Rutgers cleans house

Both Athletic Director Julie Hermann and and football head coach Kyle Flood have been relived of their duties, duties if they'd done better they'd still have. The letter President Robert Barchi sent released can be read here and NJ.com has given grades to both Hermann and Flood in their tenure and those can be found be clicking the links on their names.

Rutgers has already hired Patrick Hobbs as AD. Hobbs is currently a Seton Hall dean of law.

Rutgers football Gameday!

A beautiful late November day dawns for the Senior Day festivities in Piscatawy today and Rutgers, if you can believe this, still has something to play for at 4-7. If the Scarlet Knights win today vs the god-awful Maryland Terrapins then Rutgers at 5-7 COULD go to a bowl game. Division 1 football is seemingly void of, going into the last week of the regular season, enough 6 win teams to fill all the bowl games. The experts are saying a couple three 5-7 teams might sneak into a bowl game which right there tells you we have far too many bowl games.

Rutgers will be playing for the last time in front of head coach Kyle Flood who is expected to be fired as soon as Sunday along with Rutgers AD Julie Hermann. In Johnny's opinion both need to go for Rutgers to get back on track and in Hermann's case not just football. So yes, RU should come out and it's our guess they will beat Maryland who is already playing for an interim coach, and move to 5-7. Will RU get a bowl invite in which case? Other than it would give underclassmen another couple weeks of practice under their belts going into 2016 in Johnny's opinion 5-7 teams don't go to bowl games.

Fearless Forecast
Rutgers 24
Maryland 10

Rutgers football Gameday!

As the calendar moves deeper into November the feeling at the Rutgers football building can't be lobbying for which bowl game you want to make sure you qualify for and impress the committee. It's more a "can the coach save his job and who is playing for a starting job next year, who has quit and how will this impact recruiting" feeling.

First, can Kyle Flood save his job? Our guess is no and we'll pile on unnecessarily and say he shouldn't even if they win out. He's regressed slightly from the Greg Schiano years hasn't he? For every close loss to an MSU there are horrid blow out losses, either way, losses. His suspension didn't help matters and his actions to get that suspension would have been enough for Johnny to show him the door.

Who is playing for a starting job next year? Everyone not a senior. Easy. Nobody should think they have a lock on anything. Who has quit? We'll see and coaches will sure see when they break down game film.

Will this have an impact on recruiting? Oh yeah. After a promising first season in the B1G in which Rutgers represented well, kids now look at a program in disarray, an inconsistent AD, and lacking facilities. If everyone got on the same side and all rowed together and they raised money for a new stadium and got a first class coach it'd STILL be an 5-7 year turnaround to really compete with Michigan State, Ohio State and newly refurbished Michigan. Iowa is a great story but could well be one-year wonders.

Speaking of Michigan. Remember when Rutgers "upset" Michigan last year in Piscataway? Johnny is going to bet the Michigan players remember it well. Today RU plays in the Big Quiet House in Ann Arbor (Anne Arbor is a slut) and things don't look good barring a true upset. Michigan's defense should well handle anything the Scarlet Knights can throw at them and the members of the skunk family will be remembering their last two games, a last-second brain fart loss to Sparty and a last-second brain fart win over Minnesota and will (WARNING--Midwestern colloquialism ahead) try and put the hay in the barn early. The Rutgers defense is going to have to be darned near perfect to keep this one from getting out of hand early, something BYU and Northwestern did a poor job of. No penalties keeping Michigan drives alive. No missed fumble recoveries or dropped interceptions. Play as hard as you can for as long as you can and hope the offense can somehow get two touchdowns. Johnny thinks RU will get those two TD's but that's about all.

Fearless Forecast
Michigan 38
Rutgers 17

Rutgers football gameday!

To see how big an effort RU put in last week vs then #4 Michigan State look to Ann Arbor around 6:45pm. After MSU beat Oregon they got hype. Then Oregon got crushed by Utah who had already beaten Michigan's Wolverines. Suddenly the perception was MSU's win over Oregon wasn't so big after all. Then Sparty had some winning if not winning really ugly games in back to back weeks. A real bad win vs Purdue raised eyebrows around the country. So as far as perception goes, did the Scarlet Knights tussle to the bitter end in Piscataway vs a top flight team or an average team playing a road game. Again, if MSU wins today RU's effort looks bigger than life. If not, well, maybe too much is being read into the Knight's progress.

Perceptions aside, Rutgers plays a must win game today at John Cougar Mellencamp Stadium in Bloomington Indiana. Today is homecoming in Bloomington which means the time honored tradition at IU where every fan on their way in is given a locally grown turnip. Ah, good times in the midwest.

But Johnny digresses...

Must win game yes. Playing Indiana means points are going to be scored. IU scores a lot and gives up even more. First thought, RU can't let this game be played in the 40's. High 20's to mid-30's is plenty of points and gives Rutgers a better chance of winning. The defense slowed down MSU last week and did a very nice job of disrupting first down runs and were great in coverage (and the game was won by MSU receivers holding onto highly contested balls). RU is gonna have to have that same effort for all 60 minutes again today. We think they can. The Hoosiers are last in the B1G at getting their QB sacked which means those close calls vs Connor Cook last week might get home this week. The schemes were good and the players carried them out last week. Just keep doing it.

Offensively the Scarlet Knights did a great job vs Sparty. Leonte Caroo must have another game of his life and give the defense time to catch their breath. Big pickups on third down are needed. RU needs to kill clock so by committee at RB the magic number is 120. Run for 120 and beat IU in time of possession and good things are quite possible.

The coach is back and the team is playing hard right now, unless Bobby Knight shows up and throws a chair and trips an RU running back on his way to the end zone we see an upset.

Fearless Forecast
Rutgers 30
Indiana 27

Rutgers football Gameday, Motor City Bowl edition!

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are in Johnny's hometown of Detroit this afternoon to take on North Carolina (and their non-existant plan to actually have student athletes learn anything while enrolled) in at 4:30 today. We're just going to go ahead and call this the old Motor City Bowl for reference purposes because unless Johnny gets paid by the actual bowl sponsors themselves, six figures, he's not using corporate names. The game on paper anyway looks like it could be quite the offensive affair. Let's take a look.

Rutgers comes into their Motor City Bowl at 7-5 and a pretty good first season in the B1G all things considered. RU proved the doubters who said they didn't belong in such a conference, and certainly couldn't compete in such a conference, well wrong. RU is a good, not great team, that is a difficult team to play against, who never give up (See Maryland game) and are quite capable in getting the B1G off on the right bowl foot. In fact Johnny expects no less today.

North Carolina at the beginning of the year were nothing less than a sieve defense. Their 4-2-5 alignment gave up huge yards and points in losses to East Carolina and Clemson. A bowl game, with the extra practice and film time can help RU re-open the gashes in the UNC defense. Gary Nova' RU's "legendary" QB was third in both TD passes and yards in the B1G this season and should have a big day. Who better for Nova to throw to than the B1G's Leonte Carroo who was second statistically in the conference with 1,043 yards and third in TD catches with 10. The sky is the limit offensively for RU as the UNC defensive head coach for defense, Vic Koenning, left halfway through the year his defense was so very bad. It's not entirely better now.

When it comes to defense against the UNC offense the Scarlet Knights need to contain Tar Heel QB Marquise Williams who is a passing and running threat. He can do both and do both well. RU is going to have to limit one of the two things he does well. Stack the box with an extra LB or safety or play a nickel back often to help contain the UNC passing attack. The UNC offense is good, it can however be contained (they were only 6-6).

We think today the B1G pedigree will come to the fore. RU has played much better offenses and defenses than they'll face today in Michigan State and Ohio State. RU was smoked in both those games but here is where they apply what they learned from those teams and how they'll use it for motivation today. With a win and an 8-5 record this would have to be considered a great season for RU. We think that's exactly what happens today.

Fearless Forecast:
Rutgers 37
North Carolina 31

Rutgers football Gameday!

Welcome to the RU football Gameday Johnny has waited all year for -- The Michigan State Spartans.

Michigan State is proof Rutgers can succeed in the B1G. Michigan State had drifted for years in the conference without much to take away from, well any of it. Since Duffy Daugherty retired and after Nick Saban left in 1999 MSU fell into a general malaise winning only one Big Ten title in 1990. They'd have some nice runs and the occasional upset of Ohio State or Michigan but nothing you'd go up on rooftops yelling about.

Kinda sorta like Rutgers for the last 25-30 years. A lot of naysayers said Rutgers would be the doormat of the B1G this year and that has been far from true. Rutgers has established a calling card in only their first year as being a team that is difficult to play against and excellent on special teams. Quick, what's Maryland's calling card? Exactly. It's not as bad as all that Scarlet Knights fans. Mark Dantonio at MSU has taken overlooked two and three star recruits and coached them better than anyone else in the midwest and has become a national power in the process. Rutgers has a good coach in Kyle Flood. If he can have three or four years to get his guys in that FIT the program he's trying to build, and gets guys overlooked with something to prove and yes, nine or ten win seasons are not out of the question. Johnny's not saying it's going to happen overnight or that Rutgers will become Auburn or Alabama any time soon but RU is positioned well right now.

OK, football! This is an A gap blitz. MSU runs these a LOT:

See the two middle linebackers get a healthy running start at the opposing team's backfield? Yeah, and if Gary Nova does not handle these Pat Narduzzi blitzes Rutgers is in for a long day. Why can Michigan St. blitz like this? Their cornerbacks play tight press coverage and are very good at it. They know most long passes are not completed especially when A) the QB is under great pressure and B) The defender is good. The Spartans dare the opposition to throw long. In order for RU to keep things close and hope for an upset Gary Nova is going to have to hit at least three plays of 50 yards or more. He is going to have to prove to the 75,000 green and white fans on Senior Day he can go long and keep going long. Though not a strength Rutgers is going to need to run the ball against the Green Wall for around 100 yards to keep Nova upright when he passes.

When MSU has the ball they have perhaps the most balanced offense in the conference. Pro to be Connor Cook is not afraid to use his arm (Note: At least once a game he WILL throw a pass that makes MSU fans wonder if he's blind) and has a cadre of good receivers and one great one. Tony Lippett, (#14 in your program but #1 in your heart) has had a breakout season. He's big, strong, fast and makes great catches for long gains:

Getting back to how Rutgers can emulate Michigan St. by smart player selection; all everything running back Jeremy Langford was a third team defensive back after his freshman year. It cost MSU nothing to move him and see if his talents didn't fit better elsewhere. Smart good coaching can cover a lot of holes. Look at Langford now, over 100 yards for 13 straight games. He has 33 career TD's. All they did was move him.

Langford has fumbled in the past and as noted above Connor Cook is prone to a horrid throw every so often believing in his arm more than he should. Rutgers is going to need turnovers and will most likely need one of their patented blocked kicks for a score to keep it close and spring what would be a huge upset and BIG program win for Kyle Flood and RU.

All this being said Johnny is gonna go with his deep seeded loyalties today in the rain/snow/fog of East Lansing.

Fearless Forecast:
Michigan St. 45
Rutgers 14

Rutgers football gameday!

Are you in your seats yet RU ticket holders? We know it's dumping buckets of rain outside and you'd prolly rather be in your RV or under a tent (that's left standing from the wind) before heading into the Scarlet Knights Football Stadium as late as possible. Coach Kyle Flood however has said be IN your seats at kickoff for Wisconsin. So good luck with your soaked selves. The rest of us will watch on the teevee.

It's homecoming in Piscataway and here come the Hungry Hungry Badgers and THAT famed offensive line. Across the front Wisconsin usually has five cave troll-sized human beings that act like road graders. It's no surprise that Wisconsin has had running backs like Ron Dayne, Montee Ball and now Melvin Gordon. Nope, there's nothing fancy about Wisconsin. They are going to run the ball down your throat up by ten, up by twenty, down by five or down by twenty-one.

This should greatly worry Rutgers fans as after the last two weeks of not stopping Ohio State or Nebraska's running games, here come the pros. Like Johnny said last week, if they didn't stop Nebraska from running they had no chance. They didn't. Maybe coach Flood can work on a defense this week that can keep eight or nine in the box at time sand force Bucky to throw. Johnny will throw out this number, on this wet windy day if the Rutgers defense can force Wisconsin to throw twenty times they have a chance.

That chance would be greatly enhanced if Gary Nova were running the offense today but that's questionable. If redshirt freshman Chris Laviano plays he's gonna need to have the game of his young life.

Wisconsin sometimes goes to sleep on the road (see Northwestern), they have done it before. Who knows, if Rutgers blocks a punt or field goal on a wet day and make a couple breaks that will take pressure off the RU offense. Still, Johnny's seen this game before. Wisconsin runs ball and keeps running ball to control time of possession. Their opponents see the ball two, three or four times less than they are used to and the pressure to score builds quickly. The Badger offense works much like a python or boa constrictor. Even in the rain.

Fearless Forecast
Wisconsin 44
Rutgers 17

Late last night Rutgers lost in overtime to Fresno St. 52-51

A late game out on the left coast ended the same way some of the games on the right coast do, with a loss.

The Star-Ledger reports the game came to an official end at 3:32 am this morning. Either way, late night or early morning losing a game Rutgers put themselves in a position to win on the road has to hurt. The Scarlet Knights were up 7 with under two minutes to play and let Fresno tie the game. Still the Piscataway 11 had a chance win on a late field goal in regulation but alas, missed. We also wonder about the decision to kick it when head coach Kyle Flood sent on kicker Kyle Federico maybe one play too early. We think Rutgers could have tried for even 5-10 more yards before that kick, they had the time to try. There was also Flood's risky (albeit successful) 2-point call in the first overtime to add more juice to the story. Rutgers will be anything but predictable this year we have a feeling.

So a tough loss in a wild shootout replete with strange coaching decisions, excitement to the very end, and plenty to work on. Way too many penalties (we know, first game) and 2 turnovers. Gary Nova had a good game out of the box throwing for 348 yards and 5 touchdowns on 26/41 passing. Junior Paul James had a strong game on the ground for Rutgers with 182 yards on 22 carries. That's huge.

Rutgers is home next Saturday to take on the Norfolk State Spartans, kickoff at noon.