Without the bigger budget we'd be UConn, banished and left for dead, and probably even worse than we are now. Remember our schedules are a lot tougher than the Big East, especially at the end when West Virginia left the conference and it was a joke.
Losing hope
- Thread starter ImBadRU
- Start date
Before Schiano left Rutgers the first time, I felt we could have beaten most of the Big Ten West conference including Wisconsin. We could have beaten Penn State when they were down and Michigan State. However, all those teams got better as well as most of the Big Ten and Rutgers got worse over the years,
The defense can hold their own against most of the Big Ten and we just need a better QB and OL.
The defense can hold their own against most of the Big Ten and we just need a better QB and OL.
We played in a bowl last year. If Gleeson didn't gift Nebraska two touchdowns, we would most likely go to one this year, too.
Fair points. The damage particularly Flood did in such a short time to tear down the 10 years of work that occurred prior was particularly grueling. Ash was handed a complete mess and was not even close to being ready. I actually think Ash is a half decent defensive coach he just had no business running a program as HC.
No doubt some of our fans will argue that UConn had better talent than Schiano inherited, and better facilities. Everyone does apparently.
We have to stop talking about last years bowl game as if we earned anything…. Only at Rutgers do we have fans bragging about a 5-8 season bc we went to a bowl only bc the originally scheduled team got Covid…
We've spent 15 years pretending APR was important. Now the one time it actually earned us something, we have to ignore it?
And they didn't beat a single team with a winning record. Temple, Syracuse and Indiana were all last place teams. That's typical of Schiano. He makes a living off of doormats and his supporters squirt themselves.
I haven't seen them play but I'm gonna go with nope. But nonetheless solid job by Mora in year 1, especially if he can snag the bowl. Liberty just beat Ark on the road so not likely them but Army will be the crucial shot. I read they were 10-50 since 2016, not including the covid year which they didn't play.
These schools and stories like Elko, Bielema, Liepold, Clawson. Smith etc...are exactly why I never lose hope.. Cue the Shawshank quote lol. I root for these underdogs because I see us in them. Whether it's GS or someone else I don't give a hoot, the potential and opportunity to raise yourself up on the landscape has never been better.
I'm generally not impressed with HC Schiano but literally nobody will remember that we needed ARP to earn a bowl bid.
Everyone (including recruits) will just see "Rutgers bowl bid" and move on.
Outside of this board, nobody will ever say "well...but...they only won 5 games".
It's a bad argument putting an asterisk on the bowl bid. Perception is we got a bid and that's all that matters.
Wow. I have to say that Maryland split a home and home against Rutgers during that period, and none of us thought our team was very good at the time. Maybe the Terps were better than we thought...
They didn't have better talent than Schiano inherited, they had an easier schedule. The wins are:
Central Connecticut St.
Fresno St.
FIU
BC
UMass
Not exactly the B1G East.
The 2 remaining games are Liberty and Army. I'd say Liberty is very much the favorite and Army, though having an off year, is a slight favorite. If they lose both and go to a bowl at 5-7 then all the "but, but, but" about Rutgers bowl appearance last year is nothing but rank hypocracy.
Except for OSU, I'm not as intimidated by the rest. What we need is a very productive offense IMO and mediocre defense...that is the avenue with best potential. WF has come up and not beat but challenged a talented Clemson and beat FSU 4 times in a row (who could've imagined that in the Bowden years). It's with offense. TCU or Baylor sitting on top of the B12 at times over years vs talented OU or Texas? On the back offense. Kanas this year, pretty good offense. A little more complex than I'd like but it's working for them.
It is fun and exciting which is a bonus/good for fans but that's not the reason I advocate for it. IMO it's just the avenue with most potential when I see what's happening on the landscape. For every Illinois there are multiple doing it the other way Even Illinois added a little tempo with their new OC but largely still Bielema ball. If we fail, I still try again and again for that productive offense until you find the guy who can install it successfully.
It's still a solid year 1 if they don't go to a bowl. 10-50 previous years to 5-7 is definite step in the right direction. A bowl would be some sweet icing for them.
The teams they've beaten aren't really any worse than who we've beaten:
Both beat BC and a Div 1AA cupcake
Fresno State 71 vs Indiana 86
FIU 122 vs Temple 121
UMass 131
UConn would likely not have beaten anyone we didn't beat but the teams they beat are remarkably similar in rank to those we beat. Not a great comparison for Schiano.
Why do so many blame Gleeson but not Greg for staying with him As OC for 2.5 seasons?
Doesnt Greg have accountability for that mistake?
Doesnt Greg have accountability for that mistake?
The big10 absolutely wants us to be good. They want every team to get good ratings, good bowl wins and be profitable but they can’t make it happen. Incompetence gets in the way here, most recently with the HC hire.
It did not get in the way at Tenn or OSU.
Actually yea if he didn't like him but I don't think that was the case. Gleeson’s contract was bumped too and that's not happening without GS.
I'll give you a couple recent examples.
Aranda hired Larry Fedora in year 1 at Baylor, bad year on offense and in general. Another defensive coach so he probably wanted a more physical style. He fired Fedora and hired Jeff Grimes from BYU. They still use tempo at times but they try to be physical and use quite a bit of misdirection. They won the B12 last year in Grimes' year 1. This year not as good but still solid results.
Bielema hired Tony Franklin IIRC and let him go after year 1 and replaced him with a former assistant Barry Lunney who was OC at UTSA and combined some Bielema elements with some tempo things he picked up from Jeff Traylor at UTSA.
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I contacted the Big Ten Academic Alliance. It turns out that *both* of us are right. Yes, the University of Chicago withdrew in 2016 when the name was changed from the Committee on Institutional Cooperation to the Big Ten Academic Alliance. But U of C asked for and received "affiliated status." This makes no practical difference to the amount of cooperation.
LOL, gibe me a break. Your athletic dept was a total disaster financially when you were asked to join the league and you'd be totally bankrupt if the B1G ship hadn't come to port for you. Yet here you are....trying to bite the hand that feeds you.
No one can argue that the B1G isn’t great financially in the long run. No one can argue that B1G handcuffed us by not giving us the full share. Which school filed for bankruptcy? Trump University?