2008 Big East Preview: Is George Selvie overrated?

A quick rundown of some of his preseason accolades:

Playboy Magazine named Selvie as a preseason All-American.

In 2007, he was a unanimous selection to the All-Big East team, and was named as the conference’s defensive player of the year.

What really inspired me to write this entry, however, was a recent posting on AOL Fanhouse.

The most disruptive defensive end in the Big East. There may be (possibly) a better defensive end against the run, but Selvie is the most complete DE in the conference against the run and the pass. And to think he started as a minor recruit playing on the offensive line when he arrived at USF.

He led the country in tackles for losses with 31.5 and was second with 14.5 sacks. This despite facing more double-teams as the season wore on and teams realized how dangerous he was. Selvie took home Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Selvie has great speed that allows him to penetrate quickly into the backfield. What is most noticeable is how fundamentally sound he is when he goes for a tackle. He wraps up the ball carrier, rather than just try to hit them.

This text is sure to make any Rutgers fan do a double take. That George Selvie? The same one who was a complete non-factor when #2 USF visited Piscataway last October?

Greg Schiano’s F.A.M.I.L.Y.

This issue is only of nominal concern to the football program, but it may be of interest.

Catholicism is the largest religious denomination in the state of New Jersey. A majority of Italians both in the United States and Italy proper are at least nominally affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Yet, that designation does not apply to Greg Schiano. Presumably at some point – college at Bucknell, years of being an assistant coach at Penn State and in the NFL – he converted to Evangelical Christianity. As a private citizen, that was and remains his right and choice. Such beliefs are far from uncommon in the sport of football, or athletics in general in the United States. Women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer and her team are closely affiliated with Rev. DeForest “Buster” Soaries. In fact, she donated $1,500 to his failed bid for Congress several years ago.

CPE pulls ahead

Sargeant

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano narrowed the competition for the backup quarterback spot behind Mike Teel on Thursday, saying the battle is now between Jabu Lovelace and Chris Paul-Etienne.

Lovelace, Teel’s backup last year, entered the preseason as the No.‚2 and Schiano said he still holds that distinction. But he added that Paul-Etienne will be given more opportunies to win the job.

“He’s kind of separated himself from the rest of the pack to be eligible to compete,” Schiano said of Paul-Etienne, a redshirt sophomore. “So if you set yourself apart, you need to give him a chance to compete.”

Paul-Etienne’s endorsement presumedly leaves Dom Natale out of the backup competition, and also means that freshman D.C. Jefferson and Steve Shimko will likely redshirt this fall.

Not entirely unexpected given reports from the scrimmage. I sincerely hope that CPE wins the role. Jabu is a quality student-athlete, but he may help the team more at another position at this point – if Schiano and McNulty trust him so little that they only allow him to throw eight passes in a game. I’m a little disappointed that Dom Natale has faded, and will share some thoughts on that development in my upcoming QB preview. Guess he won’t be pulling a Mauk and suing the NCAA in two years at least.

Ma$e is getting better, but

The sight of tailback Kordell Young ripping off two long runs during Rutgers’ practice Thursday — both covered around 60 yards — only confirmed what left tackle Kevin Haslam has felt all along.

The potential is there for this to be a good running team, but the execution has been missing.