Thursday, August 6, 2015

Nadir Barnwell's Eligability in Jeopardy


Rutgers rising junior cornerback Nadir Barnwell may not be academically eligible this season, Kyle Flood confirmed at Big 10 media day last week. The fourth year head coach said his defensive back will be able to practice with the team this summer, as he completes his summer classes and awaits to see if his grades will be good enough to restore his eligibility. Rutgers final summer sessions usually conclude in mid August.

This is obviously bad news for the Knights, as secondary depth has been a major concern over the last two seasons and seems to be a problem again this year. Barnwell appeared to be living up to his blue chip recruit potential last year, developing into Rutgers' top corner between a minor injury that cost him two games and one game suspension for DUI. Hopefully he is able to attain the grades he needs to get this summer so he can suit up and play in the fall.

Feldman: Rutgers Plays Third Softest Non Conference Schedule

Fox Sports columnist Bruce Feldman's ranked the ten worst non conference schedules among Power 5 teams in his Top 10 column this week and Rutgers checked in at third on the list. They were actually tied with North Carolina State and Mississippi State for having the worst out of conference slate among the big boys according to the formula Feldman used, but they were given the tie breaker over those two since they at least scheduled two Power 5 teams.

Rutgers place on this list is quite frankly well deserved. The Scarlet Knights four non conference games feature a bad FCS program in Norfolk State, the worst program in the Big 12, Kansas, lowly Washington State and Army, who has been one of the worst FBS programs for quite some time. I can confidently say before the season begins that I do not think any of those opponents will even make it to a bowl game this year.

 Rutgers has long been criticized by the media and even some of their own fans for playing too soft of a non conference schedule, but that's just what on the rise and/or middling programs have to do. You schedule easy games and they help you make bowl games and build momentum for the future. It's not a good look and it's boring and unsatisfying beating weak opponents, but such is life. Unfortunately the bowl system rewards scheduling soft and winning and not scheduling hard and maybe losing.  Take note that all three teams atop Feldman's list play in killer divisions. Everyone is chasing that six win plateau.

In Rutgers defense, they have been at least trying to schedule tougher non conference opponents, it just hasn't worked out. Arkansas looked like a top 10 team when a home and home series was scheduled with them, but then Bobby Petrino fell off his motorcycle and all hell broke loose for the Razorbacks. The Knights were able to top bad Hogs teams in both contests, as they were reeling under and interim coach and struggling in Brett Bielema's first season in Fayetteville. Penn State and Maryland were both set to be non conference opponents this season, but Rutgers of course wound up in the same conference as them. During Tim Pernetti's tenure as AD, he tried to add Notre Dame and Oklahoma to the schedule, but a deal could not be reached with either historic program since they both wanted to play Rutgers' "home" game in the Meadowlands rather than Piscataway.

Washington, UCLA and Miami are all scheduled to play home and home series against Rutgers in future seasons and that's a good start. Those are three solidly above averages programs and make for interesting opponents who will be a challenge for the Knights. Hopefully Rutgers continues to establish itself more as a legitimate program and put themselves in position to be able to schedule tougher non conference opponents in order to compete for national rankings and New Years games, not just appearances in crap bowls.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Rutgers Big 10 Media Day Preview

Mr. Harbaugh will no doubt be the center of  attention in Chicago this week
College football media days are analogous with pitchers and catchers reporting to Florida and Arizona every February: people consider it the start of the season, literally nothing of importance happens and you have to wait over a month until the real games start. The head coaches and top players of the Big 10 will converge on Chicago this week for this useless preseason ritual, mere days before the first actual important events of a new season begins and summer camp starts. They have to do it, we pretend to care.

Joining Kyle Flood in the Windy City this week will be three of Rutgers' likely captains for the 2015 season: senior defensive tackle Darius Hamilton, senior wide receiver Leonte Carroo and redshirt senior offensive tackle Keith Lumpkin. Those three represent Rutgers very well on and off the field and are with out question their three top players and well deserving of this honor. They will be there answering questions. I believe Flood will take part in meetings with the conference's other coaches going over new rules and stuff like that. Not very exciting stuff for fans.

Flood will probably be asked questions that he answered all spring about the quarterback competition that will take place, Ben McDaniels replacing Ralph Friedgen at offensive coordinator, what adjustments the program has made after one year in the Big 10, etc. Yawn. The players will be asked what it was like playing in the Big 10 after playing in the Big East, what their expectations are for this year, and a bunch of other boring crap. Whatever.

The media's Big 10 predictions were released in advance of this thing, and unsurprisingly, they are not optimistic about Rutgers this season. And why should they be? The Scarlet Knights were predicted to finish 6th in the Eastern division ahead of only lowly Indiana. That's better than last year, I guess, when they were picked 7th. Ohio State was unsurpisngly picked to win the East and the conference championship game, while the Badgers of Wisconsin were picked to repeat in the western division despite their coaching change.

Here's my official, probably half baked prediction on how the divisions will shake out:

East
1. Ohio State- I mean, obviously. They have almost ever significant player from last year's national championship team back, as well as a whole new batch of blue chip recruits. They would probably win the conference running away with any of their three quarterbacks. They have the most talent in the conference by a significant margin and the best coaching staff too led by Urban Meyer. I think Cardale Jones will be the starter under center (or more accurately, about 4 yards behind center), Zeke Elliot will be a Heisman candidate and Joey Bosa will be the nation's best defensive player/

2. Michigan State- The Spartans have had a really good run over the last few years, but they have been overshadowed by Buckeyes (even after they beat them in the Big 10 championship game in 2013). I fully expect them to be a top 10 team and go to a New Year's 6 bowl game for the third consecutive year. Quarterback Connor Cook, who very well may end the Big 10's 20 year drought with out a QB selected in the 1st round of the NFL draft, returns, with Jack Conklin protecting his blind side and paving way for their usual strong rushing attack. Mark Dantonio is a very good defensive mind, so I don't expect this defense to skip a beat even after losing coordinator Pat Narduzzi. This unit will once again be led on the field by Middletown, NJ's own Shaq Calhoun.

3. Michigan- Jim Harbaugh is with out a doubt one of the five the best coach at any level in football right now. Building lowly Stanford into a powerhouse on the west coast was nothing short of miraculous and he immediately turned the San Francisco 49ers around, ending a long era of losing with a Super Bowl appearance and three division titles in 4 years with out a franchise QB. I don't expect that drastic of a turnaround with his alma mater in year one, but the Wolverines should be significantly better than they were under Brady Hoke.

4. Penn State- Christian Hackenburg struggled mightily last season adjusting to a new offense and playing behind a terrible offensive line that could neither protect him or generate a run game. Will he play more like he did his freshman year in 2015? Probably. "Linebacker U's" defense will be led by defensive tackle Anthony Zettel, who almost single handily beat Rutgers last year. Solid team, probably going to be overrated though.

5. Rutgers- I'll have a lot more (hopefully) on the Knights in the coming days, but quick summary: the defense is still undersized and prone to getting pushed around, the offensive line is pretty inexperienced, as is whatever quarterback, but they have Carroo and the running backs as bright spots. I don't think they are much worse than Penn State, but Rutgers has to go to Happy Valley and play two much tougher cross divisional opponents.

6. Maryland- Maryland was bitten by the injury bug yet again last year (hmmm maybe that's because they have a borderline abusive coach?), but like Rutgers, had a decent inaugural season in the Big 10. They lost veteran QB CJ Bown to graduation, as well as top playmaker Stefon Diggs to the NFL, so I expect a fall of this year.

7. Indiana- The Hoosiers might have been a bowl team a year ago if Nate Sudfeld didn't miss half the season. It was kind of a shame that Tevin Coleman's college career ended with out a bowl appearance, but so it goes. I think Kevin Wilson is a good coach, but he just doesn't have nearly the talent to compete in this division. He'll probably be unfairly fired after this year and the Indiana football sucking wheel will perpetuate.

West- I'm honestly a lot less familiar with the west, so I'm just winging this

1. Minnesota- If they are ever going to win the west, it will be this year. Jerry Kill's team just plays solid, fundamental football on both sides off the ball. Wisconsin and Nebraska are adjusting to new coaches and will both have to travel to Minneapolis, so this might be the Gophers' year.

2. Wisconsin- Paul Chryst takes over at his alma mater and brings a strong offensive track record with him. The Badgers are going to have a dominant running game as they usually do, led by Paul James' high school teammate, Glassboro, NJ's own Corey Clement, there's no question about this. Chryst's defenses at Pitt were, well below average to put it kindly, so we'll have to see what the Badgers defense will look like. Keeping defensive coordinator Dave Aranda from Gary Anderson's staff was a huge coupe.

3. Nebraska- Mike Riley takes over for Bo Pelini in Lincoln and I don't know what to expect from him. Riley did a pretty solid job at Oregon State, being a consistent bowl participant and coming close to a couple conference titles, but this wasn't the flashy hire you would expect a program like Nebraska to have. I expect the Huskers to struggle somewhat adjusting to new schemes on both sides of the football and with the lose of Randy Gregory and Ameer Abdullah.

4. Northwestern- Uhhh, I think Pat Fitzgerald is a good coach.

5. Purdue- I like Darrell Hazel too.

6. Iowa- Hey, I'm just trying to make this interesting.

7. Illinois- Wretched football program and another abusive coach.

Site Note- Yes, I took a long hiatus, but I'm coming back. I will probably change the name of the blog too,