Blogpoll: Week thirteen

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida	–
2	Texas	2
3	Oklahoma	2
4	Alabama	2
5	Southern Cal	1
6	Penn State	1
7	Texas Tech	4
8	Oklahoma State	–
9	Utah	1
10	Georgia	1
11	Missouri	–
12	Boise State	–
13	Ohio State	–
14	TCU	2
15	Ball State	1
16	Cincinnati	1
17	Brigham Young	1
18	Oregon State	1
19	Michigan State	4
20	Mississippi	6
21	West Virginia	5
22	Pittsburgh	2
23	Georgia Tech	3
24	Iowa	1
25	Boston College	1

 

Dropped Out: LSU (#21), North Carolina (#22), Miami (Florida) (#24), Oregon (#25).

Big East: Week Fourteen

The Bearcats are going to have to get by Syracuse and Hawaii without star CB Mike Mickens. Hold off on any coaching rumors, because there’s talk that Tennessee is going to hire Lane Kiffen as its next head coach.

In an absolute travesty, UConn’s Donald Brown was not named a finalist for the Doak Walker award. In fact, I’d say both Brown and LeSean McCoy are far better than Javon Ringer. The Big Ten is simply overexposed due to its deal with ESPN, and Ringer’s season is a product of getting a bazillion carries in the Woody Hayes, three yards and a cloud of dust tradition.

Louisville DC Ron English is a candidate for several opening mid-major coaching positions. The Cards are switching kickers again.

Could LeSean McCoy actually return next year? Keep in mind, the current buzz (and I’ve run several items here to this effect) is that a record number of juniors will declare for the 2009 draft. Another looming departure may be DC Phil Bennett to Bill Snyder’s staff at Kansas State.

USF’s home attendance was down 16.5% in 2008. George Selvie is rumored to be shrugging off a disappointing 2008 by entering next year’s draft.

The article also pegs Syracuse DT Arthur Jones as a likely early entrant. The latest on the coaching search in Orangeland:

I did hear today that several feelers have been extended to a number of potential candidates including: Kevin Rogers, assistant coach of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, Steve Addazio, assistant football coach at the University of Florida; Chip Kelly, offensive coordinator at the University of Oregon; and Mark Whipple, offensive assistant with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. Additionally, Gross may have spoken to University of Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Haywood on Friday night.

An intermediary for one candidate said tonight, “the less said right now, the better.”

Almost everyone keeps telling me that Randy Edsall is serious when he says he’s not interested in coming to Syracuse. Skip Holtz may not be interested either, though the unfolding events in South Bend could be playing a role. University of Illinois offensive coordinator Mike Locksley and Buffalo coach Turner Gill are on the radar. So is former Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin.

The Mountaineers are winning by getting back to basics on offense, and that means a heavy dosage of Pat White. They don’t need any distractions before the Backyard Brawl, but a walk-on freshman RB for West Virginia has been arrested for sexual assault.

Will it be inscribed on his headstone?

at a day long into the future, no doubt.

“Here lies Michael Teel.

Scholar. Superstar. Statesman.

They left angry messages on his Facebook wall.“

---

That was what I was planning to post in response to the new story in Sports Illustrated concerning the revitalization of Mike Teel and Rutgers football during the past two months.  If you’re looking to get sloshed this morning, search for “Mike Teel” on Google, and take a sip of Irish Coffee whenever you read the words “Facebook”, “threats”, or “boos”. SI’s Mark Beech did a nice job of cutting through the fluff and focusing on the football aspect of the story. It’s good for the team to get some positive press from the national media.

Er, unless if it’s SI.com drawing attention to the one player that Rutgers fans desperately want to keep under wraps at this point. What’s this talk about running a 4.4 and possibly a 4.3 though?

Greg Schiano…isn’t worried about RU’s poor kickoff coverage?

Jerry Carino counsels patience for a RU men’s basketball squad that has disappointed early. I didn’t know Inman was slowed by an ankle injury. Maybe someone can tell LFBall? Let’s hope they take care of business against Lehigh at least.

Don’t expect Baltimore to stop platooning backs any time soon.

Kudos to Jay D. Keough for setting Syracuse.com’s Bud Poliquin straight.

Former RU assistant Mario Cristobal has FIU surprisingly competitive as they prepare to square off with Florida Atlantic this weekend.

Jumping the gun, just a little

First of all, there are a couple pieces still in the can for this site, but I will not be around during the next few days for obvious reasons (however, to anyone I’m still waiting to hear back from, I would appreciate it if you can get back to me when you have a chance).

I admit, when I saw that Sun Bowl story this morning, I flew into a rage. It had the perfect ingredients for paranoia – Notre Dame, backroom dealings in Providence, dismissive comments by the Sun Bowl rep. Given the definitive nature of his comments, I jumped to the conclusion that they were correct, and in that I was not fair to the Big East Conference. Well, word has come down from Oz. John Marinatto deserves a fair chance during the next year to earn our trust, and I sincerely hope that he succeeds. The fear right now on the football side is that Marinatto’s promotion was an endorsement of the status quo; a status quo where football is lacking to the point that it’s just plausible enough that the Big East would betray two of its members.

Mr. Folmer is dismissive of the Big East, but the part I hate most about that part of his comments is that they are right. He said what others are thinking. He WOULD readily drop a good West Virginia team for a Notre Dame squad that is quickly becoming a national punchline, if there was any possible way to get around NCAA and conference by-laws. I suppose there is inherent appeal in watching a brutal car wreck.

Folmer denies making the comments in question.

“I would be absolutely an idiot, or a drunk, to say something like that… That’s just not right. I’ve been doing this for 38 years. Come on – I didn’t just get off the turnip truck.”

However, he straight up lied to Aditi. Scroll to about 2/3 through this video. Hooray for the magic of the internet.

The Big East is not very attractive to bowls right now, and that is what hurts the most. Job number one for the new commissioner must be to upgrade the Big East’s sorry excuse for a bowl package. Draw your own conclusions as to how to best get to that point.

11/25 Recruiting Update

Things should heat up soon. Coaching staffs are finally allowed to contact players on Nov. 30, and they will start bringing prospects on campus for official visits. A couple were in attendance for Army, and more (including Corey Brown) will be in the stands for Louisville.

Gerald Hodges is still torn, but he knows that he wants to enroll next January.

Hodges confirmed Wednesday that not only will he graduate from the Gloucester County high school in January, but his college choice is now between Rutgers and Penn State.

The senior quarterback/defensive back made an unofficial visit to State College, Pa., for the Nittany Lions’ homecoming game against Michigan in front of 110,017 fans on Oct. 18.

“When I get to school, I want to be able to play spring football and get used to the system,” Hodges said. “I want to try and get on the field as quickly as possible.

Another source on Bunche:

Malcolm Bunche, a Newark High senior football lineman who verbally committed to Rutgers in August, said Thursday he has decided to re-open the recruiting process.

While Rutgers is still under consideration, Bunche said he will make official visits to Maryland, Miami and possibly Connecticut, as well as Rutgers.

His August commitment, made during a meeting with Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, made for a more relaxing senior year but, in retrospect, was probably premature, Bunche suggested.

It was evident he may be looking elsewhere when Michael Barrow, Miami’s linebackers coach, could be seen on the sideline during Newark’s Nov. 7 game against Middletown at Hoffman Stadium.

“I like Rutgers,” said Bunche, a projected offensive lineman at 6-foot-6 and 315 pounds. “The reason why I decommitted is I want to open myself up to other opportunities.”

In other bad news, lineman Oday Aboushi has committed to BC. You had to see the writing on the wall with Rutgers offering JUCO linemen Andrew Tiller and (unconfirmed) Jeff Vinson over the past month. Then yesterday, Aboushi named BC as his leader, and boom, commit.

Here’s some possible good news on Florida RB Donald Russell. He apparently has some good offers, but as of September at least Rutgers hadn’t yet offered.

Sunshine State RB Donald Russell told ESPN affiliate Web site KentuckyInk.com that Kentucky, Rutgers and South Carolina are his top three.

He said, “I’m still open, but it’s coming down to the wire. But these are the three I’m focusing on right now.”

Stabbed in the back

11:00 update: Scarlet Scuttlebutt is reporting that the Big East does not plan on letting this happen. Now Rutgers needs to do its part and win next Thursday.

The latest bowl update:

A Rutgers win also will mean that the Sun Bowl — the Big East’s runner-up spot now that the Gator Bowl plans on taking a team from the Big 12 — has no choice but to take a Big East team over Notre Dame.

That Big East team, according to a league official familiar with the Sun Bowl’s thinking, will be West Virginia.

A high-ranking bowl official told the Gannett New Jersey that the Meineke will invite Rutgers in this scenario.

The Meineke Car Care Bowl, scheduled for Dec. 27 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, will match up teams from the Big East and Atlantic Coast Conference. Should North Carolina State win at home over Miami on Saturday, the Wolfpack would be the favorites to be the Meineke’s ACC representative, multiple officials said.

If N.C. State loses, as many as five ACC teams could be in play, including Clemson, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and Virginia. According to a bowl official, the Meineke wouldn’t be adverse to pitting Rutgers and North Carolina — a rematch of a game won handily by the Tar Heels in early September.
…
In the latter scenario, the Meineke would take travel-proven West Virginia over Rutgers, a bowl official said.

The same bowl official said the Meineke is only eyeing West Virginia and Rutgers from the Big East. Pittsburgh and Connecticut are not options, the bowl official said. Should Notre Dame take the Sun and West Virgina take the Meineke, a 7-5 Rutgers team would go to either the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., or to a bowl not affiliated with the Big East.

However, last night there was a disquieting report out of El Paso.

Sun Bowl selection committee chairman John Folmer said he has worked out a deal that will bring Notre Dame to El Paso on December 31. And having the Irish in El Paso will mean big things for the Sun City.

“It would be an amazing opportunity just to give El Paso a chance to see what it’s like to go to a Notre Dame football game,” said Chris Avila, president of the Notre Dame Club of El Paso.

In football terms, basically, Notre Dame has driven the length of the field. It is now fourth and one at the one-yard line and all they have to do is punch it in and Notre Dame is coming to the Sun Bowl.

“When we went into the arrangement with the Big East, we did it solely so we’d have an opportunity for Notre Dame. Period,” Folmer said.

He said he is working out a deal with the Big East that should send Notre Dame here, as long as the Irish lose to 29-point favorite USC on Saturday.

“Based on all the rules and the way the NCAA changes are and the things in the handbook, we’re gonna have Notre Dame,” Folmer said.

IF this report is true, and it’s a very big IF, as it contradicts what Nick Carparelli told the St. Petersburg Times over the weekend, one thing is clear. I, and every Rutgers fan, are finished with the Big East. Bob Mulcahy needs to be on the phone with Jim Delaney stat to negotiate a soft landing in the Big Ten. I was as firm an advocate of keeping the Big East strong and viable as anyone. If this were to happen, if Mike Tranghese, in his last act, were to sell West Virginia and Rutgers up the river, it would be the death knell for any future trust in the Big East conference.

RU alum Eddie Jordan being fired as the head coach of the NBA’s Washington Wizards is sure to start the rumor mill churning again.

Big East Giving Thanks

One Mississippi State fan thinks that the Bulldogs should leave the SEC for the Big East and its prospects of an easier path of a BCS. I’m a little skeptical of his belief that the Bulldogs would be instant contenders (they lost to Louisiana Tech this year, after all), and geographic concerns render the idea moot, but the general principle is solid. The BE may not be able to poach any top-tier contending teams, but would any midlevel BCS squads be tempted to jump by the lure of becoming King of the Hill?

Cincinnati has a clear path to the Big East title, but all anyone wants to talk about is where Brian Kelly will be coaching next year.

Tyler Lorenzen was miserable Sunday as the Huskies fell to slumping USF.

On the heels of losing Woodny Turenne, the Cards may be without safety Bobby Buchanan for their road finale against RU.

Speaking of departures, the Backyard Brawl may be the last game LeSean McCoy plays in Heinz Field as a Panther.

USF finally ended its losing streak with a victory over UConn, which should seal up their bid to the St. Petersberg Bowl. I actually expected them to win, because UConn probably has the worst WR corps in the country, and USF needed this game.

Haven’t you heard? On Saturday, Syracuse saved Christmukkwanzaa.

As if on cue, West Virginia remembered that Pat White is a really good runner and trounced the ‘Ville.

Sorry Sun Bowl

I think it’s out of your hands at this point.

The outcome of South Florida’s and Rutgers’ campaigns also will have an influence on whether Notre Dame lands a berth to the Sun Bowl.

If six Big East teams finish with seven or more wins, the Sun Bowl will have no choice but to take a Big East team over 6-win Notre Dame. Despite Notre Dame’s lackluster record, Sun Bowl officials still want the Irish faithful in El Paso, Texas, for the New Year’s Eve affair.

And with Cincinnati, Pitt, West Virginia and UConn having already reached the 7-win plateau, Irish fans wanting to nab the Big East’s runner-up bowl will be rooting for 6-4 South Florida and 6-5 Rutgers to lose out.

But wait!

Per NCAA Bylaw 30.9.2.1 an institution with a record of six wins and six losses may be selected for participation in a bowl game if 1) the institution or its conference has a primary contractual affiliation, which existed prior to the first contest of the applicable season, with the sponsoring bowl organization. In the case of a conference contractual affiliation, all conference teams with winning records must be placed in one of the contracted bowl games before any institution with a record of six wins and six losses may be placed in a contracted bowl game; and 2) all contractual affiliations have been fulfilled and all institutions with winning records have received bowl invitations (either through a contractual affiliation or as an at-large selection).

I thought that the Sun Bowl was obligated to take the BE’s #2 team. This all becomes moot however if RU beats Louisville.

Brett McMurphy has more details this morning.

I had previously been told by Big East and bowl officials earlier this year that Notre Dame could – and could not – get a Big East bowl if the Irish finish 6-6.

With 100 percent certainty, here is the Big East’s bowl situation concerning Notre Dame, according to Carparelli.

First off, USF is very, very fortunate to have beaten UConn. Because if the Bulls had lost to UConn and West Virginia, Notre Dame could have still been selected by the Sun Bowl. However, since the Bulls got their seventh win, the only way Notre Dame (6-5) can get to the Sun Bowl is by (a) upsetting USC Saturday or (b) Rutgers (6-5) losing at home to Louisville on Dec. 4.

The reason 6-6 Notre Dame wouldn’t be able to go to the Sun Bowl is because if the Big East has six seven-win teams to fill its six bowl games. The Sun Bowl is not allowed, by NCAA rules, to select a six-win Big East team (including Notre Dame) if a seven-win team is available. The Big East currently has five seven-win teams (Cincy, Pitt, West Virginia, UConn and USF) with Rutgers one win away from its seventh win.

And remember, Notre Dame is only available for the Gator or Sun and not any other Big East bowls. Clear as mud, right?

Reps from the Texas Bowl (too soon, and they treated RU fans poorly in 2006) and Meineke Bowl were in attendance on Saturday. RU’s travelling fanbase makes them an appealing option, along with access to a big media market and an offense that can make big plays.

“They have a good crowd today,” he said. “We’ve always estimated they’d bring 15 to 25 thousand. Rutgers brings enthusiasm, it brings a name. It’s always nice to see a waiting list for tickets. Those are positive things.”

Webb said Rutgers is among “”three or four” teams in the Big East on the Meineke Car Care’s radar, adding Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and West Virginia as other potential suitors.

“Connecticut’s a darkhorse, but we had them last year and we don’t like to repeat,” Webb said. “It’s been a crazy year in the Big East.”

TFY Draft Report is reporting that a certain receiver is leaning towards entering the NFL draft.

It was an ugly, ugly weekend for RU basketball. The men lost to St. Bonaventure. I caught part of it, it was painful to watch. The women were blown out on their road trip by Stanford and Cal.

Staying above the fray

I liked the point Steve Politi made last week in contrasting the styles of Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez and Greg Schiano.

It just makes no sense. Most coaches largely ignore what the media writes because it is outside their control, and because they know its impact on recruiting is minimal. Nobody does this better than Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano, who stays above the fray no matter what is written about him or his program. Schiano knows that getting good players comes down to relationships, and that’s where Gonzalez should focus his energy.

Undoubtedly, a positive approach will foster a better relationship with the local media than continually picking fights. However, I’m increasingly convinced that this isn’t enough. Not when the New York Times is publishing editorials littered with numerous factual errors. RU’s lack of a tit-for-tat response has allowed critics of athletics at the university to largely control the media narrative. (cf: this video from 2 days ago on ESPN)

Picking fights with the media is a losing battle. That’s why alarm bells starting ringing in my head in response to a longtime poster on Rivals relaying this message from Joan McCormick.

“I think the people of New Jersey need to know this information and how the paper hates Rutgers and is ok with making me cry. Put that on the blogs.”

At least this should clear up any (completely unrealistic, I think) fears about George Zoffinger coming out ahead with his scorched earth strategy. Frustrations at RU have been boiling over, and for good reason. There is a personal vendetta between Zoffinger and athletic director Robert Mulcahy, and the former has decided that no tactic is out of bounds. Josh Margolin and Ted Sherman, and to a lesser extent, upper-level management at the Ledger (no doubt, with heavy opposition from the sports desk), have given Zoffinger an unchecked forum for his mudslinging.

I don’t believe that Margolin, Sherman, Jim Willse, et. al hate Rutgers, nor is it appropriate to react defensively, and take anything the SL publishes personally. By no means is the press obligated to provide Rutgers positive coverage. However, they are obligated to provide fair and accurate coverage. As I’ve said before, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Margolin and Sherman following their muckraking instincts and wondering whether they were sitting on a big story when they landed the ur-political insider Zoffinger as a source. In fact, New Jersey needs more, not less, of that kind of behavior.

Routine

I sat for a few minutes earlier, trying to settle on a definitive theme of RU’s 30-3 victory over Army. It’s not necessarily a feel good triumph vindicating this year’s squad return from the brink of doom. There’s no need to expound at length over the vast intracacies of each season’s wane and wax. Yesterday’s game was a glorified scrimmage; hardly a practice unique to Rutgers in the 2008 college football landscape.

One thought about caveats of praise: they’re like tiny daggers stabbing their intended victim in the abdomen. Greg Robinson is a “great guy”. When Tiquan Underwood couldn’t make a catch to save his life in September, he was a “great kid”. As such, there’s little use in pointing out the obvious in that every single Black Knight on the field yesterday will soon be serving in the military. Great, but they’re still not a very good football team. Therefore, there’s very little that a RU fan can take, in either way, from yesterday’s contest. I’m happy they won, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t think that the game was particularly meaningful. However, again, I do wish it was played in September, which may have given the Scarlet Knights more momentum at that point.

I just watched the replay on SNY to confirm a few of the mental notes that I made yesterday, so here are a few brief thoughts on a very cold noon start.

Early in the second quarter, the game’s officials made an egregious, inexcusable call. Art Forst (who has been looking better as of late, but similarly whiffed against Arthur Jones of Syracuse two weeks ago) gave up a sack of Teel to an Army defender, who subsequently forced a clean fumble. SNY replays showed that there were no quick whistles on the play, yet the referees somehow ruled that Mike Teel’s forward progress had been stopped. That was an extraordinarily lucky break for Rutgers, even though I don’t think Army had a prayer of ever making this a game.

It’s not really worth complaining about, but I thought the personal foul call on Ryan D’Imperio was ticky tack. The holding and pass interference calls on RU were good.

The biggest red flag of yesterday’s contest was, no question, the inconsistent play of Teddy Dellaganna. His kickoffs and punts were poor all day long. He did have bad weather (as every Giants Stadium broadcaster would say, “SWIRLING WINDS”) to worry about.

Was Mike Teel’s performance worth beating our chests about? The really telling information, for me, was reading this morning in the Ledger that Army was starting a 5′9 true freshman at CB. Make no mistake, Michael Crabtree piled up 459 yards this year in Texas Tech’s first four games against the worst OOC schedule that you can possibly imagine. There’s no sense in apologizing for playing well. Watching Kenny on some of those routes, or Shamar Graves on his wide open touchdown, the Black Knights simply did not belong to be on the same field as Rutgers.

Speaking of stat compiling, I understand why Schiano wanted to try to get Teel the school TD record yesterday. After the 4th quarter starts though, it’s really playing with fire though. What if a key starter is injured? It would have been much better get Natale more meaningful snaps. He had three pass plays to work with, which was hardly enough time to get into a rhythm. After RU received the ball again, they reverted to merely running out the clock. I really wanted to see Natale get more reps, and I’m distressed that this is becoming a reoccuring theme. Greg Schiano seems more willing to play multiple backs lately, so why not give the backup QB some playing time in a blowout?

Watching the replay this morning, I truly despise the broadcasting team of Mike Gleason and John Cogemi, who made a myriad of mistakes. The entire shoddy production could use an overhaul. A good start would be bringing back Dave Sims for play by play duties next year.

The other big thing I took from yesterday was seeing how far construction on the stadium expansion has progressed in the open end zone. I don’t see any way they can retreat from that at this point. Let’s hope the faltering economy and slumping commodity prices lead to much lower bids for construction.

Oh yeah, you may have heard about Notre Dame losing yesterday. That significantly helps the collective bowl hopes of Rutgers and the rest of the Big East. In spite of my minimizing of RU’s efforts yesterday, I do think the team is firing on all cylinders at the moment. I only wish they had been all season long, because this is better than a 5-loss team.