The Rutgers Athletics Department was just one Greg Echenique buzzer-beating lay-up away from having the “weekend from hell.” First, you had the R-U football team and coaching staff not showing up for its Big East game at Syracuse, getting blown out by the cellar-dwelling Orange 31-13 and basically being relegated to an insignificant and lesser-paying bowl game. Then, you had the Scarlet Knight women’s basketball team blowing a 12-point lead with about seven-minutes left at number-16 Georgia, eventually losing to the Lady Bulldogs 49-48. And, you had the Rutgers men’s basketball team losing at home to Vermont 77-71 less than 48-hours after needing a last-second basket from Echenique to hold off winless Drexel at the RAC. It’s just the Scarlet Knights’ revenue teams way of saying to all of its fans “Happy Thanksgiving.”
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Any dreams of playing in the Gator Bowl on New Year’s Day have turned into a nightmare about returning to play in Toronto the day after in the world-renowned International Bowl. The Rutgers football team came crashing back to earth on Saturday afternoon with an inexplicable 31-13 Big East loss at last-place Syracuse. The Scarlet Knights came in as an eight-and-a-half-point favorite but head back to New Jersey with a shocking loss that drops them to 7-3 overall and 2-3 in league. In trying to explain what happened, you can start with the fact that quarterback Tom Savage was sacked nine times and you can go from there. Now, Rutgers heads to Louisville for a Big East game on Black Friday on short rest…haunted by the thought that it might have sealed its bowl fate with another post-season trip to Canada because of a lost afternoon in nearby Syracuse.
You can call it the first sign of possible things to come for the Rutgers men’s basketball team. The Scarlet Knights, picked to finish next-to-last in the Big East by the league’s coaches, needed a lay-up at the buzzer by sophomore forward Gregory Echenique Friday night to beat winless Drexel of the Colonial Athletic Association 58-56. Yes, R-U improves to 2-0 but it also is the first proof of evidence to support the Big East coaches that a long winter could be looming for Scarlet Knight fans.
The Rutgers football team looks to make it four wins in a row when it plays a Big East game at Syracuse Saturday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights are 7-2 overall…2-2 in league…and an eight-and-a-half-point favorite over the Orange, who are 3-6 overall and 0-4 in the Big East…bad enough for last place. I pick R-U to win simply because it’s better than an injury-depleted Syracuse team in every facet of the game. So, let’s go with the Scarlet Knights 31-14 over the Orange. Kick-off time at the Carrier Dome is 3:30; air-time on Good Time Oldies, 1450 WCTC for our pre-game show “Rutgers Gameday” is two-pm.
The Rutgers women’s basketball team loses its opener in a season that will be without an NCAA bid
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.
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.
