http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa-18/2018-rutgers-scarlet-knights-football-schedule.php
Six of first seven look winnable. Need to get off to a fast start. $$$$
Six of first seven look winnable. Need to get off to a fast start. $$$$
Next year's schedule
- Thread starter dollarbill
- Start date
With this schedule, we should at least have a winning record for most of the season, which will hopefully reduce the public's general negative opinion of Rutgers football. The end of the season is going to be a gauntlet though: Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State, and then Michigan State...
...and then whoever we play in the conference championship game will probably be pretty good too.
...and then whoever we play in the conference championship game will probably be pretty good too.
If we have any competent QB play, that schedule screams 6-2, then 6-6. I think we would be happy with that.
Problem is, there is little reason to suspect we will have competent QB play.
Problem is, there is little reason to suspect we will have competent QB play.
I see 7 likely losses: OSU, IN, NW, WI, MI, Penn State, MSU. One definite win: TSU and four swing games: MD, IL, KS and Buffalo
Our easiest schedule during the Ash era and for the near future.
If we loss to Indiana 3 years in row ( their Recruiting classes have been similar to RU) without them having their QB Lagow and stud WR we are going backwards.
And Buffalo at home a Swing Game ???? Can you set the expectations any lower for our Program ??
Does Kansas have a pulse? Their only win was vs SE Missouri.They may have been the worst team in all of P5. Buffalo on the other hand has a first class passing game and comes off a 6-6 season.
As much or as little you believe this year indicates what will happen next year trading UW, Nebraska, Purdue, and EMU for Kansas, Wisc, NW, and Buffalo makes '18 a more difficult schedule imo. The only downgrade is UW >>>>> Kansas.
Buffalo was better than EMU this year at least. Until RU can show they have a pulse in the passing game, few games are gimmies.
Seems premature to be discussing next year already. Just sit back and enjoy this season's Wrestling, MBB, and WBB. All three have a chance to be pretty good.
Where did anyone in this thread - prior to your post - call Buffalo a "swing game"? Or were you just attempting to stir things up? I'm confused here lol!
Northwestern losing a ton to graduation.
Kansas... the absolute worse p5 team
Texas State....worse than Kansas.
Illinois.... should have beat them both years.
Maryland... we beat this year.
Indiana fiasco should never be repeated.
Buffalo a swing game??
Season will never be this easy again.
Apologists for anything other than six wins are just sticking heads in the sand.
Kansas... the absolute worse p5 team
Texas State....worse than Kansas.
Illinois.... should have beat them both years.
Maryland... we beat this year.
Indiana fiasco should never be repeated.
Buffalo a swing game??
Season will never be this easy again.
Apologists for anything other than six wins are just sticking heads in the sand.
Basically every game before the Bye week is winnable, that doesn't mean we will win all of them but we just need to win 6 of 8. After the bye week it is murder's row.
Predictions when we have 1000 moving parts and we don't know who steps up this spring..hell our starting lb's may be completely displaced by the RS frosh/soph
MLax will be Top 10 if not Top 5 in the nation out of the gate in spring as well.
of course! Hell PSU might be a toss up next year.... or not. They lose their best players and most of their defense. But they should have settled in by the time they play us .
While I agree - 6 is doable - it doesn't take an "apologist" realize that sometimes **** happens. If this team goes 5-7 with further improvement on D and ST', and finally some improvement on O, it wouldn't exactly be "sticking your head in the sand" to see a brighter future.
?????
UW >>>>>Kansas
EM >>>>> Buffalo
Purdue = NW
Add in Indiana at home and Illinois at home , next year is much easier.
See above Post Nuts. Moose called Buffalo a “Swing Game”. ....very shocking. Who’s stirring your pot?
Texas State, Kansas, Buffalo And Illinois may be the closest we will ever have to winnable games pre season. If we are 1-7 rest of way it’s disappointing and difficult to couch that as progress.
Given how poorly we finished the season, no game other than TSU should be taken for granted.
When we come out of the 4th Game with a 3-1 record ( 95% probability we should), don’t see us going 1-7 the rest of the way. Illinois, Maryland, & Indiana has to be at least 2 Wins and hopefully 3.
Indiana losses a lot of key personnel and we play them in our Building ...
Need to go to a bowl next year, and the season is set up for it. I just don't know if the team is set up for it.
If the DM hire hadn't happened and we had a competent OC from the jump who was going into his third year, this would have been an ideal "break out" year for a new coaching staff. Unfortunately, we had a "do over" on offense this year, which puts us in the second year of our current offensive scheme with a major hiccup in recruiting progress prompted by a 2-10 season last year.
Need a QB to step up next year and own the starting role. Need a RB complement to step up in support of Blackshear. Need WRs to grow up a year and go from struggling freshmen to productive sophomores. Need further improvement on the OLine.
...those are a lot of needs on offense. Certainly have our work cut out for us.
On defense, I think there's been positive progression... but without an offense, fatigue and field position become insurmountable. We also will need a punter and place kicker to step in for Andersen and Harte.
Maybe we'll have another 3-4 grad transfer guys that boost the roster in the offseason?
If the DM hire hadn't happened and we had a competent OC from the jump who was going into his third year, this would have been an ideal "break out" year for a new coaching staff. Unfortunately, we had a "do over" on offense this year, which puts us in the second year of our current offensive scheme with a major hiccup in recruiting progress prompted by a 2-10 season last year.
Need a QB to step up next year and own the starting role. Need a RB complement to step up in support of Blackshear. Need WRs to grow up a year and go from struggling freshmen to productive sophomores. Need further improvement on the OLine.
...those are a lot of needs on offense. Certainly have our work cut out for us.
On defense, I think there's been positive progression... but without an offense, fatigue and field position become insurmountable. We also will need a punter and place kicker to step in for Andersen and Harte.
Maybe we'll have another 3-4 grad transfer guys that boost the roster in the offseason?
Buffalo has an excellent coach, someone Hobbs should keep an eye on. They won 6 games this year, lost one in OT, two by one point each and a 4 point loss to Army. How would we have fared against Army this year? We will be outcoached in this game but hopefully our talent differential will be too much for them.
After looking at this schedule you can’t see more than 4 (maybe 5 ) wins...,Northwestern, Indiana, we will be dogs...Illinois maybe a W... Ohio U no sure thing... I’ll say same record as 2017... very Schianoesq...and the last 4 games are murderes row for sure...Believe Hobbs already knew next year could be worse.
Texas State - (2-10) in the Sun Belt, wins over FCS and Coastal Carolina. Entering their 7th year as an FBS program.
@OSU - (10-2) in B1G, beat us 56-0 this year, will be turning to Haskins at QB
@Kansas - (1-11) in B12, only a win over FCS and 6 losses by at least 28 pts
Buffalo - (6-6) in MAC, four wins over either FCS or 2-10 teams
Indiana - (5-7) in B1G, beat us 41-0, turning to Ramsay at QB
Illinois - (2-10) in B1G, beat them on the road this year
@Maryland - (4-8) in B1G, probably improved next year with a lot of pieces back
Northwestern - (9-3) in B1G, lose Justin Jackson but Thorson will be a senior
@Wisconsin - (12-0) in B1G, playing in B1G championship
Michigan - (8-4) in B1G, Peters to start at QB and return a ton
PA St - (10-2) in B1G, Barkley and McSorley as seniors unless one or both jump to draft
@MSU - (9-3) in B1G, also return a ton
So.... wins against Texas State, Kansas, and Illinois.... toss ups against Maryland, Indiana, and Buffalo... tough fights pretty much everywhere else. Northwestern looks a lot better going into next year than they did when this schedule first came out.
@OSU - (10-2) in B1G, beat us 56-0 this year, will be turning to Haskins at QB
@Kansas - (1-11) in B12, only a win over FCS and 6 losses by at least 28 pts
Buffalo - (6-6) in MAC, four wins over either FCS or 2-10 teams
Indiana - (5-7) in B1G, beat us 41-0, turning to Ramsay at QB
Illinois - (2-10) in B1G, beat them on the road this year
@Maryland - (4-8) in B1G, probably improved next year with a lot of pieces back
Northwestern - (9-3) in B1G, lose Justin Jackson but Thorson will be a senior
@Wisconsin - (12-0) in B1G, playing in B1G championship
Michigan - (8-4) in B1G, Peters to start at QB and return a ton
PA St - (10-2) in B1G, Barkley and McSorley as seniors unless one or both jump to draft
@MSU - (9-3) in B1G, also return a ton
So.... wins against Texas State, Kansas, and Illinois.... toss ups against Maryland, Indiana, and Buffalo... tough fights pretty much everywhere else. Northwestern looks a lot better going into next year than they did when this schedule first came out.
Even before this year I was saying we would get 6 wins in 2018.
Texas State- W
@OHIO ST- L
@KANSAS- W
BUFFALO - W
INDIANA- W/L
ILLINOIS- W
@MARYLAND- W
NORTHWESTERN- W/L
BYE
@WISCONSIN- L
MICHIGAN- L
PENN STATE- L
@MICH STATE- L
I think we beat either Indiana or Northwestern, not both
FINAL RECORD: 6-6
Last 4 games are brutal
Texas State- W
@OHIO ST- L
@KANSAS- W
BUFFALO - W
INDIANA- W/L
ILLINOIS- W
@MARYLAND- W
NORTHWESTERN- W/L
BYE
@WISCONSIN- L
MICHIGAN- L
PENN STATE- L
@MICH STATE- L
I think we beat either Indiana or Northwestern, not both
FINAL RECORD: 6-6
Last 4 games are brutal
Northwestern will return a very good group of experienced players...Fitzgerald is an under rated coach...they are currently 9-3 and a possible bowl win become 10-3 for 2017...even though we are at home for NW until we have some semblance of an offense we are not winning that one no matter how good the D is in 2018...Maryland and Indiana same scenario...they are always competitive...4 maybe 5 and that doesn't mean we will not be better...QB, WR and O line are the factors which would project us upwards to 6 or more.
Best players on Northwestern offense and defense, indeed two of best players in their history, graduating. Losing a lot. Not the same team next year.
Every game with Maryland, and Indiana, except for this year’s failure to show have been close.
It’s time to expect effort and wins.
Every game with Maryland, and Indiana, except for this year’s failure to show have been close.
It’s time to expect effort and wins.
They're losing a couple of stars, but not a lot overall. Have 7 returning starters on offense, and 8 returning on defense.
On their offense, they're losing RB Justin Jackson, C Brad North, TE Garrett Dickerson, and #3 WR Macon Wilson. Their backup RB Larkin (Fr, 72 carries, 391 yards, 5.2 avg, 5 TDs) is surely looking forward to more touches with Jackson departing. They return Clayton Thorson as a 4 year starting QB for his senior campaign, who will very likely be coming off of two consecutive 3000 yard seasons. They also return their top two WR options and 4/5 on the OLine.
On defense, they lose both starting safeties (Quiero and Igwebuike) and a starting DT (Lancaster), but return 8 starters.
They'll again be near the top of the West, most likely.
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According to the BTN talking heads after
Saturday ‘s game ...though Northwestern does lose several very good players they will have many returners players who can fill the voids... Fitzgerald has built depth and is a proven head coach... we will be at the very least a 7 pt dog at home...we should be this lucky in 3-4 years... if you believe we can win 6 then great but until we can score in the upper 20 s we will continue to be an up and down team not capable of winning consistently against the top 7-8 teams in the conference...
Saturday ‘s game ...though Northwestern does lose several very good players they will have many returners players who can fill the voids... Fitzgerald has built depth and is a proven head coach... we will be at the very least a 7 pt dog at home...we should be this lucky in 3-4 years... if you believe we can win 6 then great but until we can score in the upper 20 s we will continue to be an up and down team not capable of winning consistently against the top 7-8 teams in the conference...