Sal's Big Ten Preview!

Scarlet Shack

Heisman
Feb 3, 2004
26,306
16,039
73
I actually could see sals game by game for Rutgers

It would make for a crazy two weeks on this board in mid September
 

RUsilencer

Junior
Oct 27, 2013
408
270
0
I actually could see sals game by game for Rutgers

It would make for a crazy two weeks on this board in mid September


I just cant see us losing to the Cougs at all. Penn State scares me because of my rampant hatred of them. Agree on most others though I see Michigan in November as a very winnable game. The next week they will have their minds on the beating that will be laid upon them.
 

RUTBAY

Senior
Dec 14, 2006
2,616
472
0
But I don't WANNA go to the Pinstripe Bowl...

I'll go if we play Miami. I would love to see us beat them and Golden. It doesn't matter how good Miami actually is, the rest of the country would see it as a statement game. Plus putting a whoopin on two ACC Blue Blood teams in consecutive years would make me happy.
 

RU4Real

Heisman
Jul 25, 2001
50,955
30,734
0
I'll go if we play Miami. I would love to see us beat them and Golden. It doesn't matter how good Miami actually is, the rest of the country would see it as a statement game. Plus putting a whoopin on two ACC Blue Blood teams in consecutive years would make me happy.

But it's cold... :(
 

ruready07

All-American
Apr 15, 2003
43,484
6,455
0
Sal, Minnesota ain't winning the West. They just ain't .
Iowa will surprise.
 

RU#1fan

Heisman
Mar 7, 2003
23,721
12,411
113
Interesting.
Has us losing to WSU in our second game at home and then beating State Penn in Crappy Valley.
Perhaps Sal sees our QB needing more time to develop ?

If we beat State Penn I really see us being 3-0 and not 2-1 at that point. Could be wrong.
Like the Bowl Projection. Would prefer the Foster Farms Bowl vs. the Pinstripe however.
Bronx football sucks.
 

DJ Spanky

Heisman
Jul 25, 2001
49,465
60,748
113
I'm just writing comments down as I go through the various links.....

I am stunned at the writers (4/10) in that poll who think Maryland is gonna be that good that they place them ahead of us. And interesting the the TTFP writer has us at 4th in the B1G East.

Sal, I like your forecast, but if we can beat TTFP on the road and Nebraska at home, I think we can easily beat WSU at home. Regardless, if those 2 games in September fall out the way you predict, i.e., losing to WSU on 9/12 and beating TTFP on 9/19, that would be one huge emotional roller coaster ride for the fan base.

I can't analyze all the schedules, but looking at Michigan's schedule, for the 2 road games against Maryland and TTFP, I see the results reversed - beating Maryland and losing to TTFP. That's if they don't lose both. I'm not sold on Harbaugh being able to produce a 7-5 record this year.

For TTFP, I think the most likely change in their schedule is their first game against Temple. I think they're better than Temple, and I think if they were playing them later in the season it'd be a slam dunk, but being the first game I think they stand a chance of losing that one.

Oh, and Ohio State's first game against VT? With Ohio State having all those players out due to injury or suspension? How can I say this diplomatically..........I feel sorry for VT. I think OSU is gonna power running game them into the ground.

Minnesota and Wisconsin are two teams I'm not really sold on - I don't think they make 10 wins. And I think Michigan State will have trouble getting to 11 wins.

Rutgers vs. Miami would be a great bowl matchup, but I hope we get a bowl other than the Pinstripe Bowl.

Great stuff to read Sal, thanks for putting this together!
 

MikeR0102

All-American
Oct 3, 2003
16,452
5,729
113
I would love to see us beat Penn State and Nebraska, but if we lose to WSU in the process, I'll be really dissapointed. They were picked 5th in their division in the Pac-12 preseason poll and had the 3rd fewest votes of anyone. We have to beat them at home.
 

Ru2bnj

Sophomore
Apr 21, 2006
10,060
179
0
It seems many think WSU is an automatic win at home. A very dangerous game in my opinion and I can understand Sal picking RU to lose. They have a lot back on offense, including their QB who played the last 4 games last year and predictably put up big numbers. The game was very close last year and could have went either way. RU QB will be really making his first start against a quality team. Also, I do like the Neb upset at home. I believe it will be a very important game for RU ..in regard to going to a bowl and Neb plays MSU the week before at home in a big game....good timing for an upset.
 
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Virginiarufan

All-Conference
Jul 26, 2001
3,830
2,867
113
Rutgers vs Miami in Nashville instead of NY. We really couldn't ask for better being in the B1G for two years.
 

MikeR0102

All-American
Oct 3, 2003
16,452
5,729
113
It seems many think WSU is an automatic win at home. A very dangerous game in my opinion and I can understand Sal picking RU to lose. They have a lot back on offense, including their QB who played the last 4 games last year and predictably put up big numbers. The game was very close last year and could have went either way. RU QB will be really making his first start against a quality team. Also, I do like the Neb upset at home. I believe it will be a very important game for RU ..in regard to going to a bowl and Neb plays MSU the week before at home in a big game....good timing for an upset.
I don't think WSU is an automatic win, but I don't think they have more talent then us. I do think they are a matchup opponent for us, as they are going to run a lot of 4 WR set and that would go against our weakest part of our team.
 

RUChoppin

Heisman
Dec 1, 2006
19,270
13,695
0
The hesitance with WSU is that they are an Air Raid team vs our young/thin group of CBs. Last year was a similar scenario heading into the season, and we let them put up 38 on us. If not for a fumbled punt, we could have lost that game last year. Not saying I'm not expecting us to win, but I don't expect it to be a cakewalk - it's the game where our thin CB corps would get most exposed, and it's just the 2nd game of the season.
 
Oct 19, 2010
207,472
28,752
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I will sign up right now for that based on these factors:

1. Beat Penn State.

Huge gap

2. Winning record.
3. 4-4 in B1G play.
4. Beat Nebraska.

I could live with the losses to Wazzou and Michigan (even though I really think we beat both these teams this year).
 
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UMRU

All-Conference
Sep 19, 2006
7,765
4,091
113
Wow, Sal is not giving much love to the Big Ten conference. I think he predicted 0 quality wins for OOC.
 

Caliknight

Hall of Famer
Sep 21, 2001
196,984
149,036
113
Let's hope the WSU game is super hot and humid. If we can push them around up front and control temp, by the time the 4th quarter comes around they will be spent.
 

wheezer

Heisman
Jun 3, 2001
169,890
25,599
113
We beat WSU because we were able to go punch for punch with them through the air..... I doubt we have the same ability this year, more so that early in the season..... If WSU scores easily I doubt we respond in kind.... We must grind it out on the ground for us to win

Any game that we scraped by, be it Maryland or WSU, can easily be losses this time around ..... It is easy to look past these games when making predictions,
 

RUChoppin

Heisman
Dec 1, 2006
19,270
13,695
0
We beat WSU because we were able to go punch for punch with them through the air..... I doubt we have the same ability this year, more so that early in the season..... If WSU scores easily I doubt we respond in kind.... We must grind it out on the ground for us to win

Any game that we scraped by, be it Maryland or WSU, can easily be losses this time around ..... It is easy to look past these games when making predictions,

Actually, we were able to go punch for punch... but largely on the ground. Take out the -7 yard sack of Nova, and we had 222 yards on the ground on 42 attempts (5.3 ypc) for 3 TDs. Outside of the very first play from scrimmage for 78 yards and a TD, our passing attack was just 15/26 (57.7%), with 203 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT.
 

srru86

All-Conference
Jul 25, 2001
17,882
4,202
113
The hesitance with WSU is that they are an Air Raid team

I like a time consuming run game on our part, coupled with some disruptive DL play lead by Turay and Hamilton to bring down their air assets.

 

vkj91

Heisman
Feb 7, 2007
188,505
49,645
98
Actually, we were able to go punch for punch... but largely on the ground. Take out the -7 yard sack of Nova, and we had 222 yards on the ground on 42 attempts (5.3 ypc) for 3 TDs. Outside of the very first play from scrimmage for 78 yards and a TD, our passing attack was just 15/26 (57.7%), with 203 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT.
yea, Nova didn't have a particularity good game but people think he did because they all remember the first play.
 
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Nosoj

Junior
Oct 28, 2011
758
236
43
Wow, Sal is not giving much love to the Big Ten conference. I think he predicted 0 quality wins for OOC.
If Ohio State beats VT, I think that will be a quality win by the end of the year. VT could very well win the ACC. Michigan State over Oregon as well. Michigan and Nebraska over BYU would be better than most people think too. The rest...well, Penn State isn't even trying to win a quality OOC game this year and I don't think there'll be a great shame if Minnesota loses to TCU, Wisconsin to Alabama, Northwestern to Stanford, etc.
 

RUChoppin

Heisman
Dec 1, 2006
19,270
13,695
0
I like a time consuming run game on our part, coupled with some disruptive DL play lead by Turay and Hamilton to bring down their air assets.

That's what we did last time... we ran the ball 42 times and dropped back to pass 29 times (7 of those attempts were on 3rd down). WSU still threw for 532 yards and 5 TDs. Disruptive DL play is countered to an extent in Leach's scheme by fast release passes for short yardage in 4 and 5 WR sets.

Our CBs are going to have a challenge - and they are our weakest point on our defense. That's the part of this game that's the biggest cause of concern.
 

ruready07

All-American
Apr 15, 2003
43,484
6,455
0
iowa doesnt have an offensive line.

true. Im just underwhelmed by the defenses in the West and Iowa has some good RBs with canzeri and jersey product akrum wadley, who has some good wiggle to him. They have some senior WRs and a solid enough defense. Don't get me wrong though, I don't think they are much better than Minnesota, if at all... But they get minnesota at home in what should be a low scoring game - could be enough to surpass them in the standings.

Iowa also has the easier schedule with crossover games against maryland and indiana.
Minnesota will be going into the Iowa game after playing at Osu.
 

Extra Point_rivals157299

All-Conference
Aug 9, 2001
13,166
4,692
0
Sep 15, 2006
12,698
996
0
Wow, Sal is not giving much love to the Big Ten conference. I think he predicted 0 quality wins for OOC.

I think he has MSU beating Oregon. And actually the B1G won't be favored in most of the others. I certainly don't like the chances of a Wisconsin team with questionable receiving and a rebuilding o-line against Alabama.
 
May 28, 2014
2
0
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RUKeystone

All-Conference
Dec 22, 2009
24,262
1,399
83
I don't know about any of you, but it's about ******** time we play in a quality bowl. 4th place in the division should hopefully net us one of the FL bowls or Nashville etc. We all deserve to spend New Years celebrating an RU bowl victory.