Run, Ray, Run! The 2007 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Thread

[GiantFisch]

Yes, a new season is upon us and we have plenty to see from Rutgers.

Starring Ray Rice


QB Mike Teel


SS Courtney Greene


Potential breakout WR Kenny Britt


and guest starring - a cupcake schedule!

(No picture for 8 home games...and an OOC of Buffalo, Army, Navy, Maryland, and Norfolk State of Div I-AA).

THIS is YOUR 2007 RU football thread. GO KNIGHTS!

[GiantFisch]

The Schedule of RUTGERS~!

8/30/2007 (Thurs): Buffalo @ Rutgers, 7 PM (MSG)
9/7/2007 (Fri): Navy @ Rutgers, 7 PM (ESPN)
9/15/2007: Norfolk State @ Rutgers, 3:30 PM (MSG)
9/29/2007: Maryland @ Rutgers, TBA
10/6/2007: Cincinatti @ Rutgers, TBA
10/13/2007: Rutgers @ Syracuse, TBA
10/18/2007 (Thurs): South Florida @ Rutgers, 7:30 PM (ESPN)
10/27/2007: West Virginia @ Rutgers, TBA
11/3/2007: Rutgers @ Connecticut, TBA
11/9/2007 (Fri): Rutgers @ Army, 8:00 PM (ESPN2)
11/17/2007: Pittsburgh @ Rutgers, TBA
11/29/2007: Rutgers @ Louisville, 7:30 PM (ESPN)

[GiantFisch]

Originally Posted by inSTAALed

I'M BACK ON THE BANDWAGON!

The bandwagon has this and one more year on it - unless Rice declares early; but even if he doesn't Norte Dame joins the schedule in 2010 I believe.

OK. Positions of STRENGTH for Rutgers:
Running Back: Duh. Also, Kordell Young seems to be a guy for whom stretch plays will mess up Ds. So there's depth too.
Quarter Back: Word is that Mike Teel is looking a lot more composed in camp and with a few cougheasyashellcough games to start the season, he'll be ready for the big players
Offensive Line: The unsung heroes are only going to get bigger and eventually better (Hi Anthony Davis!)
Defensive Line: Another set of 4 unsung heroes. Eric Foster is coming to your house to pancake your weak line. If he doesn't get the QB, Jamaal Westermann definitely make a serious go at it.
Safety (Strong and Free): Courtney Greene and Ron Girault have been improving very quickly since 2005, they are getting the notice they deserve now.
Kicker: Jeremy Ito is still The Guy Kicking Balls. Only one punter on the roster - one Teddy Dellaganna - so Ito may be used on both.

Positions of WEAKNESS for Rutgers:
Linebackers: Brandon Renkart was great last year, but the unit as a whole is weak. Ryan D'Imperio was supposed to be the middle linebacker; but he's hurt and even if he wasn't, he'd still be a question mark. Camp has been all about figuring out who else will be the middle and outside linebacker. I guess...the highly touted Manny Abreu and Kevin Malast? Your guess is as good as mine.
Tight End: No one has really stepped up to be the guy to replace Clark Harris.
That's not a good sign.

Wild Card: Receivers. Kenny Britt and Tim Brown have looked great in camp; but they still need to show they can do it all season long. If Britt breaks out like some say he will, the Rutgers offense just got a whole lot better - and it'll mean Ray Rice won't literally run the team on his back.

[PhillyLikwiD]

This years team will go as far as Ray Rice and Mike Teel can take them. Clock management is going to be paramount for success.
I didn't realize so many players went into the NFL from last years team. Manny Collins got scored on in a jets uniform in last nights preseason game vs the giants, but did make some good plays.

I like that the harder games are late in the schedule, it should help build momentum for this years undefeated season!

[GiantFisch]

GAME #1!!

THE UNIVERSITY OF BUFFALO BULLS

AT

#16 THE RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS

7:00 PM EST
Local TV: MSG
National Coverage Info
Still feels weird to type a ranking number this early...I'm still not used to it, but I can definitely get used to it.

The home opener, the beginning of College Football 2007, and this should be an easy win for Rutgers. Buffalo went 2-10 last season and while they may be a better team on paper this year; by no means are they favorites to beat Rutgers in Piscataway NJ like they did in 2002 (the only win of that 2002 year!). Rutgers simply outclasses Buffalo here and in all likelihood, this should be a beatdown. Buffalo fans, if the Bulls keep it close consider that victory enough; Rutgers fans, expect a large margin of victory and hope for no injuries.

GF PICK: RUTGERS~!

GO KNIGHTS!

ASIDE: Get your watch lists! Ray Rice was named to the watch list for the Doak Walker (best RB) and Jeremy Ito was named to the Lou Groza (best kicker).

[GiantFisch]

GAME 1 COMPLETED!

Rutgers Scarlet Knights 38 - Buffalo Bulls 3

When Did You Know It Was Over: End of the First Quarter, 21 points, yeesh.

Best Player: Tiquan Underwood, WR, Rutgers. Wow. I need to list these two very important stat lines first:

1. Ray Rice, 25 carries, 187 yards, 3 TDs, 41 yard longest gain, 2 receptions for 21 yards. (lost a fumble, but hey, you can't argue the stats being bad)
2. Mike Teel, 16 for 23, 328 yards, 2 TDs

And as impressive as Heisman candidate Rice and Mike Teel's numbers were, the best man on the field was Underwood. He didn't have a good last year, missed some games due to injury, but the junior had a MONSTER game. 10 receptions for 248 yards and 2 TDs. This includes a Tecmo Bowl/NCAA/Madden style 66 yard catch for a TD where he was zigging, zagging, and tackled in the end into the end zone. He's made some catches that otherwise (or against better DBs) would have been interceptions. He had over 200 yards in the first half and the game set a NEW school record for receiving yards in a game. Tiquan Underwood is YOUR Rutgers Player of the Week.

The Crowd: The low side was the talking I heard during the moment of silence for VT. Which wasn't very quiet (lot of "shhhhs!" but the drunken stupor literally ruled). High points for constant screaming, chanting, singing of the national anthem, and being loud as hell even into the fourth quarter. Not a sell out, but it was 43,000 people which is nothing to sneeze at given the competition.

Weaknesses for Rutgers? Middle linebacker. In the second half, Buffalo actually drove the ball a couple of times down field thanks to a QB realizing he can run and dropping progression to short passes for decent gains. Schiano should have made adjustments, but if Buffalo can pick on the MLB, I fear what better teams will do. Especially Navy where the MLB gets to pick up the pitch-man.

Too many penalties, including one that called back an otherwise fantastic Underwood TD. They have to improve on that - no more holding and offsides calls, guys.

Jeremy Ito missed 2 FGs. One of them was Ito's fault, other was too far away (should have punted), but he made one at the end to still show he's got the ability.

Otherwise: The Rutgers offense was hot and the defense bended a little too much but didn't break at any point. Dominant win as it should have.

GO KNIGHTS!

[PhillyLikwiD]

I hope that the offense can continue to be explosive and rack up points. Underwood set school records for me in NCAA 08 and is already doing so on the real field of play. Should be another great season.

[GiantFisch]

GAME #2!

THE NAVY MIDSHIPMEN (1-0)

AT

#16 THE RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS (1-0)

7:00 PM EST
TV: ESPN
Rutgers official game preview
Navy's website with previews (somewhere) on the page

With a strong, dominant win over the University of Buffalo, Rutgers has surprised...no one, really. They should have beaten Buffalo by at least 20-30 points and they did. Now comes one of the two more challenging out-of-conference opponents: Navy.

Navy is the Triple Option. Repeat that to yourselves because you will see it a lot. Basically, the big question for Rutgers is whether the defense can contain it. If they can, they should roll on in this one short of an offensive performance befitting Florida State. The middle linebacker (who is not Ryan D'Imperio) has been Rutgers one big defensive question mark and it'll be up to him (who ever he is this week) to cover the pitchman. Not that the pass defenders (McCourty's, Girualt, Greene) can fully relax - Navy QB Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada can throw the ball as well as run it. No, he's not anything close to Pat White; but he's not a bad hurler of passes. Still expect Navy to run the option a whole hell of a lot.

Even if he doesn't, Rutgers are still the solid favorites if only for their offense. They can definitely keep up with Navy, offensively. Teel and Underwood had great games and there's no reason to believe the Rutgers' pass offense will crap the bed in the near future. What's more is that Ray Rice is still Ray Rice; and he'll likely break a number of Rutgers rushing records in tomorrow's game. As long he stays up and keeps running, the Navy defense will have a lot of problems - problems I don't think that will result in the containment of Rutgers

GF's Pick: RUTGERS~!

GO KNIGHTS!

[GiantFisch]

GAME #2 COMPLETED~!

Rutgers Scarlet Knights 41 - Navy Midshipmen 24
Box Score

When Did You Know It Was Over: Kenny Britt catching a bee-you-ti-ful 55 yard pass for Rutgers' fourth touchdown.

Best Player: Ray Rice. He broke Rutgers' record for career rushing yards tonight, earned his first passing touchdown, a third quarter drive that was pretty much all Rice which unfortunately ended with a FG, 37 carries, and 175 yards with 2 rushing TDs. Yeah, it was his day again.

The Crowd: Full-er, now that the school year has started. Lots of R's and U's and noise in general. I was far up in the upper section closer to the away support; but the crowd was LOUD.

What Rutgers Could Do Better: Discipline, discipline, DISCIPLINE. Rutgers took 11 penalties - a majority of on defense - for 100 yards. Roughing the kicker, pass interference, face masks, holding (which took a TD away from Rice!), and others - all unacceptable. Navy wouldn't have got 24 if it weren't for some penalties keeping their drives alive - even after a 4th down punt! Rutgers needs to fix this now before the Big East schedule starts, because the conference competition is too good to not take advantage of those. Defense could have done better in stopping Navy's run, too; but the penalties were much more defeating than Navy option-running all over the place.

Etc.: Mike Teel had another strong game. The one interception was off, I believe, Tiquan Underwood's hands and just fell into a Navy defensive back. Rutgers with a passing attack makes me happy. Rutgers giving up that many rushing yards to Navy's by-committee running, not so much.

Overall: Rutgers was too much for Navy on offense and Rutgers' defense bended too much and was helped by some poor, poor passing by Kaipo-Nao Kaheaku-Enhada. Result? A sizable win for Rutgers.

[jutang403]

Rutgers is looking dominanat

[PhillyLikwiD]

Moved up to #13 in the polls! I like what I see. Sure up the run defense and the sky is the limit.

[hokiehigh07]

wow ive been so impressed by what ive seen from Rutgers this year. such a great offense! ray seems to be just having a great time on the field aswell. hope you guys make it to a bcs bowl this year.

[GiantFisch]

After a slow first quarter, Rutgers has turned it up on Norfolk State with 3 TDs in drives that lasted in a manner of seconds.

I'll go in more depth after the game, but I will say this to opposing teams:

You stack the box against Rutgers at your own peril.

[PhillyLikwiD]

As if 59-0 wasn't good enough, check Kentucky with the upset

[GiantFisch]

Stupid Star-Ledger columnist Steve Politi argues that this game didn't mean much for Rutgers?

What? Giving experience to the second and third string while establishing that Rutgers can score quickly and off the pass - two things no one really expected out of them is nothing? Politi, you suck.

Anyway, Rutgers did it all correctly except for too many stupid penalties. That's what they need to continue to work on.

Fun Fact: Rutgers scored it's 6 touchdowns in the second quarter in a total time of 1:31. Yes, that's a minute and 31 seconds. Rutgers can score fast when necessary. Have fun, opposing defenses!

Player of the Game: Mike Teel: 8 for 15, 269 yards, and 3 TDs. Yeah, Teel can throw the deep ball. You can argue this award for Tiquan Underwood and Kenny Britt; or even Ray Rice (72 yards off 12 carries for THREE touchdowns, including one sick misdirection run).

Next Opponent: Maryland! Keep chopping.

GO KNIGHTS~!