You know, I would have thought that castrating a live bull on broadcast television was against the law in the great state of New Jersey (that’s some great imagery to start off the morning with). Guess Rutgers wasn’t kidding about the whole “learning is a lifetime commitment” thing.

“You can’t spell FRAUDS without USF.” — anonymous longtime Rutgers writer of Italian descent – @NJ_StevePoliti

Glad to see people are starting to see things my way. I’ll be lucky to get four hours of sleep after racing towards the exits midway through the fourth quarter and typing this post up, but I have a feeling that most of you were happy to forgo sleep for a game that was well worth watching.

The results pretty much speak for themselves; to the point where the only interesting question out of last night’s game is whether it’s best interpreted as the culmination of the ongoing Rutgers dominance over USF, or as proof positive that the fledging Rutgers offense is starting to gel. True, the Bulls did beat West Virginia last week, and they did have a relatively good resume on the season. However, USF has had WVU’s number over the past few years, and WVU’s offense has been in the tank as of late.

Truthfully, I never thought USF was any good at all this season. UConn is so profoundly better that it’s a crime that the Bulls have the better win/loss record. Schiano’s soldiers once again prevailed over an overmatched, frankly sloppy Jim Leavitt squad on a Thursday night stage. It was the most lopsided game yet in a series that is rapidly morphing into deeper levels of absurdist comedy by the year. What I wouldn’t have given to be a fly on the wall in the Bulls’ locker room at halftime.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a good win. Certainly not “hollow” or anything of the sort. (By the way, is everything going to be a lovefest today on Rivals with everyone firmly back on the bandwagon? I’d say yes, because that’s usually the rule when Rutgers seems to start their annual late season surge). However, it’s only fair to temper your enthusiasm just a little, because there’s still plenty to work on. No, Rutgers was not as bad as they played in the opener. Not even close. The light is obviously coming on, but they’re not yet a team that will soundly beat good teams every week. This plea will probably fall on deaf ears, just as my optimism did earlier in the year, but; even keel, people. Please?

Now, when I evaluate offensive play, my preference is for an ability to sustain long drives down the field and move the chains. The goal has to be always to get into manageable second and third down situations, and dominate in statistics like total yardage and time of possession. That doesn’t always correlate with points, but I think it’s the best recipe for success, and bound to show results over the long run. That’s why I wasn’t too distressed by the offense’s struggles in the red zone in the first half. The first (presumably scripted) drive of the game may have been the best the O has looked all year, marching down the field for the easy score, and setting the tone for the rest of the night. The kids are slowly getting it. You can see the progress from week to week; hell, they’re seemingly improving by the play. Can they keep moving forward at this pace?

USF kept shooting itself in the foot with miscues, although a fair share of them were directly caused by a superb defensive performance. However, more than anything else, the game was won and lost in the trenches. USF want to run the ball between the tackles. Rutgers did early, and saw results as the game progressed. That’s the upside in sticking with a running game. USF did come out playing well on defense, but that unit was worn down by their continued struggles on the other side of the ball. By late in the third quarter, they had absolutely nothing left. Conversely, the fresh Rutgers defense played inspired ball all night, and actually seemed to  get better as the game went on.

It’s to the offense’s credit that they did have, by far, their best performance of the season. I don’t know whether it’s a positive or a negative that they still have far, far to go before they’ll look like a consistent, productive unit. Tom Savage was once again inconsistent at points, but the difference between him and the freshman QB wearing white is that Savage keeps his mistakes to a minimum. The coaching staff is slowly upening up the playbook each week, and it’s showing. The offense will still use the Shotgun formation and look to the sideline occasionally, but both have diminished dramatically. They’re starting to get back to bread and butter football.

Even though the running game wasn’t great statistically in the first half, I thought that the line was finally getting push off the ball on some plays. With the dramatic T.O.P. disparity, we were bound to see some success in that respect later on. Now, Joe Martinek’s critics finally see what he’s capable of with a little help. If the game had been close in the 4th, I wondered whether they would have thrown in Rocket in there for a dose of fresh legs. Going into the game, I did think that USF was a good matchup for our running game, with their emphasis on speed over size on that side of the ball.  It was a rough break to see Kordell Young go down with an apparent injury.

You can’t praise the line without pointing out that they made major strides in pass protection. As expected, George Selvie did nothing on the night, meaning that he’s been a total non-factor against Rutgers over the past few years. Lil’ Jovi could have probably handled him without too many double teams. I don’t think it’s a coincidence though that Anthony Davis suddenly picked up his play in front of a national audience, with a lot of scouts sitting in the press box. Selvie did have the much tougher matchup in Davis than what Pierre-Paul had on the other side, but you’d have to be blind to think that JPP isn’t the far superior player. Giving credit where it’s due, Haslam actually held his own on the night. I remember that one of the sacks was on an inside stunt where the RG didn’t pick him up.

Mohamed Sanu had his strongest game of the year up to this point, making several big first down conversions over the middle, and giving the offense a spark as a rushing quarterback. I was a little surprised that Tim Brown didn’t fight for the ball a little harder on that Savage interception. Apparently it was by Jerome Murphy, who usually has a lot of trouble covering receivers with deep speed. (Murphy also had the early late hit in the first quarter.) Nice to see Jefferson worked in a little at points too. I do recall seeing a lot of Graves and Wright out there, and barely any plays from Corcoran at fullback.

Last night…may have been the finest performance by a Greg Schiano (ok, technically the two co-DCs) that I’ve ever seen. Arguably, there was far more offensive talent on the field for the 2006 Louisville game (by the way, the anniversary was last Monday), but that was some pure domination right there. Can I just nominate everybody? George Johnson roughed up a patchwork USF line. Munoz and Lowery were making plays all night (my god, how about when Antonio dragged Daniels back about fifty yards). DMC, as the beatwriters  now are apparently called him, has to get the nod on the night for player of the game with his yeoman effort on special teams. Frankly, I’m cutting this short because I’m long since exhausted at this point. They were brilliant, end of story, Schiano for Philosopher King of the Universe.

It was a windy night, so it’s hard to hold Te’s 51-yard miss against him (and to be fair, he did hit one from 49). Obviously, having that early block wasn’t great, especially when the team was dominating early, but couldn’t score any points. USF didn’t exactly kick the ball off much, but you would have liked to see some more big retur…oh who am I kidding. Between the fumbles and the blocks, the special teams units gave Rutgers a needed spark in this one. If only the offense could have capitalized on them a little more, and blown it open earlier.

What was with the non-call on grounding on Daniels?

I think everyone will be back on the bandwagon today, and that’s a good thing, because there were too many empty seats for this one. Bad weather or not, what’s the purpose of donating a bunch of money for priority points, and then not showing up for one of the few decent home games on the year? It’s not like those seats aren’t being sold – I understand it for the end zones and upper deck. These are primo, cream of the crop seats. The big money donors just don’t seem to be going to games this year. I understand that night games can be rough – there’s work early tomorrow (ughhhhhh), maybe you have kids. Still, expecting a much better turnout for West Virginia assuming the guys take care of business over the next two weeks. At least Chris Christie was in attendance.

It’s important not to go overboard with your enthusiasm, but be excited. Things are finally coming together, although there are sure to be more ups and downs along the way.  Between that, and the end result, it did have a couple shades of UL ‘08. That’s the kind of finish we could see going forward if Rutgers can finally get over that big West Virginia hump. Yes, Rutgers has played an awful schedule this season, and still shouldn’t fairly be ranked next week (although, they are playing far better now than in September).

Rutgers hasn’t beaten the Mountaineers in forever, and they’ve been the primary obstacle in the way of a Big East title over two of the past three years. We may not get to a good bowl this year (hopefully Charlotte, probably Tampa unless Notre Dame loses out), but this is a team with things to play for. There are still ways make the 2009 campaign a success. The young guys on offense need to keep getting better, and mainly, they need to finally overcome a West Virginia team that always seems to have their number, whether or not they’re fading under the helm of Bill Stewart. In my book, they’re still the team with our number until proven otherwise. Slay that dragon, oh Scarlet Knights, and it will have been a successful season. It’s the only criteria left that matters.

Good win, good to be in the thick of things in confernece, good to beat my least favorite Big East team. Gotta run for now, will try to have a little more over the next few days.

Until the basketball team can win scrimmages against MAAC teams, I’m “fairly” confident that Rutgers men’s basketball is going to take a back seat to the wrestling team this year. With two thirds of football season in the books already, it’s time to look for other RU-related athletic diversions over the next few months, because the women can’t play every night. Hear me out. Yes, this is a bit like asking everyone to give up Christmas for Diwali, but what exactly can we do after Santa keeps bringing a lump of coal every year?

By all indications, the Rutgers wrestling program is on an upswing. Within the next few years, it actually has a chance to be pretty good. Like most readers, I’m in the position of being moderately intrigued by year two of the revitalization, while knowing little to nothing about the sport, and probably inclined to jump off the bandwagon at the first hint of struggle.

I needed a level of expertise proportional to this interest, so I asked a friend from Iowa for comment. Now, if you don’t know anything about the state of Iowa beyond all the corn, they’re into amateur wrestling roughly as much as New Jersey is into hair grease and track suits. The Hawkeyes have won 22 national championships, and are back to their winning ways under their new head coach, Tom Brands. In-state rival Iowa State recently lost their coach, Cael Sanderson, to Penn State – lured by the promises of a rich talent poor, infinite resources, and no longer having to stand in Iowa’s shadow. That’s quite the psychological blow to the Cyclones, given that Sanderson was an ISU alum.

That’s right. Those damned blockheads in Happy Valley saw what their infinitely cooler, smarter, and better looking rivals in New Brunswick were doing on the mat, and followed our lead in what was the most brazen theft since Beaver Stadium appropriated that Zombie Nation techno song from German soccer clubs. If there’s anything that can rouse my interest, it’s competition from Penn State, so I had to get to the bottom of all of this.

Ok. Rutgers wrestling saw near-immediate results with the hiring of Scott Goodale last year. More institutional support helped, but the turnaround was striking considering the common wisdom that New Jersey (along with PA, Iowa, and a few others) is one of the top states for the sport. Hence, the belief that RU could be good if they ever took it seriously. Lo and behold, that’s seemingly what happened.

Now, in thinking that RU wrestling is on the rise, are we overreacting to a small sample size, and displaying yet another typical case of East Coast bias/ignorance/arrogance? Or, is it really that relatively straightforward for a program to compete in an Olympic sport if all the right ingredidents are in place?

It’s early, so it’s hard to say if you’re overreacting or not. I would say that there’s probably reason to believe that you aren’t. There aren’t a whole lot of schools that take wrestling seriously right now. If a school is able and willing to invest heavily in the program, like Iowa, PSU, and apparently now Rutgers have done, that’s a huge advantage. That’s on top being the most visible program in a talent-rich state. If they continue to have success, that should help keep more of that talent in-state, and I think Rutgers could be a power for years to come.

With the hiring of Cael Sanderson from Iowa State, we finally know what exactly Penn State is doing with all that extra revenue from scheduling home cupcakes every year. What do you see as the significance of that hiring with respect to the overall D1 wrestling landscape? With all of PSU’s financial resources, how high can they conceivably go? Are Rutgers and PSU on the crest of a trend here, or is it just a blip on the way to twenty more programs getting the axe because of Title IX?

Feel free to insult ISU as much as you want in your answer (none of their fans will ever read this), and in fact I’d appreciate a gratuitous shot or two at PSU too if you don’t mind, just because.

Sanderson moving is huge. PSU was something of a sleeping giant, and they now seem firmly committed to building a winner. Sanderson is easily the best recruiter in wrestling today, and always pulls in great classes. The undefeated career and Olympic gold made him THE legend to aspiring college wrestlers all over the country, kind of like (former Iowa HC and ISU star Tom) Gable was back in the day.

As for how high they can go, I’m not sure. Iowa isn’t going anywhere with Brands at the helm. He’s a fantastic coach who clearly picked up a lot from Gable, and isn’t too shabby a recruiter himself. His teams didn’t really seem to have a huge problem with Sanderson’s at ISU, where he was also pulling in great classes. I think they’re pretty clearly our main challenger in the Big Ten (and thus probably the country) now though. In a way, I’m sort of torn in his move. It hurts ISU which is good for in-state recruiting, and because lol ISU. But it is going to make the Big Ten that much harder, and it was already ridiculously stacked. I’m interesting is seeing how it turns out. They’re certainly paying him enough.

On whether or not Rutgers’ and PSU’s new commitment to wrestling is a trend, I don’t think it is. Lots of athletic departments are in a budget crisis right now from what I understand, so I can’t imagine too many school pouring money into what isn’t exactly a huge revenue sport (Iowa is probably the most wrestling-crazy school in the country, and it’s still a distant third on the pecking order behind football and basketball). I’m guessing that it’s always going to be a sport that’s in danger of getting killed off Title IX and money reasons at most schools.

(Hope those were decent answer and somewhat interesting. One of the guys who writes for Black Heart Gold Pants, Ross, is a huge wrestling fan who knows a lot more than I do. I’m a regular commentator there, so, if you want, I can try to put you in touch with him. He knows his stuff and would be better for this interview that I am)

No! That’s enough wrestling for one day. Thanks to my buddy for humoring me with this, as I begin my frantic search for any possible diversion from the horror show that is the 2009 Rutgers men’s basketball team.

I don’t know if there is a connection between Sam Bergen’s injury, and the decision to offer a scholarship to Sayreville LB Dave Milewski, but the timing is interesting, even if he grows into an end. Either way, he’s the latest verbal commitment to Rutgers. NJ.com posted a Milewski highlights package last week. He wasn’t really on the national recruiting radar until recently, so I don’t know enough about Dave to give any further thoughts at the moment.

326 yards and 5 TDs for Chas Dodd on the week.

Jordan Thomas rushed for 155 yards and a TD as Union-Endicott topped Binghamton.

J.T. Tartacoff hauled in a touchdown grab in Montgomery’s loss to Basking Ridge.

State of Rutgers is going premium soon, so you may want to read their recent articles on 2011 prospects Hakeem Flowers, Teddy Bridgewater, and Tanner McEvoy (unlike the first two, a realistic if not likely target) while you can. It’ll be interesting to see how SoR compares with Rivals and Scout once their premium service goes online.

Per the premium sites, 2011 NJ athlete Damiere Byrd picked up a Rutgers offer. Standout shore RB Charles Davis is still high on Rutgers.

“Rutgers is definitely a favorite,” he said. “Basically I’ve been really looking at them and Virginia. With Rutgers, the coaching staff is great from what I know about them. I’ve been around the campus a little bit and it’s very nice. I’ve heard they’re also strong in what I want to go to school for (criminal justice).”

Florida athlete Jeremy Deering injured his collarbone last Friday, and is set to undergo surgery next week. Per the report, one Rutgers assistant was in attendance on the night. DT Richard Ash visited UCLA over the weekend.

The latest update on Maryland DB Lorenzo Waters says he’s open, and has only looked hard at Wake Forest.

Paul Franklin asks whether changing demographics in North Edison are hurting J.P. Stevens football.

Soft Minnesota CB verbal Jabari Price switched to UNC. FL DT Antonio Ford committed to Wake Forest. I’m not happy about TE Jarrett Darmstatter committing to BC. It’s a hard sell when you’re playing two freshmen, and redshirting two more, but I think he’s going to be good. FL CB Keion Payne committed to Miami.

Watchlist: Bill Belton, Devin Fuller, Kevin Hogan, Jonathan Jenkins, T.J. Mutcherson, Gary Nova, Miles Shuler, and Chris Valenti.

Late breaking Twitter news last night: injured Syracuse DT Arthur Jones will miss the remainder of this season, his final year of eligibility. That’s some serious, biblical-level torture, although it was partially inevitable on a roster with little in the way of depth to begin with.

And to think, I thought my only comment on the Cuse today would be to mention ESPN’s dastardly decision to not let SNY (and other conference affiliates) air the game, instead exclusively limiting it to their 360 online service. Dare I ask why on earth SNY and/or the Big East ever agreed to contracts that didn’t stipulate on this, or say, filming games in HD? Can our media expert Tim Pernetti please look over the next TV contract before it’s signed? Not to mention, my provider Comcast added 360 this year to their lineup, and ESPN turns around and takes programming away from one of their properties. This can’t go on.

The USF Bulls have a propensity to run their mouths. Have to say though, even though he’s a numbskull, these comments by Kion Wilson were accurate.

“Their offensive line had extremely a lot of hype going into the game, but they’re second in the Big East in giving up sacks,”  Wilson said. “They don’t handle stunts and pressure very well, so hopefully Coach (defensive coordinator Joe) Tresey will be aggressive with the play-calling, and have our defensive line do a lot of stunting and a lot of blitzing and hopefully we’ll be able to get pressure on the quarterback.”

May not have been the brightest thing to say though, with the way Mr. Invisible has been playing at right end as of late. Although, Anthony Davis has had his own nasty habit of daydreaming about future paychecks this year. At least he’s smart enough to not suggest that Selvie is anything less than an elite player.

Speaking of the whole “revenge” factor that was also mentioned, why is it that the league’s worst gameday coaches seem to emphasize that the most? Jim Leavitt should spend less time acting like a clown on the sidelines, and more managing the clock.

It’s interesting that the Memphis athletic department is so determined to jump to the Big East, given that their football program is in shambles, and just fired their coach yesterday. Don’t really see how they end up a viable candidate any time soon, no matter who is the next hire. The same goes for other the C-USA also-rans. Honestly, Temple looks like the best choice out there for an expansion candidate. I’ve thought that for some time. Before writing a detailed post about it, I wanted to wait for them to actually turn the corner. Now it’ll hinge on keeping HC Al Golden in place, who’d make a lot of sense at Maryland or UVA next year. I’m really hoping that Virginia passes on the NJ native for someone like a Mike London.

Is there any doubt remaining that Pittsburgh is going to rip Notre Dame to shreds next Saturday?

Sad thing is, if the Gator Bowl has any say about it, they’d still prefer to take the Irish over the Panthers. ND is like an unwanted houseguest that just won’t take a hint. I cannot comprehend their appeal on any level, but that appeal still exists nonetheless.

Which, has to be scaring the living daylights out of the Cincinnati athletic department right now. Jon Gruden and Skip Holtz may have the more obvious ties to South Bend, but it’s increasingly looking like a matter of when, and not if, Brian Kelly will replace Charlie Weis at the helm of the program.

Kelly may talk up the Bearcats to the press, but sports are driven by the bottom line, and college football is no exception. Turning down a Washington may be one thing, but will he be able to say no to Notre Dame and their NBC megabucks when UC is still dragging their feet on promised facility improvements?

But the stadium hurdle will be huge. UC has had a difficult time raising the $13.5 million to $15 million needed for the practice fields. The challenge of raising $50 million to $100 million or more for a stadium renovation looms as a daunting one.

Asked about the stadium Friday, new UC president Greg Williams spoke only in generalities.

“I’m exploring a lot of options,” Williams said.”

As Brian Cook has noted, there’s only so much that Kelly will conceivably take, which includes publicly pressuring the school administration. Being that this is a Rutgers blog, there is an interesting comparison to how things played out with Coach Schiano a few years back. Kelly may publicly talk up UC, but he’s originally from Massachusetts, and presumably just sees his current position as another step on his path to the NFL. Schiano committed to a program in his home state, and made, pretty much, well, ironclad assertions that he wasn’t going anywhere.

More importantly, Rutgers stood up to its commitments and gave Schiano the facility upgrades that he wanted. In turn, he rebuked overtures from Miami and Michigan. I don’t know if it’s possible to make a more-definitive gesture in turning down two programs with that level of prestige. Now, Cincy isn’t going to build Kelly’s wishlist over night, but there’s at least the public perception that they’re dragging their heels. With a perception as a commuter school, and as second banana to Ohio State when it comes to program support, it’s fair to be a little skeptical.

In fact, it may be fairer to ask why Kelly is even still with the Bearcats at this point. I think there’s a good chance that he would have gotten the Michigan job two years ago if not for one specific incident that happened while he was still at Central Michigan. Before Kelly’s first season at CMU was even underway, several scholarship players beat a man to death outside a night club. His subsequent comments are open to interpretation, and I’ll leave that up to the readers.

Yeah, rah rah to the Big East. I’m rooting for the Bearcats to run the table for the rest of the year, but Rutgers fans will be the first to celebrate if Kelly leaves town, even if it’s to take over the hated Fighting Irish. And make no mistake about it, Charlie Weis is a goner after this continuing debacle. After all, this is a guy who Rutgers wouldn’t even give a cursory interview when they were the worst program in all of I-A, and it’s really not that hard to see why at the moment.

It was fun watching Navy’s win on Saturday, but that victory may, unfortunately, end up dooming Weis. Savor all the negative vibes over the next two months, because they’ll disappear when the axe does fall. I’m not exactly looking forward to seeing a Notre Dame program that could actually, conceivably live up to their hype, but it’s a small price to pay to get rid of this damn thorn in our sides over the past few years. Kelly can coach. From Ben Mauk, to Tony Pike, and now Zach Collaros, all Kelly needs is a live arm and he’ll put out a solid quarterback. In fact, I wouldn’t be too surprised if he ends up spurning the Irish and following his dreams to the NFL instead.

There was an absolutely wonderful article on the Rutgers/Princeton game in 1869 in Friday’s Wall Street Journal. The entire piece is recommended reading, but if there’s one vital paragraph, it’s probably the following.

Baseball historians have never been able to agree on the “first” baseball game, but most football historians are on comfortable turf in pinpointing the start of their game with Rutgers-Princeton in 1869. Some have called that contest “primitive football,” some describe it as “primitive soccer,” and still others as “nascent rugby.” In truth, claims can be made for all these descriptions. But as Bob Boyles, co-author of the USA Today College Football Encyclopedia, says: “There are a great many traditions that started on that field in New Brunswick. The kicking factor, the goal posts, the physical contact—the men allowed to run ‘interference,’ an early term for what we call blocking—that pull that game towards the direction of American football and away from soccer or rugby.”

Last week, Beat Visitor posted the exact text of the original 1869 report in the Targum about the game.

I thought that two conference games on Saturday (excepting the Pitt-SU blowout) were rather interesting, for different reasons. Despite starting a 5′7 walk-on at QB, Louisville kept things close at West Virginia. The prime time game between UConn and Cincy was much more exciting. Statistically, Cincy should have won big, but UConn arguably benefitted from a little luck for once. I think that game showed that they’re a pretty good team, and should have a better record than 4-5. Cincy, of course, is very good. However, I’m not completely sold on the Bearcat defense. They’re overrated a bit based on the opener, which had plenty to do with poor personnel and gameplanning on the Rutgers side of things.

Honestly, I’m not sure exactly where to begin with Brett McMurphy’s interview with BE commissioner John Marinatto from last week. What’s the purpose of a quote like this?

The costs of travel could become such that an Eastern school that’s now in a non-Eastern quote-unquote conference might want to look [and think] ‘it makes more sense to be in the Big East.’ There could be a shifting around.

Jeremy Ito was expected to see his first ever CFL action on Sunday.

With Tennessee’s season in the tank, isn’t it time to start Kenny Britt?

There were a couple interesting threads on Rivals last week. I’m not talking about that stupid rumor that won’t die, but rather others speculating about what Bob Mulcahy has been up to, and and whether or not RU would ever pay to bring a Boise State in. There’s no way to verify what the supposed K-Mac response in the latter thread is accurate, but it seems plausible enough to me. Boise is certainly looking for a big payday to play a road game. If the 2011 schedule is finalized (with, presumably, an unknown FCS team), does that mean the Navy series is still on, despite all the rumors?

I have a mixed reaction to the story about ESPN reportedly plagiarizing Pro Football Talk last week. That shouldn’t happen. However, PFT has been quite liberal in its use of stories from other publications, and I don’t know if a mere link is sufficient when you’re cutting and pasting multiple paragraphs. I’m already inclined against PFT, since they did lift a major story last year from my old blog without giving any credit at all. Taking content is a two way street.

Pres McCormick seems to expect state funding of higher ed to continue its steady decline over the next few years, and I think that’s about right, barring any additional infusions of federal funding. Even though a new Governor is coming in, the same state legislature is still in place for the most part.

Rutgers looks to the new SuperHillel facility to help revitalize the College Avenue campus.

there is only, generic_USF_tailback. None of those guys have really stood out to this point, and that’s an underreported aspect that I’d like to briefly consider.

When it comes to next week’s game between Rutgers and USF, a lot of attention, quite rightly, is being placed on freshman QB B.J. Daniels. He’s the Bulls’ leading rusher, which is as much a testament to his prowess as an indictment some some combination of their playcalling and/or depth chart. If you think the Rutgers committee hasn’t looked impressive, check out what USF has mustered in the ground. It’s strange, considering that you’d think with a freshman QB, the Bulls would lean more on the running game.

True, the senior Plancher did play well against West Virginia, but that’s after not seeing many touches since their game against Western Kentucky. They’ve had some injuries on their offensive line too. How come they haven’t had a feature back since Andre Hall skipped town four years ago, though? A reliance on a scrambling QB is part of that; you could just as easily say Hall only saw so many carries because Pat Julmiste was just that bad.

A lot of observers, including myself, were really impressed with backup Mike Ford’s combination of size and athleticism. The dreaded two Is – injuries and inconsistency, have largely held back Ford up to this point. He’s a guy you want to file away for the future, as a textbook example of a prospect the New  York Giants could pluck out of obscurity and turn into their next feature back. Ford hasn’t shown all that much as of late, with freshman Lindsey Lamar pushing for more touches.

Scrambling’s fine, but it is an invitation to get your quarterback hit. Not having an effective, traditional running game does make the Bulls somewhat one-dimensional, and I think that’s to our advantage on Thursday. They’re like a far, far more talented FIU in that respect.

Buried in an article in yesterday’s Boston Herald about RB Josh Haden’s impending transfer from Boston College was a brief tease about “mutual interest” with Rutgers and ECU. My 100% speculation about that one is that Coach Trivers is very connected to the prep scene in Maryland, and could open a few doors. However, I’d prefer not to take Haden for several reasons. I think he’s more of a a scat back than a feature guy, he would have to sit a year then only have two to play, and Rutgers is in the mix for better prospects over the next two years. Wouldn’t necessarily be that upset if this does end up bearing fruit, but I’d lean against it. Most transfers do not work out.

Well, you can stop worrying that Army press release, because the game is officially moving to the new Giants Stadium. Anyone who dares use the “Meadowlands” name can get lost.

If you haven’t read Aditi’s article about Tim Brown and Andre Dixon, you should.

USF returned a bunch of tickets to Rutgers for next Thursday’s game, and they can be yours for only $25. Buy a couple just so you can make crude remarks to Jenn Sterger (let me be clear about this, for being a Z-lister, not for her gender or anything like that), and then sneak back in after you’re tossed by security.

A National Football Post columnist reviewed the play of Tim Brown and Anthony Davis against UConn. I don’t really agree with his assessment of how Davis played, but make up your own mind.

This was making the rounds on Rivals yesterday – lost in the recent ACC bowl shuffle (refresher: losing Gator, adding Sun) is that the Tire Bowl (see, it’s much more fun to say than “Meineke Car Care”, isn’t it) is increasing its conference payouts, leading to a jump over the Music City Bowl in the ACC’s pecking order. I’m not too happy with the way things worked out with the bowl renegotiations, but this is a positive development.

Another article making the rounds is about how that afore-mentioned new stadium was heavily subsidized by public funds.

And, as long as we’re dredging up old athletic department stuff today, the Providence Journal has a piece on Nelligan Sports Marketing, and what exactly they do for schools.

You don’t see many stories about Nate Jones of the Dolphins, but with a looming matchup with Wes Welker, he’s getting some attention from one Bill Belichick.

Anyone catch Tim Pernetti’s comments about watching the ‘92 VT highlights on Youtube the other day? It’s interesting, if only because Youtube is not exactly an ideal solution for many reasons. I guess our dream of an omni-potent VoD service remains far away. Still, the athletic department is making baby steps when it comes to new media, as evidenced by Brittany Ray’s new blog. That seems to be using the same software that Brian Leonard uses at the Rutgers Magazine site. This is interesting if only for the possibility that other student-athletes could be featured in the future.

If there’s an article in the Times about the current perils facing public universities, focusing on the disparity between in and out-of-state tuition, you can bet that Rutgers is prominently involved.

Finally, if you’re that desperate for workplace reading, there’s always the Philly Inquirer’s new story about the Jersey Devil.

On November 6th, 1869, Rutgers defeated Princeton, 6-4, in the first ever game of intercollegiate football. Rutgers later paved over the site of the game with a parking lot. Who’s up for candlelight vigil tomorrow behind the College Ave gym?

Last January, I posted links to several interesting articles about that historic first. I’m curious to see if the athletic department does anything to mark the anniversary tomorrow.