The Knights Watchman

I'm finally getting around to posting my take on the RU/Maryland tilt that took place last Saturday. In my preview, I felt that the key to the game for Rutgers was slowing the Maryland rushing attack, particularly Ty Johnson. Well, the Terrapins rushed for 318 yards in the game, with Johnson racking up 168 yards on just 11 carries, good for over 15 yards a clip. Their No. 2 back, Kenneth Goins, was also unstoppable, gaining 81 yards on just 10 carries. As a team, Maryland rushed for 7.1 yards per carry and three rushing touchdowns in the 31-13 victory. On the bright side, the RU defense didn't allow a touchdown through the air, but Maryland only threw 16 times. Brandon Russell got his first career start at linebacker and led the team with 12 tackles. Another bright spot was that the Rutgers defense recorded 4 sacks and 9 tackles-for-loss. And I thought Julian Pinnix-Odrick and Darius Hamilton both finished their careers with strong games. JPO had five tackles, inclu...

The Scarlet Knights will head to College Park , Maryland to take on the University of Maryland Terrapins at Noon this coming Saturday. Heading into this final game of the season, Rutgers currently sits as a 13.5-point underdog. This is despite the fact that Maryland has lost 4 straight and 6 of its last 7 contests. Although Rutgers is on the road, this looms as a winnable game, provided that Rutgers can get something going on offense and plays a mistake-free game. If the Scarlet Knights can pull off the upset, winning their first Big Ten game of the year would be a nice way to close out the season, giving the team momentum heading into the offseason program and the coaches momentum heading into the next recruiting cycle. Maryland is somewhat unsettled at quarterback. Like Rutgers , the Terrapins have played four different quarterbacks this season, some of that necessitated by injury. Freshman Max Bortenschlager played most of the reps last week in the Terps loss to ...

Rather than my usual long-form recap post, I'm just going to throw out some observations after witnessing Senior Night and what became a 39-0 lopsided win by Penn State . 1) The Rutgers defense played well. I say this with the full realization that they gave up 39 points and close to 550 yards. For three quarters, the D kept the game close. Even after the blocked punt they almost held at the goal line. They had made another fourth down stop backed up in their own end. The defensive unit could only play so many snaps before the fatigue and Penn State 's running game wore them down. 2) The first offensive play from scrimmage was the worst play call of the year. Even worse than the goal line play against Iowa . Rutgers was home. The crowd was going crazy Saturday night. We just recovered a muffed kickoff. At that point I think you either have to throw a quick strike to the end zone or run the ball hard up the middle to try to hit Penn State in the mouth and ow...

Congratulations are in order for Rutgers Athletics, as many of the university's sports programs scored exceptional marks in Graduation Success Rate. Read the article on Scarletknights.com here The football team ranked third among all Big Ten schools. Great job to the student athletes and academic support staff in all of the sports!

Senior Day at High Point Solutions Stadium will feature the Penn State Nittany Lions, currently the No. 8 team in the country. Penn State has a ton to play for as they are still very much in the mix to win the Big Ten East Division. Rutgers has the opportunity to play the role of spoiler against a recruiting nemesis, and send three-time captain Darius Hamilton and the other seniors out in style. Apart from it being Senior Day, the school will also honor the undefeated 1976 team during the first TV timeout from what I've heard. As far as the importance of the game, head coach Chris Ash simply stated that Rutgers is "playing to try and get better"  and "we're playing for our seniors." Asked about Hamilton specifically, the coach stated "people listen to him" and that Darius buying into what the new coaching staff was trying to do "meant a lot." Another senior discussed was Janarion Grant. The coach mentioned that Janarion...

Michigan State 49, Rutgers 0. I almost didn't post a recap of this game simply because I would prefer not to think about it. Although there was not much positive to take from the game, there were a few interesting things that came out of the post-game comments and the Monday press conferences. A clearly agitated Chris Ash took the podium in East Lansing . You can tell that he was frustrated by the performance even before he spoke. He mentioned that Rutgers "struggled to get anything going" and that the team was distracted "talking back and forth" with some of the Spartans. Michigan State "dominated us up front, that's what happened." And of the quarterback play, he simply stated that Gio Rescigno "wasn't good today" but that "we still feel he gives us the best chance to win." In terms of preparation, Ash felt the team had a good week of practice leading up to the game and he said, "I would not have thou...

This weekend the Rutgers Scarlet Knights head out to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans. Both teams are still searching for their first conference win of the season. Despite having identical 2-7 records, the odds makers have Rutgers as two-touchdown underdogs. Head coach Chris Ash recapped the Indiana loss in his opening remarks during this past Monday's press conference, pointing out some encouraging signs. He "thought it was one of our best defensive efforts in terms of stopping the run," and that the "linebackers played their best game of the year." He was also happy with the three takeaways and two blocked kicks. He also said that at one point he looked out on the field and noticed that 9 of the 11 guys playing were guys who are returning next year. My thought on that is that it's good if those guys continue to improve, which under this coaching staff I believe they will. I think with some players it seems that they plateau in t...

This past Saturday was another heartbreaking loss for Rutgers as they remain winless in Big Ten action despite now having played fairly winnable games against Iowa , Illinois , Minnesota , and Indiana . Looking back at the game and the coaches' postgame comments, there was good and bad on both sides of the ball. The difference in the game was that Indiana made one more big play than Rutgers did. As Ash stated, "I like our preparation. We just need to get better in a lot of areas." Special Teams In his opening postgame remarks, head coach Chris Ash said of Rutgers, "we need to be better on special teams" later citing the missed field goal and blocked punt as things that Rutgers can't have happen. There was also plenty of good on special teams as Rutgers blocked two kicks and recovered a muffed punt. Rutgers has now blocked at least two kicks in every season since 2007. I also thought the first two returns put Rutgers in decent field position....

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team takes the field at Noon on Saturday against the Indiana Hoosiers. By the time they emerge from the tunnel at High Point Solutions Stadium, Rutgers will have finished up a much-needed two-week layoff after last week's bye. With multiple starters at key positions banged up, including running back, quarterback, safety, linebacker, and offensive line, the extra week off gave the Scarlet Knights a little extra time to heal up. For example, in his weekly press conference, Chris Ash mentioned that had RU played Saturday, quarterback Giovanni Rescigno would likely have missed the game or would've been limited. With the extra week, there's a greater chance he'll be able to run the complete offense. Ash "feels good about where he's at," meaning Gio's health. Ash said that he was encouraged by certain things. The Rutgers offense is "running the ball fairly well" and is "better with third down"...