-Tim Pernetti has finalized a home and home series for this season and 2013 with Arkansas. The Knights will play in Fayetteville on September 22nd and the Razorbacks will make the return trip to Piscataway on September 21st next year.
This is obviously great news for the program, as these games against a premiere opponent will likely be televised nationally. Arkansas finished ranked 5th last season after beating Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl, with their only two losses coming against the two national finalists, LSU and Alabama. They will likely begin the season ranked in the #10-15 range.
Bruce Feldman wrote about the Hogs in his mail bag today, saying:
" I like the Hogs chances to be a top 10 team, but I don't like their chances to win the SEC West and compete for a BCS title. Reasons for a top 10 run: Tyler Wilson is back, along with Knile Davis and they do get LSU and Bama at home this year. Reasons why I don't think they can win the SEC: I'm not sold on the defense. It wasn't good enough in 2011 and they're losing most of the best players they had on that D to the NFL. "Wilson is one of the best quarter backs in the nation, as he passed for 3638 yards (8.31 yards per attempt) with 24 TDs and only 6 interceptionslast season. He would have likely been a first round pick this April, had the rising senior declared for the draft. Davis missed all of last season with a leg injury he suffered during training camp. In 2010 he ran for 1322 yards (6.5 yards per attempt) with 13 TDs. In addition to the losses on defense, the Hogs also lost three members of their very talented receiving corp to graduation.
If Rutgers is at least competitive in these games, it would do wonders for Rutgers' reputation and brand nationally.
-Defensive Back Jordan Thomas has left the program to run track at Binghampton, according to Jason Baum. Thomas was the Scarlet Knights' leading rusher in 2010, before moving to defensive back last season because he did not fit Frank Cignetti's pro-style offense. He was a big special teams contributor, returning and covering kicks, but he was unable to see the field on offense or defense, as Rutgers was loaded at wide receiver and defensive back.
Speculation is that he's ending his football career because of concussions. He suffered a pretty serious one during spring practice this year. This is a big loss, but it's probably for the best. What a shame, good luck to Jordan.
-Baum also tweeted that Nike will unveil a new Rutgers uniform in May. Hopefully this isn't a drastic change and is just a minor alteration or a new alternate uniform. I'm one of the few people under 30 who is a uniform purist, and this news is very concerning to me. Hopefully the changes are nothing crazy, like what Arizona State and Maryland did.
No comments:
Post a Comment