Missed Opportunities Plague Rutgers in Pinstripe Bowl Loss

Rutgers dropped the 2013 Pinstripe Bowl to Notre Dame last month, by a score of 29-16. The Scarlet Knights fought hard all day and were surprisingly competitive through out the contest, keeping it to with in one score  for most of the afternoon, but if anything, saying "at least they were somewhat competitive" speaks volumes to the sorry state of the program at the moment and the defeatist attitude a lot of fans have. The loss c(r)apped off a miserable, forgetful season, which is now a losing one. Rutgers had numerous opportunities to take the lead and control of the game, but they blew nearly every one, thanks in large part to some extremely passive coaching.

Offensively, it was a pretty ugly afternoon for the Scarlet Knights. Their game plan seemed to be spreading the Irish out and throwing, while sprinkling in some read option, and it simply did not work. They had little success through the air, and the running game was also a non factor, as Paul James was banged up for much of the game. Rutgers went three and out on their opening series on offense, but they were given a golden opportunity when Notre Dame return man TJ Jones muffed the punt that was recovered by Quentin Gause. But of course, they could not cash in, as Chas Dodd missed a throw to an open Tyler Kroft that would have resulted in a first and goal situation or possibly a touchdown, so they had to settle for a 36 yard field goal from Kyle Federico.

 The only signs of life the Scarlet Knight offense had came late in the first quarter and through out the second quarter. Brandon Coleman finally looked somewhat healthy, and he hauled in a deep ball from Dodd for 51 yards, running past an Irish corner, to set up a 14 yard strike from Dodd to Coleman in the corner of the endzone, tying the game up at 10. Following a Dodd interception, James broke off his longest run of the afternoon, for 13 yards before getting hurt, and Kroft caught a pass for 17 yards to get into Notre Dame territory. Dodd then scrambled for 19 yards to get down to the goal line, but they could of course not punch it in. With James out, Justin Goodwin had to carry the rock in a short yardage situation, and that's not a role he's cut out for as a true freshman. I have no idea why they did not go to Savon Huggins in this situation, or even Michael Burton, but after not punching it in from the one, Dodd rushed a throw to a wide open Burton in the endone, and the ball landed at his feet. Rather than going for it, Rutgers kicked an 18 yard field goal. Why, in an opportunity to take the lead and control of the game they passed on this opportunity as an underdog, I have no idea. But we have come to expect this passiveness after Kyle Flood.

Rutgers again moved the ball on their next possession, thanks to a rare successful read option run, another reception from Kroft, and  an unsportsmanlike penalty called on Stephon Tuitt (shout out to 6'1'' 185 Ruhan Peele for trying to fight the 6'6'' 312 defensive lineman), and had a first down at the Irish 20. Ron Prince then dialed up a trick play, and it went horribly wrong as Goodwin's pass sailed short and into the waiting arms of KeiVarae Russell. Coleman was open in the back of the endzone, but with a defender in the area, Goodwin probably would have been better served eating it. This play drew a lot criticism, since they were moving the ball, but I have no problem with it. They have been very bad in the redzone, and part of "moving the ball" included a 15 yard penalty. A lot of offenses, South Carolina jumps to mind, tried trick plays in the red zone this bowl season and it worked for them. It was a good idea that ended up having a bad result. Rutgers got the ball back with 21 seconds left in the half near midfield with three time outs left and a chance to take a lead into the locker room, with the wind at their back......and they took a knee. I thought they should take a deep shot with Coleman or at least get two completions to get into field goal range, but Kyle Flood's passiveness struck again.

In the third quarter, the offense did absolutely nothing. Seven plays, one yard, that was it. Abysmal. Janarion Grant injected some life into the team early in the fourth quarter with a 54 yard kick return into plus territory, but they again had to settle for a field goal to make it 19-16. James seemed to get going a bit here, but a penalty and a sack stalled the drive out. Federico kicked it through the wind for 47 yards, that was actually pretty impressive. Dodd then threw another interception, and then another one into the endzone as time expired with the Knights down 13.

On defense, the Knights, bent and bent and bent, but did not fully break.They gave up a ton of yards --through the air in the first half and on the ground in the second half, but they tightened up in the redzone and held Notre Dame to mostly field goals on the afternoon. Even with Dave Brock out of the picture, the Knights still sat back in soft zone coverages and let the opposing QB take what ever he wanted. Three weeks wasn't enough time for Joe Rossi to completely over haul the system, but he didn't seem to add too many wrinkles either.

Tommy Rees took advantage of the ten yard cushion Rutgers was giving his receivers, and he led the Irish down to the eight on Notre Dame's opening drive. But when the Knights were forced to play more aggressively in the red zone, he miss fired on a few passes into the endzone, and they were held to only a field goal. Following his fumble, TJ Jones took over the second time the Irish had the ball, bringing down two passes for 33 yards before scoring from eight yards out on a jet sweep. Rutgers run defense stepped up on Notre Dame's first possession of the second quarter, as Darius Hamilton and Ike Holmes both made stops on runs up the middle, forcing a punt for the first time that afternoon.

Following a Dodd interception, the Knights defense was put in a tough spot, but they stepped up. the Irish started at the 22, but they were only able to advance one yard, and were held to a field goal to re-take the lead 13-10. Quentin Gause and Darius Hamilton both made tackles for loss on the next series, but Rees again took advantage of the cushion he was given, and advanced the ball into field goal range yet again, before being shut down in the redzone. But this time, the 44 yard attempt missed. Notre Dame started their final possession of the half at their own one, and they eventually punted.

After having trouble defending the pass in the first half, Rutgers had a big problem defending the run in the second half. The Irish came out of the locker room pounding the rock, taking a lot of time off the clock and putting the game away for good. They ran behind future first round pick tackle Zack Martin, and the under sized Scarlet Knight front could not find an answer. On Notre Dame's first possession of the half, it appeared that they would come away with no points after missing a field goal, but a very questionable roughing the kicker penalty gave Kyle Brindza another shot, and he connected. On the penalty, Nadir Barnwell came in off the edge and laid out like he was supposed to and avoided contact, but Brindza kicked him in his head on the follow through, and put on a pretty good show flopping around after the fact. That gave the Irish the lead, and they would never relinquish it.

Notre Dame continued to run right up the gut behind Martin in the fourth quarter, and they came away with yet another field goal, before plunging in for a three yard touchdown run to put the game away. Rutgers defense had been pretty strong against the run all season, but they really struggled in that department in the second half of this game. Their own offenses inability to pick up first downs and give them a rest was a big factor in this, as was the lack of depth on the defensive line late in the season after beginning the season with a lot of depth up front.

It was an ugly, forgettable day for both the offense and the defense, but Rutgers did not get run out of the building like most people expected. They missed out on plenty of opportunities, but they missed out on most of them. A win over Notre Dame going into the offseason would have given this program some much needed momentum, but they couldn't come through and the program heads to greener pastures in the Big 10 at the lowest point it has been in about a decade.

Game 13: Notre Dame

Rutgers 21 Notre Dame 31

Rutgers to Face Notre Dame in the Pinstripe Bowl

 It's kind of funny that in the year Rutgers has its worst bowl eligible team ever, they get to face their first marquee opponent in a bowl game. After years of playing 6-6 or mid major programs in the post season, the Scarlet Knights will get to face off against the biggest name in the sport, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl on December 28. It will be Rutgers second trip in three seasons to the bowl game in the Bronx.

Coming off the ass whooping Alabama handed them in the national championship game a year ago, Notre Dame went 8-4 while playing a very difficult schedule this season. Since they have no conference tie in and did not qualify for a BCS bowl, the Irish had to settle for an at large bowl berth and they chose New York over San Diego as their destination.

Rutgers is 0-4 all time against Notre Dame, with their last meeting coming in 2002. That is obviously just a factoid and has little relevance now since a lot has changed since then, and the players playing in this game were in like fourth grade back then. The two schools did agree to a ten game series scheduled to begin in 2010, but it was called off all together before it began, since Notre Dame insisted that Rutgers "home games" be played in the Meadowlands after the agreement was reached. The arrogance of that program.....

This match up seems like a mismatch on paper, but the main importance of this bowl season for Rutgers is the additional fifteen practices they will receive in preparation for the game. The extra practice time allows the coaching staff to get a look at the inexperienced players on the team who might contribute next year, specifically at quarterback and on the offensive line. The extra teaching and player development is invaluable, especially since they are such a young team.

This game will be quite a challenge for Rutgers, but it is a good preview for what they will face next year, as Notre Dame plays a Big 10 style of football. Yankee Stadium will be packed with fans from both teams, and who knows, maybe Rutgers can steal this game and have some positive momentum going in to next year.

Dave Cohen, Two Other Assistants Fired

Following the regular season finale against South Florida, Kyle Flood announced that three of his assistants would not return next season. Defensive coordinator/linebacker coach Dave Cohen, quarterback coach Rob Spence and offensive line coach Damian Wroblewski were all let go in the purge that is a common practice for teams who have a head coach on hot seat. The Cohen and Spence firings were expected, but Wroblewski's dismissal was a bit of a surprise.

Cohen did a solid job coaching linebackers in both of his two seasons at Rutgers, but he made it pretty clear he could not cut it as a coordinator. The Scarlet Knight defense, which has had success by bringing heavy pressure and playing man coverage over the last decade, too often sat back in soft zone coverages and were thus torn apart. He had to overcome a lot of attrition in the defensive back field and that was a big reason why they had to play so much zone, but it seemed like they had the same game plan every week and it was just not working. The decision to stay in base personnel against spread offenses and the inexplicable under use of Darius Hamilton as a pass rusher also contributed to his down fall.

Spence came to Rutgers with a spotty track record coaching at BCS programs, and he did a pretty poor job developing quarterbacks on the banks. Gary Nova was never able to really take the next step as a quarterback, and Spence was probably a reason why. Nova showed flashes of talent over the past two seasons, but he never really put it all together, as his turnover prone ways have continued to be problematic. None of the younger quarterbacks in the roster were ready to play either, and that contributed to Nova staying in the line up perhaps longer than he should have.

It's not completely outrageous, but I think firing Wroblewski was a mistake. The Scarlet Knights had a very good offensive line in 2012, and I think a lot of that units problems this season were due to some questionable line up decisions, which is on the head coach (though Wroblo might have had some input). And it's not like they were horrendous this year, just very up and down. You are pretty much doomed to fail when your best guard is on the bench and your best tackle is playing guard. Unless he was responsible for the line up construction, I think he is being scapegoated.

Special teams coordinator Joe Rossi will take over Cohen's responsibilities for the bowl game, and offensive coordinator Ron Prince and graduate assistant Darnell Stapelton will do likewise for Spence and Wroblewski respectivly.

Turn over on the coaching staff goes on at every program every year, but it certainly seems like Rutgers has had more than its' fair share over the last three or four years. That has no doubt led to some of the team's struggles this season, but this year's batch firings will probably be for the better, since two of the three coaches let go were doing a very poor job.

Rutgers Defeats USF, Becomes Bowl Eligable in Big East Finale

Crisis averted. After dropping five of their previous six contests, Rutgers took care of business against a lowly South Florida team last Saturday night in Piscataway, beating the Bulls by a score of 31-6. The Scarlet Knights turned in their most complete performance of the year, as they imposed their will on both sides of the ball against USF. The victory made the Scarlet Knights bowl eligible for the eighth time in nine years and they accepted an invitation to the Pinstripe Bowl to face Notre Dame shortly after the win.

On offense, Rutgers was able to run the ball right down South Florida's throats. Paul James looked healthy for the first time since September, and the offensive line beat up on a very good USF front seven. They averaged 4.8 yards per attempt (not including kneel downs, sacks and Dodd's option keepers), which is a really good mark, and they overwhelmingly won the time of possession battle. James got the Knights on the scoreboard midway through the 1st quarter on a 5 yard run behind a nice block by right tackle Andre Civil, and 90 seconds later Andre Patton took a crossing route from Chas Dodd in for a 12 yard score following a USF turnover. Rutgers had a chance to take a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, but James lost a fumble in the endzone following another USF turnover.

Justin Goodwin spelled James late in the second quarter, and a 15 yard run by him and a 23 yard pass to Tyler Kroft set up a two yard touchdown reception by Michael Burton to give Rutgers a 21-3 lead at the break. In the second half, Rutgers possessed the ball for over 23 minutes to put the game on ice. The Knights simply pounded the rock with James up the middle and USF had no answer for it. It was beautiful. They had to settle for a field goal attempt inside the 10 after 6 minute drive because Dodd took a sack, and the try was blocked because it was kicked too low. They followed that up with an 8 minute drive, James plunged into the endzone from one yard out to make it 28-6.Goodwin and Savon Huggins took over on the next drive, ate a lot of clock, and it could have resulted in a touchdown if they decided to go for a 4th and goal from the 2 with a minute left in the game. Instead, senior kicker Joe Behnke kicked a field goal on senior day. I'd rather see him kick and extra point there, but what ever.

Defensively, Rutgers finally faced an offense that runs a scheme to their liking, and they turned in perhaps their best performance (although that may have been in large part due to the opponent). They forced six three and outs and two turnovers on South Florida's eleven possessions, holding the Bulls to just a pair of field goals on the night. The front seven, led once again by Steve Longa and Darius Hamilton, dominated, and the secondary held up fine for the first time all season. The Bulls did not record a first down until the second quarter, and they had to settle for both of their field goals in that period, after two drives that lasted13 and 11 plays. In the second half, the Scarlet Knights defense was completely in control. USF was held to just one first down and negative three total yards after half time.

As for the big plays, Darius Hamilton was once again a menace to the opposing offense, recovering a fumble t o set up a score. He also recorded a sack and drew a pair of holding penalties. He has really become a star in the second half of this season. Gareef Glashen intercepted a pass late in the first quarter, setting up another scoring opportunity that ultimately resulted in the James fumble.  Marcus Thompson, Quanzell Lambert and Jamil Merrell all chipped in with a sack each as well. Lambert has emerged a a pretty good pass rusher late in the season, and that is a positive sign going forward.

Rutgers did what they were supposed to do and dominated an inferior South Florida team that was cold and had nothing to play for. It was nice to final get back into the win column and clinch another bowl berth, but it didn't really change the fact that the program is still headed in the wrong direction. Beating Notre Dame would make everyone feel a lot better going into the offseason, but this program still has a lot of work to do as the will take a step up in competition next year.

Game 12: USF

 Tonight's game marks the end of a few eras for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights will play their final Big East contest and the senior class will play at High Point Solutions Stadium for the last time. There's also the possibility that the 2013 season could come to an end tonight and this may very well be Kyle Flood's last game as Rutgers head coach. They will need to beat a very bad USF team to avoid those last two fates.

The prospects of getting destroyed by Notre Dame in a bowl game isn't too appealing, but it is imperative that the Scarlet Knights get there. They are a very young team and they would greatly benefit from the fifteen additional practices they would receive to prepare for the bowl game. If they fail to do so, they are facing even more of a disadvantage as they head into the Big 10 next year.

The Willie Taggert era at USF got off to a disastrous start when they were blown out by McNeese State in their season opener, but the team has improved significantly  over the course of the season.They somehow managed to beat Cincinnati and they gave Central Florida a very competitive game last Friday. They have a very strong defense led by linebacker Dede Lattimore, who I think has been there for about 7 years now, and Notre Dame transfer Aaron Lynch who has played very well of late after starting the season very slowly.

Taggert comes from the Harbaugh coaching tree, so the Bulls are all about the power running game on offense. Despite this, they only rank 117th nationally in rushing offense and have just four rushing touchdowns on the season. At quarterback, true freshman Mike White will start his sixth game, and he has thrown 3 touchdowns and 8 interceptions so far. Needless to say they have one of the worst offenses in the entire country.

On offense, Rutgers will once again be with out Leonte Carroo, but they should get Betim Bujari back and Paul James should be good to go. They are going to need to establish the run, but I'm not optimistic about that. They are a bad running team and USF has a good defense. Their best chance of moving the ball may be taking deep shots with Dodd again, but I have a hard time seeing them having much success on offense.

If Rutgers defense can't stop White, they can't stop anyone. USF will come out running the ball, and that will play right into the Scarlet Knights' hands. This is almost certainly Dave Cohen's finally game, regardless of Flood's status.

The cold weather will be a factor here and maaaayyyyybbbeee Rutgers will be playing with a little motivation on senior day when they need a win to become bowl eligible

USF 21 Rutgers 24

Rock Bottom: Rutgers Loses to Connecticut

 I try to be as optimistic as possible about Rutgers football, but there is nothing positive to say about this game or really this season. Everything started to collapse two months ago when they blew a three touchdown lead in the fourth quarter against SMU, and they have not been able to recover at all. They are in a free fall and there is a very good chance they won't even make a bowl game after starting 4-1. This team is flat out playing bad football, and they could easily be 2-9 right now if it wasn't for a few miraculous plays by Gary Nova and Leonte Carroo. Change the quarterback, blame the injuries, say the secondary is too inexperienced, it doesn't matter. Bottom line is Kyle Flood is doing a terrible job leading this program, and they are dangerously close to falling off a cliff.

Rutgers offense now consists of throwing shit against the wall and seeing what sticks. With Chas Dodd starting at quarterback, they spread the defense out much more than we have seen this season prior to this game, and for some reason they ran a bunch of read options with an immobile quarterback. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work at all. Paul James was hurt again early in the second quarter, and the running game proved again to be non existent. The offensive line was getting no push and the backs themselves didn't do anything. Dodd was also shaky passing the ball, but he did complete a couple deep balls to Quoron Pratt. Ruhann Peele also made a nice run after catch a crossing route and had a touchdown nullified by a penalty. As poorly as Gary Nova has played this year, he at least dominated bad teams. Can't say the same about Dodd after this one. The Scarlet Knights first score came on a fake field goal from holder JT Tartacoff to Tyler Kroft, and the other Rutgers touchdown was a six yard run by Justin Goodwin.

The defense --surprise!-- sat back in cover two for the entire game and was torn to shreds by Casey Cochran who is a red shirt freshman and started the season as a third stringer. Rutgers has been all about attacking offenses with blitzes over the years, and they have gone away with that for no apparent reason. Yes, their secondary is a mess and the soft zone coverages are there to protect them, but guess what? It's not working. At all.They need to get back to what has made them a successful defense for the past decade. If your corners get beat, so be it. It's disgraceful seeing every god damn team throw 15 yard digs at will as they march down the field against this defense every week. They know what's coming, and they exploit it. I would also like to know the rationale of taking Darius Hamilton off the field on third down. He is by far their best pass rusher and arguably their best player on defense. Leave him out there on the field in every situation. Maybe he can generate a pass rush since they refuse to blitz. The defense was very strong against the run --Connecticut averaged a hair over 2 yards per carry-- and they recorded 8 tackles for loss. Hamilton, Steve Longa, Kevin Snyder and Dwajny Mera all had pretty good games.

This loss might have been the most embarrassing game in school history. At least Connecticut was a 5-7 team last time they lost in East Hartford.I don't know where the team goes from here, but I really, really hope they don't just give up and pack it in against USF. They desperately need to win so they receive the extra fifteen practices they would get if they reach a bowl game. They may be playing for their head coach's job on Saturday too. How they come out to play will be a big indication of the handle Flood has on his team.