crashing down on Saturday with that late field goal by Navy, leading to a crushing 23-21 win for the Midshipmen.  The defense is one of the main culprits, allowing Navy to march downfield for that winning score.  Greg Schiano and his coaching staff are another of the main culprits, once again being out-coached at halftime when the opposing coaches made the better adjustments.  And another of the main culprits, again, was fifth-year quarterback and third-year starter Mike Teel.  His last-minute interception—his sixth of the year against only one touchdown pass; the 42nd career pick against 35 touchdown passes—sealed the deal…not only for the game but for the season.  However, it was the now well-documented and embarrassing incident involving Teel coming off the field after that interception and throwing a wild punch at teammate Glen Lee, who evidently was trying to offer a word of encouragement, that really speaks volumes about the fragile mental state of the ineffective q-b….and to a certain extent, the fragile, reeling team.  The bottom line is…that no matter how many losses this underachieving team endures…there’s no room whatsoever for that type of behavior.  If that happened on a basketball court or on a baseball field…more public places in sports venues than a football sideline…that player undoubtedly would be suspended for such an egregious out-in-the-open act.  And that same punishment should be levied against Teel.  There’s no way that Schiano can tolerate such an act and just sweep it under the rug as “something that happens in a family.”  Schiano must suspend Teel for the next game to make a statement to the rest of his team…to the Scarlet faithful…and to the public that such a negative display during a game is totally unacceptable.  And, if Schiano doesn’t discipline Teel in such a harsh way, then it really shows that he’s lost control of his team, both in its play and in its demeanor.  It’s one thing to lose a tight game; it’s another thing for a team leader to lose his cool in such a public way.  One once said that grace is dealing with adversity under pressure…and that is an ultimate lesson that Schiano should be teaching his players.  A losing season is one thing; not publicly punishing a player for swinging at a teammate during a game is the kind of a black eye that this program does not need at this time…not with all the controversy that’s going on off the field regarding the running of the football program by the university’s under-fire athletic department.

Turn out the lights, the party’s over

The 2008 RUTGERS FOOTBALL SEASON

R-I-P

Call me crazy but I pick the Rutgers football team to win at Navy

How bad is the 1-2 Navy football team?  Bad enough to be listed as a four-and-a-half point underdog at home to 0-2 Rutgers…a team that has been outscored in two home games by a combined count of 19-68.  The Midshipmen, led by new head coach Ken Niumatalolo, have defeated only Towson at home 41-13 while losing back-to-back road games at Ball State 35-23 (Rutgers’ old friend from the International Bowl last January) and Duke 41-31, a Blue Devil team that will never be confused with the nation’s mediocre, let alone the best.  Now, keep in mind that Navy is averaging 370.3 rushing yards which ranks first in the nation.  But that number is suspect when you consider the competition it was compiled against.  The Scarlet Knights, meanwhile, are giving up 181.5 rushing yards a game on defense against a couple of quality opponents in Fresno State and North Carolina.  So, let’s say that R-U is able to contain the Midshipmen’s rushing attack, considering that Navy does not have a massive front line.  The real question here is what frame of mind does Rutgers bring to Annapolis, Maryland.  The Scarlet Knights are reeling mentally…having been embarrassed twice on national t-v…the second time last Thursday night with the majority of the sold-out crowd leaving Rutgers Stadium by the middle of the third quarter.  Individually, R-U has a fifth-year senior, third-year starting quarterback in Mike Teel who has been awful and already is feeling the pressure and hearing the boo birds.  But you’ve got to believe that the Navy pass defense, giving up 324.3 yards a game will be the tonic that Teel needs to get it going…particularly down the field to his All-Big East wide-outs Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood.  So, call me crazy but I’m picking the Scarlet Knights for a third straight week…this time 27-21 over the Middies.  And if I’m wrong again, there’s always Morgan State the following week at home.

The Rutgers football season may already be over

That thud you heard Thursday night in Piscataway wasn’t one of those construction cranes falling down near the controversial expansion of Rutgers Stadium.  It was the sound of the Scarlet Knight football season crashing and burning.  The 2008 campaign most likely became a moot point…no thanks to an embarrasing nationally-televised 44-12 loss to North Carolina…also heard on WCTC.  If I didn’t no better, I would have thought I got into a time warp and was watching a Terry Shea-led R-U team.  But, no, this was reality…and this was one of the darkest moments in Greg Schiano’s eight-year coaching tenure on the Banks of the Old Raritan.  Forget about those blowout losses in his first couple of years.  He was cleaning up Shea’s mess back in the day…and everyone had the feeling that he was building something big.  But not today…not after back-to-back home losses to two teams that will never be confused with U-S-C and L-S-U.  It’s clear after two short weeks that the Scarlet Knight program has fallen back on hard times following the losses in recent years of the likes of Brian Leonard, Ray Rice, Eric Foster, Ron Girault and Jeremy Zuttah.  For instance, fifth-year senior quarterback Mike Teel is a nice q-b who’s job the past couple of years was not to get in the way of Leonard and Rice…and to complete passes as a secondary option.  Now Teel’s job is to make first-option plays to win…and it’s clear he’s not up to the task.  As for the running game, it’s easy to see that there’s no Ray Rice facsimile on the current roster.  And the defense can’t make a play to save it’s collective life.  The result—Rutgers is 0-2 for the first time since 2002…a season that ended at 1-11.  More importantly, the best the Scarlet Knights can do now in non-conference play is 3-2, meaning that if they duplicate last year’s 3-4 Big East record…R-U would be 6-6…and remember—Louisville finished 6-6 last year and didn’t go to a bowl game.  So, Schiano is presiding over his own mess now; a team that appears to be physically and mentally over-matched.  Next up is a road game next Saturday at Navy.  It should be a win with the Midshipmen getting acclimated to a new head coach and a new system.  But after the last two weeks, no one will be taking that prediction to the bank…because, after two weeks, the 2008 season is on the brink of a total collapse.

The Rutgers football team will beat UNC…and it better

I’m a firm believer in the football adage that the most improvement a team shows in a given season is from its first game to its second game.  A coaching staff gets to see its team in action “under the lights”…sees what the problem areas are…and can make proper adjustments because it still has the team’s undivided attention early in the season.  And so it goes for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights who collectively…coaches and players alike…came up with a stinker in the season-opening loss at home to Fresno State.  Now coming to town is a team inferior to the Bulldogs…the North Carolina Tar Heels out of the ACC.  It’s a team that R-U should beat…and better beat…because, as I said in an earlier blog, this edition of the Scarlet Knights can NOT afford to go 0-2 out of the box with both defeats at home…before even getting to a four-game road schedule in the Big East…no matter how bad that league looks right now.  Particularly when you have a UNC team coming in that struggled to beat McNeese State at home in its opener…trailing 20-14 late in the third quarter before winning by only a 35-27 count. 

At the risk of being accused of looking at things thru rose-colored glasses, I’m confident that Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano and his staff will be able to right the wrongs of Week-One and get the Scarlet Knights back on the right path with Butch Davis’ Tar Heels coming in.  Schiano always has proven himself as a better practice week head coach than a “game adjustments” coach.  AND he will have a greater sense of what Davis will try to do since he was the defensive coordinator under him at Miami.  So, I see quarterback Mike Teel having a more accurate, productive game in the air…I see running back Kordell Young continuing to improve on the ground behind a rebuilt offensive line…and I see the defensive giving a much better collective effort.  With that said, I’m going with Rutgers 24 North Carolina 14.  If I’m wrong, we’re looking at a long, long season.

Get Set For My North Carolina Prediction

Stay tuned.  I will be coming at you with my Rutgers-North Carolina football prediction next Monday morning.

Way to lay an egg in your season opener at home

I know all about Fresno State being ranked 25th in the coaches’ poll and two spots underneath the A-P Top-25.  And, I know all about the Bulldogs being the team to beat in the Western Athletic Conference.  But the Rutgers football team has got to show up in its season opener…at home…on national t-v…against a team that had to travel coast-to-coast to get to New Jersey.  Instead, the Scarlet Knights never got the proverbial wake-up call today and laid an egg…losing to Fresno State 24-7.  The mistakes are nearly too many to name.  First, there were the two missed field goals by new kicker San San Te…one his fault, the other the fault of the long-snapper who bounced it to the holder.  There was a failed fourth-and-goal play from the three…an interception in the end zone…and an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown wiped out by a block-in-the-back penalty.  The defense was porous in the second half, letting Bulldog running back Ryan Mathews run at will.  But the coup de grace came in the fourth quarter with R-U down 10-7 and the defense letting Fresno State convert on a third-and-23 pass play, making it first-and-goal at the one…leading to a Mathews’ touchdown two plays later to make it a ten-point deficit with under seven minutes left that broke the Knights’ collective back.It wasn’t so much the loss since Fresno State is very good.  It was the inability of an offense led by senior quarterback Mike Teel to put any points on the board until the fourth quarter.  It was the inability of a re-built offensive line to produce a quality ground game…only 106 rushing yards.  It was a defense that couldn’t react to great adjustments made by Bulldog head coach Pat Hill at halftime.  And those mistakes…mistakes…mistakes…all leading to a very disappointing season opener for the Scarlet Knights.  No, this doesn’t put an end to solid bowl game hopes for 2008.  But, what it does is make the North Carolina game on September 11th as much of a “must-win” situation as you can have in the second week of the season since an 0-2 start at home would just about be too much to overcome before even getting anywhere near the Big East season.  So, it’s up to head coach Greg Schiano to quickly get the ship righted…to get rid of all the mistakes between now and the Tar Heels…and to get his ball club mentally ready.  After all, that’s why he’s getting the big, big bucks.