How do we better compete with Penn State?

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

Nothing more frustrating than watching our squad being slaughtered by our neighbors to the West, for the past three years. The beatings are just as bad as the Giants Stadium beatings we took under Coach Graber against them.

Really thought we caught up to them in 2014, only to lose a heartbreaker and then proceed to watch our program fall apart, while their program flourished. Really tough to take.

Hopefully we will be more competitive with them this year. The key I think is to get good QB play from either Gio, Artur, Jonathan, or Jalen. Really haven't had that since Nova graduated.

We also need WRs and RBs to step up. All hands on deck to upgrade the WR corp. Daevon Robinson, Jalen Jordan, Naijee Jones, and Eddie Lewis should all get a shot at PT. If it's found that their better TE prospects, Robinson and Jordan can redshirt to bulk up, but they deserve a shot as that position could use a big receiver, capable of using his physicality to make big plays.
Like the talent we have at RB. Blackshear showed flashes of being. a playmaker, while Hilliman should see significant action. Add in Pacheco, Sneed, and Snorweah, the RBs look good to go.

Line play should hopefully be decent enough, especially after year 3 of Parkers S&C and a decent amount of upper classmen as well as returnees on the 2 deep. Also excited about the depth and returning talent at LB and TE.

Just want to be competitive with them this year. That would be a significant step forward.

 

[dontestrond]

I don't think you should be worrying about State. You should be worrying about Maryland, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, and Michigan State. You will never compete with what Penn State offers unless you pour "billions" in your football program and sell your soul to the devil. They have it all. They are what you call a Blue Blood program and truly never had to deal with any competition in the Northeast for that crown. That's why they cling to that "Unrivaled" moniker because it's true. You just gotta beat them with player development. When your stars are 4th and 5th year older players, you beat their 4 and 5 star sophomores, freshmen, and juniors who have nothing but dollars signs on their mind. That's how it works for a program like Rutgers unless you go all out Blue Chips and start cheating.

 

[Knight Shift]

The key I think is to get good QB play from either Gio, Artur, Jonathan, or Jalen.

Don't sleep on Flacco.

 

[kupuna133]

I don't think you should be worrying about State. You should be worrying about Maryland, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, and Michigan State. You will never compete with what Penn State offers unless you pour "billions" in your football program and sell your soul to the devil. They have it all. You just gotta beat them with player development. When your stars are 4th and 5th year older players, you beat their 4 and 5 star sophomores, freshmen, and juniors who have nothing but dollars signs on their mind. That's how it works for a program like Rutgers unless you go all out Blue Chips and start cheating.

This pretty much was going to be my response. You can't worry about competing with the big boys until you start beating the names mentioned on a regular basis. Take care of Maryland, Indiana and the crossover matches and the big boys in conference will start to fall also.

 

[RUskoolie]

Having toured the football facility at Pedo St, they are 100% committed to football excellence. We cannot mimic their model. They completely brain wash students the moment they get on campus and by the time they graduate they have insane amounts of school spirit. While good, that's why 40 years of child rape went without a hiccup because everyone there is taught to prioritize football over anything else.

You want us to stop getting our asses kicked? We need to catch up facilities wise. That's a large part of it. If a recruit is visiting 2 schools and school A has 5 different things to help the player maximize his talent and school B has 2, which do you think is more impressive? I'm not talking slides or rock climbing walls or TVs in lockers, I am talking state of the art locker rooms, state of the art weight rooms, training rooms, etc. That all happens through donating from alums and fans. Ash has done a great job helping us to close the gap there but if any of you visit other facilities in the B1G East, you'll understand why we are where we are in the standings and that was before Kyle Flood downgraded our roster to Sun Belt level.

 

[superfan01]

Need to recruit better. Plain and simple. Ash is a step up from flood but he is not bringing in the classes that will close the gap with the blue bloods in our division. On the other hand, Maryland is doing a good job the last 2 years of closing the gap talent wise.

We need to recruit better especially on the lines. Right now our program has minimal “stain” in state. Ash is trying but struggling on offense and Dline. Time will tell on ash.

 

[dontestrond]

Need to recruit better. Plain and simple. Ash is a step up from flood but he is not bringing in the classes that will close the gap with the blue bloods in our division. On the other hand, Maryland is doing a good job the last 2 years of closing the gap talent wise.

We need to recruit better especially on the lines. Right now our program has minimal “stain” in state. Ash is trying but struggling on offense and Dline. Time will tell on ash.

What's the point with bringing in talent if you can't develop it?

 

[ruthetiger]

We shouldn't have to worry about competing with or against Penn State. That shouldn't be on all of our collective minds right now. What we all need to do is worry about developing this or these programs athletically, socially, and academically.

Look, Penn State is whoever and whatever they are. They are some school in the middle of no where, that has carved a huge following on the eastern section of the mid-Atlantic states. There is no program that can really compete against them and their athletic tradition in this region. Not even Syracuse or Boston College. They have quintessentially become or are the snobbish, arrogant growing up to be Harvard bullies on the large school playground. What we want to become are the guys who bully the bullies. Period! We should take the Michigan State model, or the Wisconsin model. Teams that Penn State normally sleep on, are the Iowas, Michigan States or the Wisconsin's of the world, that really are not afraid of them.

Those teams aren't afraid to roll into state college, beat them on their own turf, and take the Penn State cheerleaders into the football mens showers and really show and teach them how its done and do it the right way with authority.

So don't worry about competing against them, that'll work itself out in due time. All we gotta do is develop and continue to show progress.

 

[Ole Cabbagehead]

I don't think you should be worrying about State. You should be worrying about Maryland, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, and Michigan State. You will never compete with what Penn State offers unless you pour "billions" in your football program and sell your soul to the devil. They have it all. They are what you call a Blue Blood program and truly never had to deal with any competition in the Northeast for that crown. That's why they cling to that "Unrivaled" moniker because it's true. You just gotta beat them with player development. When your stars are 4th and 5th year older players, you beat their 4 and 5 star sophomores, freshmen, and juniors who have nothing but dollars signs on their mind. That's how it works for a program like Rutgers unless you go all out Blue Chips and start cheating.

Your posts on this board are excellent.

 

[dontestrond]

Those teams aren't afraid to roll into state college, beat them on their own turf, and take the Penn State cheerleaders into the football mens showers and really show and teach them how its done and do it the right way with authority.

Uhh.....that's a crime these days bro.

 

[RU4Real]

Uhh.....that's a crime these days bro.

Bestiality?

 

[ruthetiger]

Uhh.....that's a crime these days bro.

Not the chicks my man. The women are to be turned out in the locker rooms.

It's my duty, to please that booty.

 

[e5fdny]

I thought the OP had the answer already....

FLORIDA.

 

[RU206]

It would help to have a Phil Knight type of booster. Dump a ton of money into the program. Upgrade facilities, increase coaches salary pool to pay for higher quality assistants when needed. Make it the "it" program.

If you want to go the Ole Miss way, get a bag man. But you will need boosters.

 

[RUskoolie]

It would help to have a Phil Knight type of booster. Dump a ton of money into the program. Upgrade facilities, increase coaches salary pool to pay for higher quality assistants when needed. Make it the "it" program.

If you want to go the Ole Miss way, get a bag man. But you will need boosters.

You need EVERYBODY. I am sick of everyone pointing the finger to the ultra rich or NFL guys. EVERYONE needs to pitch in here.

 

[DJ Spanky]

I hope we never compete with them to the point where we ignore and enable a child molester for decades for the glory and honor of our football program.

 

[chase07470]

My eyes told me we competed quite well against them at the los last year. In fact, you swap QB's and we very well might have won that game. McSorely is a great college QB...makes play after play for them. Until he graduates, we're not beating them.

 

[RU206]

You need EVERYBODY. I am sick of everyone pointing the finger to the ultra rich or NFL guys. EVERYONE needs to pitch in here.

I'm not pointing a finger at anyone. The EVERYONE. Method hasn't worked. The question from the OP, was how does RU compete with PSU. I m answering that question. The quickest way to raise funds would be the Oregon Or Oklahoma State way. Get 1 weathly donor to get the ball rolling. Once the team starts winning, the fan base shows up and people start to donate.

Right now winning 4 games a year and getting beat up by the big boys isn't bringing in the fans or the money.

 

[miketd1]

We need to catch up facilities wise. That's a large part of it. If a recruit is visiting 2 schools and school A has 5 different things to help the player maximize his talent and school B has 2, which do you think is more impressive? I'm not talking slides or rock climbing walls or TVs in lockers, I am talking state of the art locker rooms, state of the art weight rooms, training rooms, etc.

What did they have that we couldn't match from a functionality standpoint?

I'm not being snarky -- I legit am curious to know from someone who's been there.

For example, this thing at Syracuse wowed me:

 

[yesrutgers01]

What's the point with bringing in talent if you can't develop it?

I think we have plenty enough to develop talent. It just isn't as impressive.

I thought the OP had the answer already....

FLORIDA.

Dammit- beat me to it

What did they have that we couldn't match from a functionality standpoint?

I'm not being snarky -- I legit am curious to know from someone who's been there.

For example, this thing at Syracuse wowed me:

As I said in response to the first quote...if we are talking functionality, we can develop NFL guys with no problem. This issue is perception and the recruits are going to be wowed with the other facilities. I have spoken to a couple of Dads that played here and then had sons going through the process. They may have already known where their son was going to go but after taking an OV to Tenn for example- with ZERO intent of their son ever playing there and their own hearts being 100% Rutgers, they told me that it was almost impossible to tour their facilities without just committing on the spot.

 

[Yeah Baby]

My eyes told me we competed quite well against them at the los last year. In fact, you swap QB's and we very well might have won that game. McSorely is a great college QB...makes play after play for them. Until he graduates, we're not beating them.

Yeah but more Barkley than McSorley. We keyed on Barkley and McSorley made us pay for it. Next year keying on McSorley will be the game plan.

Since we will still be thin at key positions we need to stay healthier than we have the past two years. The kids are working hard to get bigger and stronger so we can compete but that could be a reason for some of our injuries. No factual comments there just one of those things in the back of my mind. The point is we are not as deep and injuries have hurt as as much as anything.

 

[RUskoolie]

What did they have that we couldn't match from a functionality standpoint?

I'm not being snarky -- I legit am curious to know from someone who's been there.

For example, this thing at Syracuse wowed me:

Well, for starters they didn't have 5 other sports programs in the football facility with the football team (this is a damn disgrace IMO)
They had their own game day locker room
The coaches offices were much nicer and you could literally slide a glass door from their office and walk onto their practice fields
Weight room was comparable to ours, they just had double the height...they did have their own "mini GNC" inside their own weight room. Made our "snack bar" look silly.
The size of their facility was larger overall
Stadium obviously speaks for itself
I don't even recall their locker room but ours is not good even compared to ACC schools.

It all just drilled into me their schools is committed to excellence, they will not have anything that isn't top notch. The more we build, the quicker we eliminate excuses for a guy not wanting to come here. It's the same in corporate world.

 

[AntiG]

hire Bill Belichick when he decides to retire from the Patriots.

 

[yesrutgers01]

hire Bill Belichick when he decides to retire from the Patriots.

Yeah- he will do great in player living rooms. Why do I feel he would refuse to take his shoes off lol

 

[SC1221]

Money aside, one thing that can help is having an offensive identity and recruiting to that specific identity (and not necessarily go after all of the 4-5 star guys). While talent is better, a school like Wisconsin is so good because they have had the same offensive system in place for over 20 years and know exactly how to recruit for what works for them. Sometimes a kid that is a mid-level 3 star, flourishes as if he was a 4 star talent because the system fit is so good. Chris Peterson back when he was at Boise is another example of this.

Sure, landing 4 stars is obviously something that helps but RU could do a better job scouting the underrated offensive players based on scheme fit mainly because for the past few years the scheme hasn't been very well defined at all. This is due to the OC issues but it would be less of an issue if the OC that was brought in each year had a similar type of system. What we've seen has been all over the place the past few years.

 

[4inSBU]

Having toured the football facility at Pedo St, they are 100% committed to football excellence. We cannot mimic their model. They completely brain wash students the moment they get on campus and by the time they graduate they have insane amounts of school spirit. While good, that's why 40 years of child rape went without a hiccup because everyone there is taught to prioritize football over anything else.

You sire are an idiot. Jealous much?

 

[4inSBU]

I hope we never compete with them to the point where we ignore and enable a child molester for decades for the glory and honor of our football program.

Not sure who "them" is but it's not PSU you are referring to.

 

[Got GSPs]

that's why 40 years of child rape went without a hiccup because everyone there is taught to prioritize football over anything else.

take the Penn State cheerleaders into the football mens showers and really show and teach them how its done and do it the right way with authority.

You guys are sad excuses for human beings. Associating the evil deeds of a sick individual with "school spirit" and advocating for the abuse of current Penn State students just because you are envious of the success of our football program... that is horrible. I would hope that Rutgers fans generally disassociate themselves with this sort of poor behavior, lets the stench begin to infect the entire fan base.

 

[RU4Real]

You guys are sad excuses for human beings. Associating the evil deeds of a sick individual with "school spirit" and advocating for the abuse of current Penn State students just because you are envious of the success of our football program... that is horrible. I would hope that Rutgers fans generally disassociate themselves with this sort of poor behavior, lets the stench begin to infect the entire fan base.

#JoeKnew

 

[RUich]

The fact that one of the worst situations ever to happen at an institution did little to stop this PSU's football program has to be a real eye opener for the rest of us. If this had happened at RU, it would be generations before we had anything resembling a football team on the field. Like it or not, we are not in their league in terms of anything football related.
As already noted, we really have to find our place among the second/third level right now. Like any league, the small number of serious programs are going to dominate over the others. I have no idea when this will happen though.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Aren't you guys supposed to be over on your own board reveling in the fact that the Michigan State scandal is bigger than your own?

 

[yesrutgers01]

Skoolie went and woke them up...someone went to the trouble to create two new ID's just to respond. Too damn funny

 

[DJ Spanky]

Ah, I was wondering why we were suddenly getting an influx of the faithful here: one of the unwelcome ones started a thread after reading rutgersal's comments.

 

[21.Guns]

If this had happened at RU, it would be generations before we had anything resembling a football team on the field.

Hate to break it to you but it's already been generations since Puntgers has had anything resembling a football team...

 

[RU4Real]

Skoolie went and woke them up...someone went to the trouble to create two new ID's just to respond. Too damn funny

I'm waiting for Anthony Lubrano to announce his impending "MSU is Innocent" tour, just like he did for PSU.

 

[Rutgers85_rivals]

Hate to break it to you but it's already been generations since Puntgers has had anything resembling a football team...

Puntgers? My God, that is funny. How do you guys come up with these gems? I looked at the psu board the other day and you guys like to spell Rutgers as Rutgres. Again, hilarious.

 

[DJ Spanky]

This is another of those threads which is turning into GOLD!

Paging @PatrickRU92!

 

[RUskoolie]

Money aside, one thing that can help is having an offensive identity and recruiting to that specific identity (and not necessarily go after all of the 4-5 star guys). While talent is better, a school like Wisconsin is so good because they have had the same offensive system in place for over 20 years and know exactly how to recruit for what works for them. Sometimes a kid that is a mid-level 3 star, flourishes as if he was a 4 star talent because the system fit is so good. Chris Peterson back when he was at Boise is another example of this.

Sure, landing 4 stars is obviously something that helps but RU could do a better job scouting the underrated offensive players based on scheme fit mainly because for the past few years the scheme hasn't been very well defined at all. This is due to the OC issues but it would be less of an issue if the OC that was brought in each year had a similar type of system. What we've seen has been all over the place the past few years.

I would argue this is how public HS teams in the state of NJ that NEVER have kids go D1 are just machines during the regular season and playoffs. The kids grow up playing in the same system for 8-10 years. Nothing changes and they mold kids to fit the system exactly. Westfield is like this. Ridgewood. Bridgewater.

 

[RUskoolie]

You guys are sad excuses for human beings. Associating the evil deeds of a sick individual with "school spirit" and advocating for the abuse of current Penn State students just because you are envious of the success of our football program... that is horrible. I would hope that Rutgers fans generally disassociate themselves with this sort of poor behavior, lets the stench begin to infect the entire fan base.

The way you guys brain wash people is exactly how and why it festered for 4 decades. Not one Pedo St fan I talk to ever wants to bring it up. When I was there, students couldn't go two sentences without saying one of the following: "We Are" "Blue" "White" "Penn State". I get it, Penn State is all the matters in the World of Central PA but I don't envy it, Hence why I said we cannot mimic it. It's a cult and it's why 40 years of child molestation was able to happen. Sorry the truth hurts.

 

[sct1111]

Puntgers? My God, that is funny. How do you guys come up with these gems? I looked at the psu board the other day and you guys like to spell Rutgers as Rutgres. Again, hilarious.

"Puntgers" is actually pretty funny. I mean don't we hold the record for punts in a single game vs Michigan two years ago?

I'd rather Puntgers then Buttgers.