USC, Indy, NW

[Zebnatto1!]

#6 Indy game was an embarrassment, totally dominated;
#15/16 USC was an even game, one we could even have won;
Both at home.

#24 NW on road?

Do we compete?

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Not sure home vs road has been much of a factor for us. The issue is lack of talent. Maryland stinks. We haven’t been able to stop anyone halfway decent from scoring on us pretty much at will.

 

[Shelby65]

Not sure home vs road has been much of a factor for us. The issue is lack of talent. Maryland stinks. We haven’t been able to stop anyone halfway decent from scoring on us pretty much at will.

Amen

 

[M.Sherrane]

Not sure home vs road has been much of a factor for us. The issue is lack of talent. Maryland stinks. We haven’t been able to stop anyone halfway decent from scoring on us pretty much at will.

And yet, Maryland was literally inches away from tying the game with 16 seconds remaining after leading by 14 with 4:00 remaining. I would make the point that Maryland lost the game as opposed to Rutgers winning it.

 

[RUGuitarMan1]

This defense is not holding any B1G team under 30 points, unless by some strange occurrence they take the ball away 3 or 4 times (which they don’t do). Hard to believe they will stay within 2 TDs of NW.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

And yet, Maryland was literally inches away from tying the game with 16 seconds remaining after leading by 14 with 4:00 remaining. I would make the point that Maryland lost the game as opposed to Rutgers winning it.

Whatever. I’m over this season and expecting nothing. Ready for basketball. My only point was that any positive we showed on defense was a product of Maryland being terrible versus our defensive making major strides. Anyone halfway decent at offense is going to score at will on our defense. The D stinks.

 

[ScarletDave]

And yet, Maryland was literally inches away from tying the game with 16 seconds remaining after leading by 14 with 4:00 remaining. I would make the point that Maryland lost the game as opposed to Rutgers winning it.

Rutgers scored 37 points so we still won it. QB threw for almost 300 yards. Starting running back hobbled so backup RB puts the team on his back. Converted over 50% 3rd down.

 

[RU#1fan]

#6 Indy game was an embarrassment, totally dominated;
#15/16 USC was an even game, one we could even have won;
Both at home.

#24 NW on road?

Do we compete?


The 97 Yard pick 6 by USC was the difference. We were about to score . 7 point loss.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Rutgers scored 37 points so we still won it. QB threw for almost 300 yards. Starting running back hobbled so backup RB puts the team on his back. Converted over 50% 3rd down.

Yeah - happy for our players but Maryland still sucks relative to every other team we’ll play. I’m usually optimistic but nothing I saw leads me to believe we’ve turned some kind of corner. Would love to be wrong.

 

[Colbert17!]

And yet, Maryland was literally inches away from tying the game with 16 seconds remaining after leading by 14 with 4:00 remaining. I would make the point that Maryland lost the game as opposed to Rutgers winning it.

Totally disagree. RU was down 10 on the road at the half. They turned it around to a 14 point lead in the 4th and then held on by the skin of their teeth. They were lucky on the last two plays but they won the game. They just as easily could have packed it in at half time but they didn't. RU won that game, albeit against a lousy team, but they won.

 

[Anon17890609591074267]

"Anyone halfway decent at offense is going to score at will on our defense. The D stinks."

Who would have thought that with a defense-first head coach like Schiano that Rutgers would ever have a tissue paper defense and have to rely on its offense ?

 

[Bueller]

Recent USC teams are notorious for losing distant road games. Sports media has written about it quite a bit. Not a lot to takeaway from USC win.

Northwestern is pretty good and only lost to Indiana 29-23 at Indiana. But Indiana doesn't jump off the page statistically. Northwestern feels confident in their run game (#39) but thinks they can be vulnerable to passing attack (#100 defensively) . One place they have been good is turnover margin. They are #7 with 1.17 plus and RU is 124 with -0.83

Coach says his team (10 returning starters) is humble and disciplined. The QB is most accurate in B1G and he has 7 rushing TDs and 9 passing. Schiano admires the QB and thinks he's had good coaching at NW and Michigan St.

“The truth is we got a special football team, a group that is humble, hungry and knows it’s not a finished product,” Wildcats coach David Braun said Monday. “I truly believe this team can beat anyone in the country and also believe this team if we’re not prepared and don’t execute at the level we need to, we can be beat by anyone in the country."

So they aren't super-duper at a lot but they are smart and good fundamentally overall. Duff should get his stats. Cant expect NW to lose via mistakes ands/or turnovers. They have a solid coiaching staff advantage.

“Special football team” No. 24 Northwestern preps for Rutgers​

“Special football team” No. 24 Northwestern preps for Rutgers

Off to its best start in a full season since 2012, Northwestern's schedule is about to stiffen.With three games against the Big Ten's upper echelon looming, the 24th-ranked Wildcats know they cannot afford a letdown Saturday afternoon when they host Ru...

www.thesportsleader.com

Rutgers vs Northwestern Prediction​

"Rutgers has been playing better over the last few weeks, but it's not nearly consistent enough on either side of the ball to hang around for long. Northwestern will need about a quarter to get going, and then, in its shiny new-look stadium, the avalanche will come.

Rutgers has cut down on the turnovers, but there will be a few big mistakes that allow Northwestern to open this up."

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rutgers-vs-northwestern-prediction-wildcats-073348094.html

 

[M.Sherrane]

Totally disagree. RU was down 10 on the road at the half. They turned it around to a 14 point lead in the 4th and then held on by the skin of their teeth. They were lucky on the last two plays but they won the game. They just as easily could have packed it in at half time but they didn't. RU won that game, albeit against a lousy team, but they won.

There has been plenty of coaches who have said, "The most meaningless statistic in football / college sports is the halftime score". Most recently by Bob Chesney, but the idea has been conveyed by Dan Reeves and Gene Stallings as well. Football fans will worship their coach if he makes halftime adjustments. As you pointed out, RU had a 24-point swing (down 10 to up 14) in the first 26:00 of the second half and nearly squandered it. You truly have low standards.