9/30 Recruiting Update

Glenn Carson has committed to Penn State.

Oday Aboushi is one of the top remaining targets on RU’s board. What is he looking for in a school?

What does Aboushi want in a school?

“First off I want good academics. They have to be academically strong. I’m looking at business,” he said. “Second of all, I want a good football atmosphere, somewhere football is a whole different level. Then, location doesn’t matter at all.”

Has RU offered Florida LB Bradley Wallace?

Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) Dwyer DB Bradley Wallace is drawing interest from several schools, and he’s starting to think about official visits. He’s looking at Mississippi State and Iowa State as upcoming official visits, he told Sporting News Today, and Purdue and Rutgers have also offered scholarships. Oregon and Indiana have also been in contact, Wallace said.

“I went to a lot of workouts this summer to get stronger for this year,” Wallace told SN Today. “Coaches say they like how physical I am on defense. I can play safety or linebacker and make a tackle. Most of them said they prefer me to play safety.”

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound player, who is rated a three-star prospect by Scout.com, had 48 tackles last year, and also threw for 864 yards and eight touchdowns as a QB.

“With Bradley, his football knowledge makes him like a second coach,” Dwyer coach Jack Daniels told SN Today. “He’s very physical and just hasn’t even begun to fulfill the potential he has once he gets in the weight room. He can hit. He’s a playmaker on offense too, and he’s just a great kid.”

Scout has another update on Lamar Miller.

The unbearable brightness of Stewing

Aditi

It’s maybe a little odd to start a post with what I’m not saying, but… I’m not saying Greg Schiano isn’t friendly. Or that he’s not warm. Still, when West Virginia coach Bill Stewart opened his teleconference to the Rutgers beat writers today with an incredibly chipper “Hi! How you doing?” we all looked at each other. Incredulously. Then Stewart closed the call with a “Hopefully we’ll see you down here!” And a “Have a safe trip!” And a “Hopefully we’ll have a good injury-free game!” And finally an, “Alright, gang?” One beat writer (who wasn’t me and wasn’t female) immediately said, “He’s really cute!”

Pat White is playing.

Greg Schiano had his weekly presser. Video is up at SK.com.

Rutgers has not beaten West Virginia in over a decade.

When will Ray Rice see some carries in Baltimore?

Due to mounting injuries, Darnell Stapleton finally saw the field last night for Pittsburgh.

The Big East announced the Cincy game time.

Scott Linehan has been fired in St. Louis. I wouldn’t want to be Brian Leonard right now.

Big East follies

QB roulette continues onward at Cincy.

UConn keeps finding ways to win.

On the flipside, Louisville far outgained UConn between the 20s, but was doomed by turnovers and sloppy play.

Pitt is far beyond apologizing for winning.

USF rolled over NC State.

Syracuse keeps finding new ways to lose.

West Virginia pounded Marshall, but Pat White injuring his wrist has to be major concern.

First casualty

It appears that Glenn Carson may have verballed to Penn State at their game against Illinois as per several reports on Rivals and Scout. If true, this would be a significant setback, as it appeared a month ago that Rutgers led for Carson. That’s why the team has to get it done on the field.

Other options at this point include contact Maryland verbal Ryan Donohue (favored RU once but we wouldn’t take his commit, may not be so easy to flip him), Ka’lial Glaud (was favoring WVU as of a few weeks ago), or Florida LB Phil Walker (who is interested but doesn’t have an offer). RU may have also offered Florida LB Bradley Wallace.

edit: 10/1 – it slipped my mind, but I believe RU is also looking at Florida LBs Robert Ferguson and Devon Butler.

A mental refresher

It would be a mistake to think that a victory over Morgan State means all that much, or anything at all. It’s not really worth reading much into a player looking good or bad, and somewhat of an indictment of our season that some RU fans are doing that at this point.

For one thing, RU’s arguably two best players, Kenny Britt and Anthony Davis, did not play for unspecified reasons. Internet chatter suggests that they were caught smoking pot. You know what’s even more stupid than the war on drugs? Putting yourself in a position where you could directly hurt the team. Britt and Davis can smoke all the marijuana they want after they graduate, or preferably, after they make a ton of money in the NFL. By accepting a free ride to play division I-A football, you willingly give up many of the priviledges of the normal college experience.

Pete Tverdov and George Johnson did return. Kordell Young didn’t see any snaps. I wish a QB not named Teel would have gotten more reps at least.

But to go up 21-0 after the first quarter, for that feeling of dread that has wracked us during the first few games of the season, it was nice to be calm for a day. I think the layup of an easy victory helped the team as much or even more, and still regret that Rutgers football did not start off with Morgan State in order to help build momentum.

It was nice to get out to the stadium for the first time this season. All of the fans were treated to another MEAC band at halftime. Wasn’t the greatest crowd. All the seats were sold of course, but it seemed like attendance was in the mid-30k range.

Some post-game notes from the various blogs:

Rutgers legend Bill Austin was in attendance.

SNY cut away from the game due to contractual obligation to show a Mets post-game press conference. I understand why they had no choice, and any Rutgers fans in the NYC area who didn’t go to a game where Morgan State returned tickets have no excuse, but that still stings an awful lot.

Doug Flutie (eek, BC) was another QB that gave Teel a pep talk. Even though he’s an alumni of a team I consider to be devil incarnate, I have to begrudgingly admit that Flutie is one of the good guys.

According to SK.com – as far as true freshmen go, Rowe (who’s played in every game), Kivlehan, LeGrand, Booker, Vallone, and Cooper played. Kivlehan, Booker, and Cooper have at least played in other games. It also might have been the first appearance for RS Freshman Des Stapleton.

I also noticed that Fresno, UNC, and Navy all won. Maryland, which looked awful a few weeks ago, stunned Clemson. Michigan actually won a game. East Carolina lost another game. Virginia keeps getting worse by the week. To some extent, the team’s fate is still in their hands. Show up against West Virginia, and who knows, maybe they’re right back in it. Pat White suffered a hand injury against Marshall, but Rutgers fans know that Jarrett Brown can play.

College football is a volatile game that depends on a very small sample size. It’s hard to say how much of winning reflects skill, and how much of it is luck, momentum, or being in the right place at the right time.

What’s the worst that could happen?

2008 has not been pleasant to this point, but its low points pale in comparison to the worst moment in recent Rutgers football history.

No, that happened on a miserable September day four years ago. Following an exhilarating home win over Michigan State, Rutgers fans had never been more optimistic. The resulting loss to New Hampshire the following week simply felt like repeatedly slamming one’s head into a brick wall.

That’s a loss that had repercussions; two recruits in Brian Roche (Louisville) and Dakota Walker (South Carolina) decommitted. It arguably cost Rutgers the recruits Danny Oquendo (Maryland), Jerome Hayes (Penn State), Luqman Abdallah (Wake Forest). and maybe even Malcolm Jenkins (Ohio State). Decommits can happen following a bad season, but losing is not an absolute death knell in recruiting. One only needs to take a look at recent classes by the likes of Notre Dame, Illinois, Pittsburgh, etc… to see that recruiting classes can at least overcome one bad season.

For sure, it’s important to maintain a good atmosphere at Rutgers Stadium. A year ago, a recruit named Mike Cruz decommitted from Pitt following a lackluster show of fan support at their spring game (he eventually ended up recommitting to Pitt). In addition to other factors, a 2009 QB recruit named Josh Nunes has cited booing as a factor in backing off his commitment to Tennessee. Look, who knows if that’s accurate, or just cover for something else. Who knows if it’s an indication of an athlete’s ability to deal well with adversity.

Is there anything to worry about at this point?

Cue the conspiracy theories

Jabu Lovelace is out indefinitely with a leg injury. This clears the way for CPE to move up to #2, and Dom Natale to #3. It’s time for both to see in-game action. CPE has an iinteresting arm, but Aditi thinks his mobility will be limited by an old high school injury.

Even with the football team struggling, it’s absolutely important that fans keep showing up. There’s are thousands waiting for season tickets, but everyone may not know that Morgan State couldn’t sell its allotment and returned a few hundred tickets to Rutgers. As the article shows, concession revenue matters. it’s not just important to sell tickets, but those fans need to show up too.

For those staying at home, the game will be aired live on SNY at 3:30 pm in the NYC area.

SWIRLING WINDS may be an issue tomorrow.

Looks like Eli Manning did talk to Mike Teel.

Poor QB play may prevent Kenny Britt from having a breakout season, but he’s still considered a first round prospect in NFL circles. That same article also gives Courtney Greene a top-100 grade.

Ray Rice could see more carries on Monday, with Willis McGahee and LeRon McClain battling injuries.

Rutgers is installing solar panels on the Livingston campus.

Barnes & Noble is taking over the RU campus (well, it’s not really on campus) bookstore from Follett. They’ll also be heavily involved in the new Gateway project in New Brunswick.

The Rutgers Athletic Department is making sure that athletes are registered to vote.

Big East: Week Five

Cincinnati is considering moving some games from Nippert Stadium due to increased demand for tickets.

In this week’s hyperbole award, Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe compared UConn QB Tyler Lorenzen to Tim Tebow.

Louisville AD Tom Jurich says he has no interest in being the next BE commissioner.

First chopping wood, now mousetraps? Is Dave Wannstedt a robot sent from the future to terminate the Pitt football program?

George Selvie will see limited action vs. NC State. It could be worse.

Syracuse AD Daryl Gross appears to be throwing GRob under a bus.

West Virginia has to deal with pesky Marshall this week.

Knightly News

Where are the turnovers on defense?

Blair Bines and Charlie Noonan are seeing more time at DT with Pete Tverdov out. Tverdov and George Johnson are expected to return soon.

Who is Mike Teel leaning on for advice? Phil Simms is likely, and a call from Eli Manning would probably be helpful.

Jourdan Brooks is the son of Morgan State alumni.

Jeremy Zuttah may be headed back to the bench with starting TB guard Davin Joseph ready to return.

The Baltimore Ravens’ OL is chopping wood. Hmm…

Things are going well for Essence Carson and the NY Liberty.

New Jersey may bail out a portion of the $200 million aquarium at the Xanadu complex. This is coming on the heels of their $25 million infusion into the state aquarium at Camden. Need I remind you that George “Friend of the Taxpayer” Zoffinger midwifed the Xanadu project, which should show that the recent hullaboo has less to do with principle and more with personal vendetta.

Blogpoll: Week Four

Not a lot of news coming out this week, combined with a lack of free time on my part means that right now is somewhat of a lull for content here. It will ebb and flow.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	–
2	Oklahoma	–
3	Florida	–
4	Georgia	–
5	Alabama	–
6	LSU	1
7	Penn State	1
8	Missouri	–
9	Texas	–
10	Wisconsin	–
11	South Florida	–
12	Auburn	2
13	Vanderbilt	13
14	Wake Forest	1
15	Brigham Young	2
16	Ohio State	2
17	Connecticut	1
18	East Carolina	6
19	Utah	1
20	Kansas	1
21	Virginia Tech	4
22	TCU	2
23	Boise State	3
24	Fresno State	1
25	Texas Tech	1

 

Dropped Out: Oregon (#13), North Carolina (#19), West Virginia (#22).

Doesn’t it seem like there are only 10 “good” teams this year? I watched parts of the Louisville, WVU, UConn, and Pitt games, RU/Navy in full, and LSU/Auburn.