September is the kind of thing that sneaks up on you. One day your sitting on the beach, the next your wondering if Hurricane-induced flooding is going to extend your weekend (it didn't) and then your sitting in section 224 watching Rutgers play and wondering where your summer went. Still, even as we mourn the last remnants of summer slipping through our fingers, it was good to be there, good to have football back. Especially (even?) our beloved Scarlet Knights.
If you're an honest Rutgers fan, you'll admit that ever since November 9, 2006 (the day they beat Louisville) the football team has been a varying degree of disappointing. They left that game undefeated and poised to walk into the BCS only to lose in Cincinnati a week later and close the season with a crushing triple overtime loss to West Virginia that ended with a dropped 2-point conversion. The following 3 seasons started with Big East title and Sugar Bowl hopes and ended with 8 or 9 wins and a bowl not worth going into debt for.
But the disappointment was just a product of raised expectations. After years of being a laughingstock, it seemed Rutgers had finally settled into being comfortably mediocre. Like a neglected dog who gets adopted, we'd finally gotten comfortable with our surroundings. And then last year happened. A soft 4-8 had us feeling like we'd been left out in the cold all night and wondering if we'd ever be let back in.
It with that background that we got our first glimpse of the 2011 Rutgers Scarlet Knights. And the results we're ... reassuringly middle-of-the-road. Rutgers is back, baby!!
Here are our Things We Thought We Thaw
1. 2011 will be a better year than 2010. And that's really all that matters. We were nervous heading in, wondering if Schiano had lost the team and just hoping last year was a blip. While it's unclear whether the it will be reflected in their record or not, but this version of the team is much better than last year's. After giving up 3 first-half sacks in a wildly unimpressive 31-0 win (they lead 6-0 at the half) against a similarly over matched MEAC opponent in Norfolk State to open last season, Rutgers looked the part of a mid-tier major conference team last night steamrolling North Carolina Central University. It wasn't pretty (Rutgers rarely opens up the playbook in these early games) but in most areas they were fundamentally better.
2. The Offensive Line is less than putrid. Like the offensive line for instance. Last season's line performance was putrid. The 3 sacks they gave up against Norfolk State might have been the high point of a year that quarterbacks go unprotected (either the deposed Tom Savage or the hopeful hero Chas "Chaz" Dodd) and running lanes a myth. Against NCCU, they kept the pressure off most of the night (the only exception being bootlegs the defense sniffed out) and managed to keep the backs from being hit behind the line of scrimmage too often. They didn't dominate but the hope is that they can grow as the season progresses. Tepid praise, indeed, but better than we've seen.
3. Having "Real" Running Backs Helps. Last seasons two top running backs were Joe Martinek and Jordan Thomas. This year, Martinek, a tough runner who always seemed a step slow to be a Big East workhorse, is the starting fullback and Thomas, a speedster who may or may not run with his eyes closed, is a third-string corner. The rub of those moves is that they made room for two of the school's biggest backfield recruits ever - De'Antwan "Rocket" Williams and Savon "The Savior" Huggins. Huggins' story is well known - the first top-ranked New Jersey recruit to play for Rutgers, who comes at a time when the program needs a star the most - and he didn't disappoint. His performance wasn't electric (11 carries, 33 yards) but he showed the type of vision and patience that makes the early comparisons to the great Ray Rice not seem all that insane. His two scores - and the fact that they gave him the ball 3 straight times on the goal line - are hopefully a preview of things to come. Rocket, while less well known, was even more effective. After two seasons in which he saw essentially no playing time (even while those who had it did nothing with it), Williams found himself in the starting lineup (ahead of Huggins) and showed a tough, pads-down running style not many thought he had, gaining tough yards and even converting a 4-1. Best of all, both Williams and Huggins showed glimpses of being players who possess the vision to make the most of what an average offensive line can give them.
4. Speed Kills .. For years, Rutgers has looked slow. Painfully slow. Even during their best seasons, they seemed like they couldn't quite compete athletically, even with the better Big East teams like West Virginia. Now, even in warm-ups, they look athletic and fast. Chalk it up to a continually improving quality of recruits. The coaches still need to develop the skills of these guys to match the output of less their less athletic but more accomplished predecessors but it's an encouraging sign if you're hoping this group could someday take a big step up.
5. Especially on defense. With the new offensive coordinator, Frank Cignetti, taking over that side of the ball, Schiano can focus more on his area of expertise - the defense. After seasons where they seemed to be trying to get bigger, they've gone back to their more traditional speed-based approach that involves moving players up in position. Running backs become corners. Corners become safeties. Safeties become linebackers. Linebackers move to end. Ends to tackle. And tackles to offensive guard. The result is a team that might get run over but can fly to the ball. It's worked for them in the past so there's little reason to be skeptical now. Last night they were able to get pressure with their front four (something they NEVER did last year) and close down any openings in coverage by flying to the ball.
6. Three Times Is A Charm. That's the number of separate times we threw our hands up in the air and said "AYO." We just had to let go. Rutgers loves them some Taio Cruz and so do we. Dy-no-mite!!
7. They Call it a "Scheme" for a Reason. Having an offensive scheme implies some sort of plan. A concept of what the team wants to do and how it's going to attack the opposition. Last season, they called plays like your friend who doesn't know how to navigate an X-Box controller. Hey, let's run a dive. Wait, why how bout 5 wide and everyone just runs the same place. Maybe we should run the "Wild Knight" 47 times in a row. In 2011, look for them to return to the old, somewhat boring, power running game. They have a ton of weapons on the outside we'd love to see them use, but at least they have a concept now.
8. Will You Two Please Shut the Fuck Up. Last year we wrote about the infamous "Look At This Guy" and his dad. Well, when we renewed our tickets and kept our seats, we hope beyond hope that they would move up somewhere, anywhere where we couldn't hear them. Less than 30 seconds into the game when LATG blamed a 14 yard kickoff return on the cover team "running down there too fast", we realized there is no god.
9. Too Many Cooks Spoil The Broth. While, anyone who lives with a bunch of people and consumes large amounts of broth will agree with that statement, we'd suspect anyone who watched the game yesterday to agree with the following: Playing too many players ruins the rhythm. Last night, Rutgers consistently played 4 running backs, 5 receivers and 2 quarterbacks. That's way too much. Hopefully they were treating it like a preseason game and will whittle down the rotation a bit in future games but anything that has Sanu or Mark Harrison on the sidelines for large periods of time doesn't work for us. One last thing before we go get ourselves a nice large glass of broth.
10. A Putty Tat. Yeah, we made that joke. Soooo lame. Speaking of lame, they've apparently dumbed the "Rutgers State of Mind" song. Thank goodness. We'll take credit for that.
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