Rutgers football Gameday Homecoming Edition!

It's Homecoming in Piscataway and for once the alumni are coming home to a winning streak. Sure sure, it's one game and was preceded by a long losing streak but today for one day, it's about the win.

A much improved Purdue team arrives today not looking like the automatic W for the opponent they used to be. Purdue, while improved, aren't exactly Ohio State yet either. They will come into RU hoping not to fall victim to the team most consider the worst in the B1G. Purdue has made some positive strides this season, those might be considered lost with a road loss to the Scarlet Knights.

Purdue is a road favorite for first time in 5 years today, coming in as 8 point favorites. Johnny thinks that's hogwash. RU has the momentum and again, Purdue isn't OSU or MSU or Wisconsin right now; They're a good up and coming story but there are still hurdles to clear before they even become Iowa or Indiana. Johnny thinks today could be one of those hurdles.

RU RB's Gus Edwards and Raheem Blackshear will need a similar effort as Illinois. Run the ball, shorten the game, makes it easy on Giovanni Rescigno should he see the majority of playing time again this week or Kyle Bolin in relief. Purdue will want to open and spread the field. Rutgers can't let them pass all day and cannot let the Boilers keep the ball. RU at the end of the day needs time of possession to land on their side of the ledger.

Purdue looking for bowl game eligibility which will give them plenty of emotion and fight though Johnny thinks the back tot he wall keep bowl hopes alive tend to come in weeks 10-11-12. So, somebody gets second conference win today and either way it will hopefully change impressions. A Purdue team looking to play in a bowl would change tat impression of being a dump program in a dump town. If RU can get their second win in a row maybe, just maybe Chris Ash can get some breathing room even for a week. Two wins in a row would be a high point for the program in the B1G and that chance comes today in High Point Stadium

So, a crossroads for two teams today in Piscataway. One looking to keep climbing and one looking to set their feet on solid ground. It's a glorious day for football in New Jersey today and Johnny sees no reason to spoil the party now.

Fearless Forecast
Rutgers 28
Purdue 25

Spartan football 2016; And awaaaaaay we go...

Johnny's Spartans kick off the 2016 season tonight in East Lansing as defending B1G East and B1G champs. This season will have many challenges but if they can pass well and consistently they CAN win the B1G again though Ohio State as always sets a high benchmark and Michigan has a window this year with MSU and the Buckeyes losing an awful lot last year. Michigan had better make hay this season as both Urban Meter and Mark Dantonio have their highest rated recruiting classes coming in next year.

Ah well, whatever will be will be. Tough games loom in South Bend and also vs BYU. For now however let's get fired up to mash the visiting Furman Paladins (and Johnny has seen the Furman campus outside Greenville SC and it is one of the most beautiful college campuses anywhere) with this series of three major moments on MSU's path to the B1G titles last year:

Hope all they want, this play will NEVER go away for Michigan fans

You swing that arm Michael Geiger, and send Urban back for some more golf cart personal pizzas

22 plays, 9:04 on the final drive for Sparty, a drive Paul Finebaum on the SEC Network called one of the greatest drives in college football history

Sparty On Wayne!

Rutgers football Gameday!

It's finally here. Rutgers tonight will truly enter the pantheon of big time college football, a game they helped invent, tonight at 8pm in Piscataway. The Scarlet Knights take on Penn State University in RU's first ever B1G conference game.

All those games against Cincinnati and Louisville UConn, and USF will now be replaced with Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State and yes, the Nittany Scourge. Big time. NCAA playoff conference. It all starts tonight. Rutgers is 2-22 all-time vs. their western neighbors. One of RU's mostest famousest losses was to a 1995 Penn State team that was loaded. PSU QB Mike McQueary, one of the main figures in Penn State's recent "troubles" as the guy who turned in Jerry Sandusky, was sent in against RU to mop up a big win for the Nittany Lions. Was Joe Paterno running up the score against RU here or is there a bigger question here. McQueary was later suspected of betting on college football, some say even his own games. The line on this one was 21 and to get there McQueary needed points. Let's face it, JoePa looks shocked and bummed McQueary did what he's about to do. Doug Grabner, the RU coach at the time, didn't seem to care who the hell called the pass.

Oh the intrigue! Oh the confrontations! Oh the foul language!

So they meet again today. Penn State is a big favorite. Rutgers is at home and will have a full house behind them. PSU fans are calling Rutgers home field (And again we're not corporate whores so it's simply the Rutgers home field or the like -- perhaps a piece of striped astroturf measuring 120 yards by 53 yards in Piscataway) Beaver Stadium East. Will it be today? Let's break it down.

Rutgers is 2-0 with a big win and PSU is 2-0. Rutgers has won on the road and at home and should be playing with a great deal of confidence. Worst case scenario? PSU scores early and then gets a quick turnover and makes it a two score lead early. They have the big boys to grind a game out at that point. Best case? RU gets a quick lead and lets their defense get into the game against a top flight QB in Christian Hackenberg. Johnny thinks, and it's an old adage, the team with the most rushing yards is going to prevail. Penn State has great potential with their two back system yet have struggled to really get it going. Rutgers has indeed had success and are going to need to use the run game to control tempo. Johnny will always take a proven commodity than the potential for one. Advantage Rutgers.

Not in RU's favor today? The fact its a super duper big game at home. How often do really big celebratory games go sideways? This is an interesting phenomenon to Johnny and he has followed it over the years. A team retiring a players jersey almost always loses that game. Call it a distraction from the important routine of game day or loss of focus too often a big new stadium unveiling or the first time a team has played for X at home, they lose. Yes, that's sort of what RU is facing today. The emotion coming out onto THEIR B1G field is going to be overwhelming. That too can lead to substitution mistakes, penalties and missed tackles as players go for huge crowd pleasing hits rather than tackles. Penn State also is going to be coming out sky high as this week the NCAA lifted the last of their sanctions because of the Sandusky case and suddenly they ARE eligible for a bowl game. Who controls that emotional release better? We'll know by 8:30.

It's going to be a hard hitting game. It's going to be a nasty game. Probably some penalties. It'll be chilly. It'll be wet. A rivalry is about to be born. All common sense statistics point to a Nittany Lions win. Readers know when it comes to predictions Johnny left common sense in the rear-view mirror long ago.

Fearless Forecast
Rutgers 31
Penn State 30

It's Rutgers football Gameday!

Yes yes, still August on the calendar for a couple more days but it's fall enough and tonight friends Rutgers embarks upon a whole new world with expectations that come from a new league. Tonight finds the Scarlet Knights out at Wazzou, Washington State in Seattle at 10pm. Before we get to much into the great unknowns of matchup sand what to look for in a way Johnny is very glad Rutgers joined the B1G. All these Rutgers gameday threads over the year rang pretty hollow, to write about a school you never went to or played in a league one is familiar not with. NOW Johnny can actually put some feeling into them (sorry no refunds on the back dated ones) as Rutgers tonight really runs out under the Big Ten banner for the first time. Rutgers is the birthplace of college football. As Steve Politi said today in the Star-Ledger though they're about to see that headstart from 1896 evaporated long ago. Rutgers who, if they lose to a smaller team, now gets slagged by the likes of Michigan State, Ohio State, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Michigan fans and not Louisville, Cincinnati or Connecticut. Rutgers more than ever needs to step up their game all across the board. This B1G fans wishes them the best in doing so.

OK, Washington State. They can't run. They can't defend and they give up a lot of points. Sounds too good to be true doesn't it? Here's the kicker, they were 4th last year out of over 200 teams in passing. Wazzou is going to pass on first down, second down and third down. They may pass some on 4th down as well. Pass happy is one way to put the WSU offense. Wide-open is another. So, Scarlet Knight fans, how do you feel about your pass rush and defensive secondary? This is a tough game for Rutgers. Washington State has been running these short passing drills all summer. There is every chance they are already up to speed whereas an offense like RU that relies on running to set up the pass does take longer in a first game to make things click. Rutgers cannot get down if they get behind by a score or two early. Their attack will take some time to keep pounding on a hapless WSU run defense. Make no mistakes here, Rutgers is going to need at least 28+ points to win this game so they'll have to be prepared BUT slow and steady is the only way to win this game. Get into a shootout and you may lose 56-40.

So game one of a new era in Piscataway being started waaaay across the country tonight. Johnny gives all RU fans permission to stay up past your bedtimes and if needed will send email excuse notes to your bosses for anyone who asks for one.

Fearless Forecast:
B1G Rutgers 31
Wazzou 30

Rutgers has been shamed into getting a new Scarlet Knight mascot

Just three days into their Big Ten experience, Rutgers is having to change how their mascot looks. Here he is in all his current, well, awfulness:


That may well play in the Big East or whatever no-count conference Rutgers spent last year in but in the Big Ten where one of the most beloved college mascots of all-time resides, which already looks the role of Ser Gregor Clegane, you must step up your effort from John Kerry with a JEEP grill on his head:

So Rutgers has indeed announced "A New Knight" to be unveiled on August 8. A Sparty-like body with Chris Christie's head? Will the New Knight have a Snooki Knight sidekick? Guess we'll just have to wait. 

Oh, and to any Rutgers fans that Johnny will no doubt be offending as a long-time MSU fan, you wanted into the conference, take your hazing like a knight.

It has been 25 years since Johnny has felt like this

When you grow up a Big Ten football fan in the midwest Valhalla is Pasadena California. All that is good and glorious and life's rich reward is your team in the Rose Bowl and your band playing your fight song in the Rose Bowl parade. Seeing your team's name painted in the end zone. This is all that matters to B1G football fans. It has been twenty five long agonizing years since Johnny's Michigan State Spartans have had a chance to go back to Pasadena. Today is that day. Sparty sits on the precipice of the Rose Bowl again tonight.

Call it voting with your heart if you will. Ohio St. feels they have to win with style points and by a lot to stay ahead of Auburn in BCS points. The worst kind of concentration breaker, having to win pretty. That leads to bad turnovers against the best defense in America. You heard it here first:

Michigan St. 31
Ohio St. 27

This Rutgers football season is starting to fee like a throwaway

We know it's not but everything being talked about Rutgers these days is about next season. Next season they start in the Big Ten. Next season they'll play with bigger audiences. Next season they'll get a much bigger slice of cash. We're getting the distinct impression from reading the media around these parts that if the Scarlet Knights season starts going south nobody's going to be all that invested in it to worry aloud too much.

Hey, here's a primer on the Big Ten and some of the many traditions Rutgers fans will be introduced to....next year.

Yep, Maryland's in and Rutgers will follow suit today

Just a quick update to yesterday's story -- Maryland did indeed agree to join the Big Ten starting in 2014 and Rutgers will follow suit today.

Rutgers can start on expanding football seating and building a new basketball arena. In the Big Ten you're only allowed to have a dump basketball arena if your name is Minnesota. In fact the great former head coach at Michigan State Jud Heathcote was asked how to improve Williams Arena in Minneapolis and his words were "Burn it to the ground."

Don't be THAT school Rutgers, get digging.

Your thoughts?

Rutgers and Maryland are set to join the Big Ten Conference word around the campfire has it

The Rutgers Board of Governors is set to meet this morning before the usual trustees meeting and everyone believes that the closed door part of the meeting agenda is the approval (or not) of the Scarlet Knights to pick up new playdates aka Michigan State, Penn State, Minnesota, Iowa and the rest. Also expected to make the decision to join the Big Ten is the University of Maryland as there are currently no turtle-styled mascots in the Big Ten yet.

The choice is clear for Rutgers -- the Big East is disintegrating yearly and the Big Ten is a top flight and fairly stable conference. Teams leave FOR the Big Ten, not from it. While in Maryland's case the ACC is more stable it still is experiencing turnover. This also gives the Big Ten something it has long wanted, an in to the east coast and NYC media markets.

Each new school brings something to the table athletically. Maryland is a traditional power in basketball while Rutgers would more than be holding their own in the Big Ten football this year. The part Rutgers fans wouldn't like much is the basketball aspect. The Scarlet Knight five have already lost to MAAC team St. Peters and the Big Ten has three teams in the top ten nationally. One you'd expect to be there, Michigan State simply shows up at the Final Four so often Tom Izzo gets frequent coaching miles. So Big Ten hoops will force Rutgers to step up their recruiting game which in the end is a good thing.

But how will the Big Ten rejigger their stupid "Leaders and Legends divisions"? See in the Big Ten you can't have and east and west or north and south conference, no they hired consultants who somehow landed on Leaders and Legends. It's silly yes, while former Nebraska head football coach Tom Osborne is a leader and a legend he never coached much in the Big Ten but the Big Ten Network still hypes him like he did. So where is Johnny's guess they land in the brave new 14 team Big TEN?

LEGENDS: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern
LEADERS: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin

We'd guess Maryland to the Legends and Rutgers to the Leaders. We say Rutgers to the Leaders as no doubt the Big Ten will want some kind of Penn State-Rutgers rivalry, ie New Jersey vs. Pennsylvania. This of course is nothing but wild speculation at the current time. Rivalry games and crossover games will of course factor into scheduling/slotting.

Confused? Well take heart and enjoy the ride. Connecticut and Syracuse fans pay attention, you're next.

And we're back....

After a lovely visit with family.

Here's our question of the day, in reading a lot of newspapers in traditional Big Ten country, the opinions are pretty evenly split about adding schools like Rutgers (And maybe Pitt, Syracuse, Missouri, Notre Dame and maybe even Nebraska) to form the super conference of all superconferences.

What say you Rutgers fans? Does this appeal to you?

It is now upon us, the greatest 4 days in sports, the NCAA basketball tournament!

In all seriousness these four days always turn out to be uber exciting, and if there are no games on you still have NHL and NBA games on later. Johnny wants to give one more shout out to Michigan State and say Go Sparty and good luck to all the Big Ten teams and a big GO LEHIGH!

Johnny's brackets