The 25th-ranked Rutgers women’s basketball team dropped its 2009-2010 season opener at home Sunday afternoon to number-two Stanford 81-66…and it will be the first of a number of defeats that will translate into a non-NCAA year for head coach Vivian Stringer and her Scarlet Knights. They simply lost too many important pieces from last year’s team including Epiphany Prince, Kia Vaughn and Heather Zurich and don’t have enough upperclass talent to offset those losses. I predict that R-U will be 7-7 in its non-conference schedule including losses to Stanford, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, George Washington and to two of three teams in the Paradise Jam. (Take your pick.) Then, in the Big East, the Scarlet Knights will go 8-8. Don’t forget—even with Prince, Vaughn and Zurich, the Knights were only 9-7 last season. Then, add in a 1-1 record in the Big East Tournament and you’re looking at a 16-16 record, not even good enough to get into the WNIT. Hopefully for the Scarlet Knights’ sake, Stringer can get enough consistent quality playing time throughout the season for the likes of Khadijah Rushdan, Nikki Jett and April Sykes and her freshman class to get ready for a better 2010-2011.
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The Rutgers women’s basketball team loses its opener in a season that will be without an NCAA bid
The Rutgers men’s basketball team wins its season opener but it will be another losing season
The Rutgers men’s basketball team won its 2009-2010 season opener Saturday afternoon at home against Marist 74-67 in a game heard on Good Time Oldies, 1450 WCTC…as the Scarlet Knights should have. Sophomore guard Mike Rosario led the way with 17-points…sophomore forward Patrick Jackson came out of nowhere to get his first-ever start and he responded with career-highs in points and rebounds with 15 and seven respectively. AND sophomore forward Greg Echenique posted a double-double with 13-points and ten-rebounds. However, that win will not prevent Rutgers from posting another losing season at the RAC. Let’s break it down this way. The Knights begin the season with 12 straight non-conference games and I pick them to go 8-4 in that stretch. The losses will come to UMass and either Florida or Michigan State down in the Atlantic City tournament….at home to Rider…and, of course, at North Carolina. Throw in the gimme win over Caldwell College in February and you have a 9-4 non-con record. Then comes the 18-game Big East season and I pick the Scarlet Knights to go 5-13. Don’t forget, the league’s coaches picked R-U next-to-last in their poll back on Media Day in October. Then, throw in a first-round loss in the Big East Tournament and you’re looking at a 14-18 record. The question is—will that be enough to save the job of fourth-year head coach Fred Hill. Stay tuned.
Peaking once again in the second half of a season, the Rutgers football team has become bowl eligible for a fifth straight year…thanks to a dominating 31-0 Big East home win over number-23 South Florida, heard on Good Time Oldies, 1450 WCTC. The Scarlet Knights improve to 7-2 overall and 2-2 in league by virtue of their fourth straight win over USF…and their first Big East shutout since whitewashing Temple in 1993. Conversely, the Bulls were whitewashed in a regular season game for the first time in their 13-year history. Rutgers was dominant in all phases of the game. True freshman quarterback Tom Savage threw for two touchdown passes—a 25-yarder to true freshman wide receiver Mohammed Sanu of South Brunswick on the opening drive of the game, then a 26-yarder to senior wideout Tim Brown. The ground game also was clicking with sophomore running back Joe Martinek gaining 128 yards including a 37-yard t-d. Sophomore kicker San San Te kicked three field goals of 36, 26 and 49 yards. The defense excelled, forcing three turnovers and seven quarterback sacks. And, on special teams, senior Devin McCourty blocked a punt. So, the Scarlet Knights continue their Big East home magic on ESPN games with their fourth straight Rutgers Stadium league win on a Thursday night. And, with three regular season games left, including two road contests against inferior league opponents Syracuse and Louisville, R-U now looks to solidify the best possible bowl bid.
The Rutgers football team hosts number-23 South Florida tonite in Big East action. Both teams are 6-2 overall; USF is 2-2 in league, R-U 1-2. The Scarlet Knights are one-point underdogs heading in BUT it’s Rutgers playing a Big East home game on ESPN on a Thursday night. AND the Scarlet Knights have won three straight Big East home games on nationally-televised Thursday night games…twice over Louisville and once over South Florida. In fact, R-U has beaten USF three straight times…and although the Bulls come in with a fine freshman quarterback in B-J Daniels AMD a very good defensive line led by George Selvie…I pick the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to continue their Thursday night magic and become bowl eligible with their seventh win…beating South Florida 28-21.
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.
