I would rather beat OREGON,PENN STATE OR OHIO STATE in place of going to a bowl.how boutique you?
Can still make a bowl
- Thread starter RUwishbone
- Start date
If they somehow managed to win one of those games, I would wonder why the hell they couldn't beat Iowa and Minnesota.
I mean we aren’t going to a bowl lol - so I’d like to beat one of them
I said at the beginning of season. Making another bowl at 6-6 or even 7-5 would not feel like progress if we didn’t take down a ranked team + playing one of the top 10 teams within a score late into the 4th qtr
The offense is legit. The D and injuries are going to make it tough to beat most league teams.
Legit in 1st halves anyway.
As a practical matter, bowl game is probably history this year. Don't see it happening, not with this defense. I know it's the fad to blame the HC, but in year 6, these are all his recruits, he's responsible for any gaps in the roster. Buck stops with him. This is what, second year in a row where there's been problem with the D? Some blame NIL, and that's certainly a factor, but I don''t see NIL changing significantly for Rutgers. Maybe this is as good as it gets for Rutgers. During the Ash era futility, we all just wanted to be competitive, but it sure sux to lose one score games, where just a decision here or there, or a play would've changed the outcome. The only salvage this year is to upset a big dog, but don't see that happening. A real missed opportunity, given the generally positive QB play.
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Respectfully disagree on 2 points.
3 winnable games are Purdue, Maryland and Illinois, with Washington an distant fourth.
Every game is a different entity. Look at Iowa, which gave up a lot of points to Rutgers, and held Indiana to 15. Does that mean RU offense is better than Indiana? Of course not.
I do agree the defense is terrible, but it is fixable. Sure hope that Robb is shown the door asap.
Also, you may be off the mark in NIL. Keli Zinn has done more on that front in 1 month than previously done at Rutgers. More money will be there. RU could certainly use more depth on defense.
My biggest concern is special teams and the stubbornness of not having a special teams coach. The regression of special teams was highlighted on the Final Drive this week. That's not an NIL issue, it's a coaching issue.
In sum, has the margin for error gotten tighter? Yup. RU has to execute with near perfection going forward or hope their opponents choke. Not a great position to be in, but there is still a chance to win 6.
No, I get your points. You're generally going to split your winnable/toss up games over the course of year. We're 0-2 now in toss up game, but if we can end the year at 2-2, then all we need is one upset for bowl eligibility, which conceivable since we can at least score points. Couple plays here and there and we're 5-0, I get it, we're not that far off. The last two prove we're relatively comparable t those programs, but you've find a way win those close games. I'm concerned that we seem "win" much of the first half but then "lose" the second half, but don't know if that's lack of adjustments, talent, depth or a combination. Not expecting some miraculous improvement on D this year, but we'll see how the rest of the schedule shakes out.
Love your points which is more thought out that 90% of the same posters who are just creating non-stop threads just foaming at the mouth...
I agree that ST's may be the biggest concern. How does a kicker who has been money for a year and a half turn into a guy who looks like it is his fist game at this level? And we have given up way too many huge returns. And there is something on our OL during our kicks that other teams have picked up on.
The defense - at least there werent a handful of coverages where we didnt have a defender within 10 yards of the pass. But- we get no pressure on the QB and are forcing no turnovers. And what is noticeable- what we have been used to during both Schiano tenures- his defenses swarm the ball. I am not seeing that this year. Seems like every tackle is a one on one and if the ball carrier breaks that one tackle- no one else is there.
I hope it is fixable but at this point- Smith has to be the guy this falls on. Of course everything goes on the CEO but Smith is the one who came in and the defense became bad.
This Team has no edge rushers. Needed Bailey and Toure on this defense. 2 healthy LBs and DBs that can’t cover or tackle.
I don’t understand how a team who always had multiple top talented DBs on the field at the same time have none this year.
the offense plays great in the first half but other coaches are making halftime adjustments and Rutgers doesn’t.
I don’t understand how a team who always had multiple top talented DBs on the field at the same time have none this year.
the offense plays great in the first half but other coaches are making halftime adjustments and Rutgers doesn’t.
Not having a TE to exploit the middle of the Field with 3 talented WR is criminal.
Rutgers did use the running back in the flat for a good pick up but never went back to it. That play should be open all game long with two safeties dropping back to help with Duff and strong all game.
Rutgers did use the running back in the flat for a good pick up but never went back to it. That play should be open all game long with two safeties dropping back to help with Duff and strong all game.
On the DBs, think the NIL well ran dry, and Elad, who according to court documents got $450K, was a miss. also, wonder if Miami offered a bigger bag, our the RU staff decided he was too high risk for an injury. Depth is a huge issue on defense. The NIL pool of money should improve, but we agree there are coaching issues on defense and special teams.
So tired of the screaming Mimi's with the thoughtless visceral gripes.
The Bowl opportunity is now gone. With the absolute sh#tshow on ST and D there is unfortunately no way we win 3 more games
Our HC has not learned and apparently never will. Regressed to a lower tier in the B1G this season Next year will be a challenge unless an overhaul on D (including Staff) is made. Also losing AK be hard to replace the Offense.. at least initially.
Remember the obituaries written for this team in October last year?
I sometimes wonder if people forget so quickly.
And there we actually lost against bad teams (Wisconsin and UCLA).
There's a lot of football left to play, fixable problems and a bye week.
I sometimes wonder if people forget so quickly.
And there we actually lost against bad teams (Wisconsin and UCLA).
There's a lot of football left to play, fixable problems and a bye week.
Yes, 100X this: Rutgers did use the running back in the flat for a good pick up but never went back to it. That play should be open all game long with two safeties dropping back to help with Duff and strong all game.
It was brought up in the Game Thread too. Mind boggling coaching whiff.
Interesting observation
OMG man. RUTGERS was 4-0 going into Oct not 3-2 and didn't have to play OSU, PSU, and Oregon still. Wow.
need to win 2 more games . Purdue seems like one can do and then there is only hope we can do
But besides the Purdue game, the remaining schedule chances to grab a victory " no can do" is a reasonable thought
Yeah, but we didn’t have Oregon, Ohio State, and Penn State on the upcoming schedule.
How is this a conversation.
RU allows teams on average to have 360+ total yards who have no business being a good offense. But WE make them look good.
We consistently outgain opposing teams but yet still fall behind in scoring which is what matters most.
This is not a winning formula for success and will not work in the big ten. We will be lucky to beat Purdue at this rate.
Sorry, but my expectations are that we in all likelihood finish with one or two wins tops in another disappointing season.
We've regressed so much it feels like we're not much better than we were when Schiano rejoined us. It's like we're back to being the old hapless Rutgers everyone knows and loves. Maybe a bit better than the Ash days, but whatever.
RU allows teams on average to have 360+ total yards who have no business being a good offense. But WE make them look good.
We consistently outgain opposing teams but yet still fall behind in scoring which is what matters most.
This is not a winning formula for success and will not work in the big ten. We will be lucky to beat Purdue at this rate.
Sorry, but my expectations are that we in all likelihood finish with one or two wins tops in another disappointing season.
We've regressed so much it feels like we're not much better than we were when Schiano rejoined us. It's like we're back to being the old hapless Rutgers everyone knows and loves. Maybe a bit better than the Ash days, but whatever.
Bowl is all but out of the question now. I think we're looking at 4-8, at this point. That said, the defense does seem to be improving a bit on the field, even though the competition keeps getting better, and some injuries are piling up.
A surprise win over Washington or Oregon in October could change everything though. Keep choppin'
Long shot chance vs. Washington but I think they'll probably boat race us at home in Husky Stadium.
Zero chance we beat Oregon.
We need 3 wins to get to a bowl - to get to 6 wins
Need to run the table vs. Purdue (probably), Illinois (probably not), and MD (coin flip right now).
Forget trying to win @Wash, Oregon, @ OSU. Actually, PSU’ s defense will probably shut our offense down but their offense is shaky. But they will probably put up 30 against our D. That leaves @purdue, Maryland , @Illinois. Not easy in any of them. Don’t think we can win all three. We really had to split Iowa/Minn . There are no playmakers on defense, ultimately that goes on the HC. He also coaches ST which have been terrible, especially kick/punt coverage. Need better athletes especially at DL, LB. Also need DBs who can understand concepts. Looks like a step back this year. No easy answers, unless some extremely rich alum decides to kick in millions each year.
Right and what was the record at the end of Oct when the obituaries were written? Give me a break.
So...giving up 31 points is like 78?
Also, is Minnesota worse than the Kansas and Buffalo teams we lost to? IIRC they scored more than 31. Much more.
This 100%
Schiano 2.0 is 13-34 in B1G Conference games since his return. Painfully we are potentially looking at 40 B1G Conference losses after 6 years of 2.0
Think about that for a minute. Any other B1G program would have found a way to terminate this HC and move on. Hopefully we don't have to endure 5 more years of this futility and Keli can raise the funds needed to make the correct change that is long overdue.