#98 R.P.I. Virginia Tech @ #54 R.P.I. Rutgers:

Today’s word of the day is… Rutgers.

RÚt•gerš.
noun.

Rutgers was chartered in 1766 as Queen’s College, a private institution affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church. Queen’s College was renamed Rutgers College in 1825 after philanthropist Colonel Henry Rutgers, a Revolutionary War hero and son of colonists from the Netherlands.

(some say: ostensibly: ‘a baby Ivy school)

1. An American surname.
2. Dutch patronymic surname from the given name Rutger, the same as Roger and Rodgarus.
3. The winner of this gridiron Big East now gone A.c.c. vs. Big-X Challange come Saturday nite @7?

Rutgers Head Coach: Gregory Edward Schiano: age=57, (2 stints @Rutgers: 82–89 (college),
11–21 (N.F.L.); tho’… (Big Ten): 14–22; has a rep’ for: motivating; D-overall and Secondary play in particular. As a recruiter and as an innovator in a macro sense.
$4,000,000.oo.

Prepster Schiano was born and grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey, and attended Ramapo High School. He then attended Bucknell University, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and graduated in 1988 with a B.S. in business administration. Despite being a 19o-pound Lb1 in high school, Bucknell assistant Joe Susan felt he was a perfect fit for his defense. Susan would later join Schiano at Rutgers.

Baller Schiano was a three-year letterman at Bucknell. In his junior year, he led the team with 114 tackles and was named to the All-Conference team. In his senior year, he was named team Captain and was named to the Sporting News Pre-season All-America Team.

After that Greg got around a bit… N.J. H.S. coach to start, then numerous stints @Rutgers (3, actually), for Da U (2), for ‘da Bears’ (2), for Penn.State (2), and for da Bucs (1) then for “the” Oh.State.

However, it was way back in ‘o6 when G.Schiano really hit the… spot.
What with the following massive 2oo6 awarding haul…

…Awards: Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (2oo6), George Munger Award (2oo6), Home Depot Coach of the Year (2oo6), Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year (2oo6), Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2oo6) and the Big East Coach of the Year (2oo6) to ‘o6 boot.

11-2 and a bowl win over big, bad Texas that kickstarted a whopping 6-game post-season win-streak. Clearly, this is not a guy you wanna showdown vs. off an OPEN or BYE week or on multi-week Bowling prep’.

Did Eye mention the Ace recruiting, yet? (Or, maybe the: 247Sports Recruiter of the Year Award)? As this guy could work at your local Home & Garden department as this guy can flat out ‘rake’ as Talent goes itself. Though he may still be earning dividends off of his epic 2oo6 to 2oo9 apex whereby he tallied 36 wins and 4 bowl victories including the Knight’s very 1st Bowl win ever. That does not suck.

Big Whistle as the head football coach at Rutgers University, a position he held from 2oo1 to 2o11 and resumed before the 2o2o season. Schiano served as the head coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League from 2o12 to 2o13.

Coach Schiano was exactly and entirely +1, that’s (plus-one) game north of .5oo during his first Rutgers tenure. During his second Rutgers tenure and he is trending 8 games underwater. (14-22)!

This was a pretty good coach— however, it remains to be seen if he still is a pretty good coach or not.

The Schiano Proposal:
In 2o11, after Eric LeGrand was paralyzed during a kickoff, Schiano came up with an idea for eliminating kickoffs from football, replacing them with a punt, which is less likely to cause serious injury to the players. Under his proposal, the team would start from their own 3o (or 35) yard line and have the choice of either punting the ball or, in lieu of an onside kick, face the equivalent of a 4th down and 15. As of 2o2o, neither the NFL nor NCAA has seriously considered this proposal. Sportswriter Jon Bois has been an advocate for the proposal, saying “it’s simple, obvious, less dangerous, and more fun”.

Schiano is married and has four children. Schiano’s wife is named: Christy. Schiano’s father-in-law was a former Colts Te1 who had played his college football at Bucknell.
Son Joe Schiano is a defensive lineman at Bucknell.

St.Nektarios bless!

2022 record: 4 up 8 down and 1-8 in the Big 1o-East.

Rutgers Portaling:

• Wr Naseim Brantley (from Western Illinois)
• Wr JaQuae Jackson (from California University of Pennsylvania)
• Te Shawn Bowman (from Maine)
• DLine Isaiah Iton (from Ole Miss)
• Db Eric Rogers (from Northern Illinois)
• Db Michael Dixon (from Minnesota)
• Db Charles Amankwaa (from Akron)

READER note: …’22 was a massive and Eye do mean MASSIVE youth movement fo’ Coach Schiano!

Now… try to understand… here is what Greggy on his 2nd Rutgers stint started with…

 …now, here below is where he ’23, be…

Rutgers Defense: (starters back=8 or 9)

• 4-3 and a 4-2-5 defensive base that looked Odd to me.
• 2oth in Total D!
• 3rd vs. the run!!!
• 68th vs. the throw.
• 1oth in Pass Efficiency D!!
• in Qb’s sacked.
• 7.5 in 1o in dLine Havoc. The strongest of the three layers is prolly here. As this is a talented, deep group with a lotta familiarity and continuity alike. Further… the coaching sewing circle rates Coach Watson as the possible alpha dLine big-whistle in all of America. Or surely a Top-5’er. He good… like Randolph’s oLine rep’ good. One star Dt is early-entry N.F.L. gone and the rest of the Top-8 is back to attack. Gonzo Maijeh’s spot on the roster will be filled with Olé Miss transfer Isiaih Iton, who joined the program in the summer. He’s good and that means this is one of the best dLines we will see all year and it could very well be the deepest no matter what(s). ’cause besides that… (literally)… Bailey and Aaron Lewis, who combined for 16 tackles for loss and five sacks last season, are regarded as two of the best De’s in the Big Ten. wow! That’s a tough bunch upfront no if’s, and’s or butt’s. Finally, two-time team sack leader Mohamed Toure is (trick-knee; Coach God Bless) back and this has some saying the Knights are actually twelve, that’s (12) deep upfront on D! 3-waves are a lot lot lot… mind the LOS (line-of-scrimmage) 4Q S&C or fatiguing store here men! Third-team All-Big Ten defensive end ex-of-“Wolverines” or Red Dawn De1, Aaron Lewis (55 tackles, 8 TFL) is a stud. Pass rushers Aaron Lewis and Wesley Bailey; and interior linemen Mayan Ahanotu and Kyonte Hamilton give RU a quality Top-4. 7 of the ’22 Top-8 are back and they are good and they are well-seasoned/deep to boot. All of ’em logged at least 21o-snaps in ’22.
  De1, Aaron Lewis; stud. He goin’ vs. two of the bottom-5 P5 Ot’s in all the land, too! Lewis is a northward-bound guy who lives rent-free behind your LOS (line-of-scrummage). Penetrator 1o1.
  Very Dt-deep; at least quad, maybe penta? All C to B— as De is edgy king here.
  This is an uppercase or taller dLine; watch for tip-drill and deflections here. (All upperclassmen too, should be Learning/Experiencing curves straightened out by now).
• 6.5 from 1o in Linebacking Havoc. A neophyte linebacker group that took its lumps last year (3.3% havoc rate = 1o5th) brings back two impact starters who are now upperclassmen. Leading tackler WLb1, Deion Jennings (91 tackles/7.5 TFL/6 PBU/16% tackle rate per snap), and Mike1, Tyreem Powell (71 tackles/91.5% tackle rate/4.5 TFL) started every game and are now fully apprised of their defensive obligations.  A return to form of Ace Lb1 Mohamed Toure; a rising star in 2o21 who missed last year with a torn A.c.l. (St.Nikon bless) would go miles in advancing an already fair-to-middling front-7 for RU here. Tyree Powell is the most certain (or healthy) returnee. ’22’s leading tackler: Deion Jennings seems to play with a northward-bound nose for the ball. Slight Jamel Agemy tip of the hat here; well, if I wore a hat… although Eye tangent. Linebacker Tyreem Powell adds starting solidity; after that, there is a drop-off from 1’s to 2’s, though the 1’s are quite credible. With Moses Walker and his flashy play on a gashy knee (St.Nikon help) being the wildcard here. Though RU will go with only 2 ILbacking Twins in the 2nd layer at times too.
  All-2nd-layer good here; 3-of-a-kind; all… good (if not great).
  (BONUS: there are dings here to boot. Coach God bless).
  (DOUBLE-BONUS: Powell is an Adam West pop-up:
  “pow”, bam, biff. bop. boom; Lb1. MisQ free too).
  Normalized-sized guys roam here. Right where you P5 want ’em to be. All upperclassmen too.
• 6.5 outta 1o in Secondary Havoc. The Knight’s third layer or secondary was already going to be good with Corners Max Melton and Robert Longerbeam in place. They are strong; if not lockdown itself. One S is gone although Desmond Igbinosum is a solid tackling Fs and the transfer portal helped with Ss Michael “Flip” Dixon coming from Minnesota. Ss1 Desmond Igbinosun also returns and Ss is 2-deep on 1’s here. Do they have a natural Fs for it, however? As this is at the very least a downright solid Top-4. The only wonderment here is the depth behind them, tho’ they should prove formidable when quadratically out there together in ’23. All-Big Ten honorable mention Cb1, Max Melton would have fit in well with the Beamer Ball teams of the past. He had 10 pass breakups and two interceptions last year as your Cb1. Defensive Back transfer Eric Rogers (Northern Illinois) adds critical Db3 depth. Can ante up and Nickelback kick in too. ‘Whispers’ say they are pretty dang Cb Talented here.
  Decent size here. Right on course; and again, all upperclassmen in the hind-4.
  They do play the ball not the man— might be something behind that if they mis {sic: the ball}.

• D overall: Schiano D’s will hit, they will punch you in the mouf. He does carry a well-merited ‘physical’ style of play rep’. (Bud) Granted. The Scarlet Knights’ biggest ’22 strength projects to be even ’23 better. They kept their entire defensive coaching staff intact, and they returned a number of key contributors. As Rutgers ranked in the Top 25 nationally in multiple halt-unit categories through the first half of the season but eventually ran out of November petrol due to lack of defending depth. The hope is that the reinforcements it brought in will allow defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak’s unit to maintain a strong showing throughout the duration of the ’23 campaign. If ‘yes’ this is a better defense and a nearly pretty dang tight one.
  Film-study: D has all kinda looks in all kinda layers. Multi-multiple if you will. Dline fronts with all kinda Ernie Stautner, Steel Curtain angles and pinches and aligns, and flexes and splitting (⇐ or ⇒) and so forth and so on and on and on. Very creative D in Euclidean terms. They will deal ‘bakers and they are not ‘fraid to take pressy/jammy-risks on edge. This tells me they must trust their speeds/athletics to cover/recover speed when you do break contain itself. Then, Eye saw ’em back off into medium man looks; on edge, though the same intensity of Fs/Ss play; literally. As they have an even Safety look in a version of Cover-2 too. Did see a little Cover-1. Lb’ers move around a bit, both N-S and E-W. Very situational (down-distance) savvy D. And they mix-n-match a lot. Very bait-n-switch, disguise/roll things off the LOS (line-of-scrimmage). In particular from that medium-man into a zone. They at least try to tackle hard; and they will rip/strip when they can. They do try to make you throw wide/elongated sideline throws by defending inside out. Sideline=12th-man for them here when this works right.
  This is a very strenuously coached D; they are not asexual. You will have to go’on and beat them as they do not beat… themselves.
• ∑ (summary): returning D production=72% (31st most)! De’s plural are your conflict defender(s) here. About that (below) stat highlighting when the offense only scored more than 21 points three times —they STILL won all three games. As Rutgers was 4-2 when scoring more than 16 on O. Which means the D was knightly-knight indeed. Perhaps in spades this campaign.
  p.s. a roll-out/sprint-out look would get you to the edge here… like something Dooley… and maybe Drones might just like that???
  p.s.s. this D ain’t; skardy-cat, see? They coming fo’ yah.
  All your base belong to… them. As this is a HIGHLY synergistic D. Lotta B— guys working hard, working smart, and sneaking into the very bottom of the: A— (group) level.

Defensive letter-grade:

READER note: …’22 was a massive and Eye do mean MASSIVE youth movement fo’ Coach Schiano!
Did I mention the youth movement, yet(s)?

K… and either way… nearly everything I ’22 found was truly, serially Position-XYZ via committee!

Like they kept their ’22 August Camping ongoing… which may have bit into ’22;
though this could yield a less acerbic ’23 fruit. (At least in Edenic, theory).

R.U. Offense: (returning starters=7)

• LOTTA Staffing turnover here… not all of which is ‘new blood’ itself.
• Rutgers actually finished No. 13oth best in O-FEI last year!!!
• 84th in Total O.
• 43rd in ground O.
• 1o7th in aerial O!
• 95th in Passing Efficiency O!
• oLine: This past off-season Rutgers hired former Miami Dolphins OL coach Pat Flaherty; and that’s the biggest return here. An old guy (67, Godspeed); has Pa. Keystone roots. Patty does cake two, that’s (2) Super Rings (Ny.Giants); however, this twilight good coach has not coached (past-tense verb) since 2o19 when he was the offensive line coach for the Miami Dolphins. That’s unsure to me, at best/most. And in the trenches, where they departed starters J.D. DiRenzo (graduation) and Willie Tyler III (transfer). Still yet, RU d0es return 4 to 5 former starters -at some point in time- upfront. Ot1 Hollin Pierce is da truth and he truly starts for most Rutgers opponents on the blocking edge at least 10 times in 12 this year. He’s a build-around type. The interior is nothing if not sizey/physical and that should be a good start/mesh with what o-Cord’ (see: below) Kay-Cee likes to munch upfront. Ramrod, older-school at least a little bit black-n-blue. Ireland Brown, C1 is prolly the best of the G-c-G internal wedge bunch. Though he is limited athletically. Right-G1, Curtis Dunap Jr. also returns this year after 564 snaps. He previously started at Minnesota before moving over to Rutgers last year. Although left or blindside Ot1a Willie Tyler out to Louisville prolly lowered their potential great ceiling to a lowercase ‘good’ itself. As Rutgers only retains 40% of their ’22 starters; although some might say that (actually) ain’t the worst thing. Rb1, Brown will be running behind a veteran offensive line that also returns versatile swing/utility Ot/G Reggie Sutton, who started 12 games in 2o21 between right-Ot1 and right-G1. So, the 1’s are reasonable or maybe even reasonable+++ once they gel/mesh. 1o1 career O-line starts (somewhere) returning along with the hiring of longtime NFL OLine coach Pat Flaherty seems to say so. The rest are said to be nearly unknown and unproven D-1 P5 blockers at best/at most. Left-G1/G2, would be my point of attack— watch for that.

  

  BIG-azz front-wall here men. Buckle up; in particular vs. the mammoth National Geographic frozen-find Mammoth odd or left-size. Word around the campfire says closer to 4-bills (4oo) for the left Ot1.
  Finally, this oLine runs nearly 1o-deep. They will not wear down; will, you?

• Qb(1’s): TIER 12 or bottom 12th of 12 ESPN P5 Qb1-Qb2 rankings mind yah as Koterback1 ’23 goes for RU.
  Sophomore quarterback Gavin Wimsatt -who left high school a year early to join the program in 2o21- has completed just 45% of his passes and has nine interceptions against five touchdown passes; or about a 2:1 ratio the ‘rong way coming into ’23! (INT’s:TD’s). Then… both Evan Simon and Gavin Wimsatt played in 2o22; they combined for nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions! LOL. Then… with no transfer quarterbacks coming in, 2o23 four-star recruit Ajani Sheppard is a (potential) name to watch.
  Now… and we see that has taken over, sorta. Qb1a, Qb1b or Qb1c: Gavin Wimsatt, or Evan Simon, or Ajani Sheppard.
  Wimsatt is a big thrower who took over late last year, tho’ he struggled with his accuracy. A junior, Wimsatt started the final five games of the regular season,  and his 44.8 percent completion rate was the second-lowest among 146 FBS quarterbacks who attempted at least 125 ’22 passes. w0w! . The 25th-rated Qb1 nationally from the 2o21 prep cycle, Wimsatt earned a 247Sports player rating of 91 and clearly has the most upside in the current Qb room in testable(s) terms. This is despite the growing pains he experienced last season. Like being the 17th graded Qb in the Big Ten out of 17 qualifiers with at least 1oo ’22 pass attempts, per Pro Football Focus.
  Only one way to go there sans going 18th and getting… benched.
  Evan Simon -who graded 14th of those same 17- threw for 3oo yards against Iowa, yet couldn’t hold down the gig -he still led the team with 777 passing yards- and is said to have a bit more wiggle than the statue-esque Wimsatt.
  The 6-3, 23o-pound Sheppard is one of the team’s better recruits with mobility to go along with a live arm. One of them has to make the miserable passing game functional.
  Right now it appears as if Mister Gavin Wimsatt is your Qb1. Though Eye’ma not 100% sold this ’23 RU Qb1-derby is done. The negative career passer Ratio of: 7:9 might be a (not) pure-passer, clue. Ditto the kinda girly pics he snaps.

• Rb(1’s): The RU running back rotation should be good enough to produce behind a veteran line. And although there may not be a d.Wilson/r.Williams here, there are several mini-mes to legit Eddie Hunter/’rice Williams caliber guys and that should be fresh-legs Billy Hite-type rotation enough.
  Rb Coach Wimsatt should have a key weapon in the backfield in running back Samuel Brown V, who was emerging as a star before a season-ending foot injury, (St.Sebastian help); as this kid is an intriguing one. The Rb room is on the way up, with true-Soph.,  Samuel Brown (6′1″/222 lbs.) leading the ’22 backfield committee with an exceptional 83.1 PFF run grade. So, he is the Rb1 to watch here. He is prolly good itself, and may trend on ‘great’ before ’25 is all said n’ done. Though Brown cannot do a lot aerially for you. (He and Ro.Duran… ‘hands of stone’).
  Plucky little Rb2, Kyle Monangai -and he is tackle-breaking- is back. So are caddies: Al-Shadee Salaam, and back from dings/dents 5th-year Aaron Young. Making the ’23 RU Rb-room, crowded, deep; experienced, and at least above average. Maybe more?
  That all to finally say… Kyle Monangai looks to have crept up on Rb1. That’s Daddy Kyle; already. He of the big ole melon (head) and just enuff swivel beneath of all of that. That’s 5′9″, 2o9 lbs. of true-Jr. Kyle Monangai spank you very much. That and Kyle’s game log showcases an Rb1 who runs Byron Scott hawt-n’-cold. Hit or miss.
  Kyle Monangai— THE best blitz picker-upper Eye have seen on tape this decade, at least. Like decleating peeps, best. Truly. This is a rough kid; legit. 5×5.

• Wr’s/Te’s: …lottsa attiring occurred here. ’22’s Top-3 are all gonzo. However, this departed Top-3 all ranked in the bottom-5 in catch rate for Power 5 Receivers who received at least 9o targets over the last 2 seasons; triune yikes! An ignominious distinction if there ever was one. No super-stars to L, fair play. Tho’ last year grab guys converged for all catches not named the bottom 6-catches in ’22 mop-up duty.
  Of those middleocore Top-5 (two of which (somehow) went Cincy and Ravens Pro’) only ex-Qb3, now quasi-Slot-Te1 Johnny Langan is back. (Trickration is in play here). With Transfer Naseim Brantley ex-of Western Illinois after being ex-of Sacred Heart U, Wr1 fame is an okay 1-2 punch. Tho’ a third wheel and some backup grabbers need to emerge. As RU did court at least a bit of vertical stretch last year and yet depth does not look so elastic this year. This is a thin group behind the well-honed Top-2. 22 Σ or summative receptions return, that’s all. Coach Greg even went so far as to call this Wr’ing economy ‘green’. As there is some work or the need for a breakout star to do here. Brant’ has some vertical to him, Johnny can do some possession chain-moving work underneath… and yet who does what besides and after that??? Then, however, RU did ink highly sought-after DII transfer and sizey Wr1, JaQuae Jackson (6′3″/18o lbs.), who finished ’22 with 77 receptions for 1,178 yards and 13 touchdowns last year! That’s pretty good if/when he does in fact P5/B1o size up. Christian Dremel has received some hype this offseason and per his spring and August showings; he is the wildcard Wr4 here. Kinda a Smurf-sized mighty-mite Sloter shake-n-back fun-bunch kid when he does actually catch the ‘ball. That said, some say this is the least great RU unit here. Victor Konopka is your Ot3 playing Te2 when Jumbo is needed.
  Grab-gang is good sized; not epic, though good.
  There are a lotta older guys here; tho’ the vibes say there are n0 great guys here. Not; one.
  (UPDATE: depth is really thin dingy/denty wise here; Coach God bless).
• O overall: Rutgers hired Minnesota’s Kirk Ciarrocca as O.C. this off-season. Ciarrocca has established himself as a top coordinator through his work under P.J. Fleck at both Western Michigan and two separate stints under Fleck at Minnesota. He’s served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at both stops. Ciarrocca’s reputation is as a sound coach who seeks physical offensive lines, balance, and playing mistake-free football. And as an expensive coach too… whispers say he only coache$ the fiscal verb for 1-mill or better.
  This after RU finished a lowly No. 127 in total offense (282 yards per game) and No. 124 in scoring (17.4 ppg) last season. Sylvania Supersets or pay for what you get is the realm of time=tell here. Eye can tell you that… From Week 4 on, Rutgers averaged less than 12 points per game, had 21 sacks, 12 picks, and just 7 TD passes, and posted a Total QBR of 24.1; wow. And hell’s-bells, even Iowa thinks that’s awful. The hope is that another offseason of conditioning and studying, along with Ciarrocca’s simplistic offense, will allow Wimsatt to improve in that accuracy or lack thereof category.

• ∑ (summary): returning O production=73% (37th most)! Last season the RU O put up 66 on poor old Wagner early in the season. However, if you take that out they averaged just 13 points per game with more than 21 points just two other times. Remind you of anyone? This year and… well…  last season the got mounted Scarlet Knights passers combined for 11TD’s and 14 INT’s. Their 153.9 passing yards per game were the fewest in the Power 5. That, and they were 129th out of 131 FBS teams in passing efficiency (99.83). Yikes. That said… only one way to go here n’est-ce pas? Eye say that correctly ’cause… Rutgers ranked 127th nationally last year with 282.1 yards per game and 124th in scoring at 17.4 points per game. Such is not exactly twitchy, kinetic, or burst’; is it?
  (Film Study): O is a bit mo’ basic than the D is. Monangai looked tiny to me on film. Tho’ he ain’t skared. O imposes their will as the game wears/tears on. Like everything Pry power-spread wants his ‘vanilla’ O to be. (4Q mind the store here). That said, Monangai gets a lot for himself by himself; at times. And unlike our Wells Fargo embargo, you would do well to honor the Qb-keeper off any nomenclature of R.P.O. looks here. Wimsatt is kinda/sorta their 20-weight motor oil here. Not as blatant as Drones is as Qb1 physically. Though he is pull-it-wiling. He does okay enough on runs; sometimes flirting with good itself. Monangai has really nice chop-step footwork. Like a trying to be physical d.McClease of yesteryear for us. He and Rb2: Ja’shon Benjamin really motor-boat well. They are lowercase guys and hard to find/see at times behind a Braham-bull-sized oLine. And damn if they don’t run northward hard. Little guys who always fall uphill or at least forward if you will. I like ’em; they unlike the Tin Man have… heart. O runs a base 3-wide with a Wing/H-back offset and Rb1/Rb2 as Hb right beside the Qb1.
  This is also a sorta inside the Ot-box O. They want to ‘inflict their will’ to borrow on pugilism; and git after you A-Gap and a little b-Gap alike. Qb will even follow the Rb as a lead blocker to chin-check you on the inside.
  Accordingly, they also industrialize a bunch/scrunchy look that kinda looks a little P.J. with twin-Wings/Slots and everyone within about 15’ish yards of each other East-West wise. And guess what? You guessed it… they under-zone flood passed outta this trying to clear one side and Rb-dump passed into an empty flat. And both Rb1/Rb2 were wide open after setting this up by some bunch runs. Benjamin, Rb2, did get right-leg dinged vs. a cutdown tackle from Bill CosbyU; so, we shall see if he is at full-medicine or not. (Godspeed @twenty).
  Qb1 is nobody’s pocket/pure-passer. He is limited and they limit the length of his throws downfield accordingly/appropriately enuff. Lotta medium deep quick thingys here; as that seems to be his greatest effective range at this stAGE. Nearly all of which IS downfield. Not a bubbly O. Or summertime screeny. Wr1, Jackson is his one deep hitter. The rest are quick hitters on moving/angular basic looks. Wimsatt has Qb1 improved by ≈10% on the nose this year; and yet still showcases a negative passing ratio (mo’ INTs than TDs) for his career. Think of him that way. (9:7 if you needs to knows). Odd or left-side oLine was mo’ dominate here; though each side tries to out-battle you at the point-of-attack. Kinda a Baltic Ave. man’s 70’s Raiders with the best possible Kenny King’s, plural.
  That prolly ain’t the worst with a still just 19-years-old Qb1 who has a history of ankle sprains. (St.Philip bless).
  Also, ‘vibes’ now say the Rutgers even or right-Ot1 is dinged and now iffy; and that two of the Top-4 Knights Rb’s (Brown & Young) are now bending the knee. (St.Culbreth bless).
  Te will carry the mail; this is a very run-heavy tilt; C1 is strong, the rest are adequate to adequate+ though they do wear on you as the game wears along… that, and somewhere both Coach Dooley’s are, smiling.
• 66% run:pass 34% mix. Nobody is your secret sauce offender here. What you see is what you, get.
  Qb is very much a front-loaded passing scripter, his 2Q and 3Q passing drops, plummets, and falls like a Wilie E. Coytoe Acme Anvil-loaded rock. (36% and 4o% ↓ respectively).
  O is all upperclassmen less one. REALLY experienced team here.

Offensive letter-grade:

s.Knights Special Teams: (1’ish returns)

Last year Adam Korsak led pretty much everything in Net Everything. Korsak spent five years on the Banks and holds the NC2A records with 349 career punts and 15,318 career punt yards! wowow. Last year he won the Ray Guy Award, which is historically given to the best punter in the nation. He sucked, should be easy to replace, too!

That attempt at satire aside… Sophomore punter Flynn Appleby will be the one attempting to fill those epic k.kong-sized P1 shoes. Appleby, like Korsak, hails from Australia and played in the Australian Football League. This year ’23 and he is per se only 55th best in Net Punting. Which is nearly a C+ though a near-C+ is pretty wide off of a legit A+++. That said, Flynn is not a dull boy; he keeps an Alice the maid mop-top and has the audacity to dote that with a p0rnstache to boot. WoW. He and g.Din braver men then Eye ’em.

Prior to amateur sports in the USofA, Korsak went down under hacky-sack as a former professional rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the Australian Football League. He was drafted sixth overall in the 2o18 Australian Football League rookie draft. Which is big/legit even. He has had a pretty fair-to-middling futball (or: soccer) career as well. And he don’t take himself too seriously… as if anyone with an Alice the Maid fro’ and Debbie Does Face, could. He has been a Rugby Pro’ since ’17; so, he can get your keg party on: (legally). As punting goes… this 2nd-season Cohuna, Victoria native is said to have a big leg. Though targeting software may still be updating as he can boom it from here to Tennessee. The only thing being it may land in… Kentucky. Big P1: 6′3″, 2o5 lbs. so aim punt-block higher here. Though, Eye did see that RU prefers to down-punts or knock ’em out-of-bounds; so that has cut into his limited data point(s) average a bit. Said to have an 80-yard practice leg as well. Time=tell here… a quality prospect, can he contend or champion outright though?

• 128th or 3rd from last in Punt Returns | oth in KO returns. (Unranked with 0 bring-backs).
• 9th best in punt coverage | and 1st best in suicide-squad!!! (wow, clearly emphasizing this).
• RU has blocked 0 kicks and allowed 0 kicks to be blocked.
• RU has blocked o punts and allowed o punts to be blocked.
• BONUS: Cb1: Cornerback Max Melton blocked three ’22 punts on special teams and tied for the all of D-1, lead! Wowowzo!

K1 is a bit less settled albeit a bit mo’ experienced to boot (pardon the pun). As this is a position where the Knights have not had as much success in Recency Effect(ive) terms. In the spring practice, there has been a kicking battle for the starting position between senior placekicker Jude McAtamney and sophomore placekicker Jai Patel.

McAtamney started as a kicker last year and had an up-and-down season, making 23 out of 24 extra-point attempts and 12 out of 18 field goal attempts. The player has a strong leg but struggles at times with his accuracy. Could be the long-range in-lieu of a short-punt bullpen K1. Although Patel has been mo’ ‘consistent’ -albeit per a shorter leg- or so the camping ‘whispers’ say. As in… 5 for 6 from the 4o-49-yard range is close to weaponizing the K1 long(er)-range spot for McAtamney; it is rather over-kicking on shorter launches that slices and hooks his heavy R.P.M. F.G.A.’s askew. Patel, on the other foot, did not play as a freshman in ’22; although he had a highly decorated high school career, earning USA Today All-New Jersey honors and being rated as a **** or four-star kicker by: Kohl’s Kicking. He’s prolly the alpha foot down the road.

Thus ’23 far… and we see that Jai Patel is keepin’ it 1oo on P.A.T.’s (6 for 6), 80% on F.G.A.’s with his only miss (4 of 5) being on a seemingly makeable 37-yarder. Said to have range out into the lowercase 50’s or so.

Same as P1 above… seems an alluring K1 prospect; though Eye’d like mo’ data points on this true-Soph. in his 1st season as K1 to be sure.

BONUS: Junior Cb1 Max Melton is also a lethal weapon on special teams, as he led the nation with three blocked kicks! wowowow! That’s possibly Next Level game-changing all by its ownself folks.

Special Teams letter-grade: presuming they do court a legit returner (or two) this is a very keen ST’s grouping. B at least, and maybe north of that.

Unit Rankings:

1. RU D!
2. (gap)
3. (‘nother gap)
4. VT D.
5. RU O.
6. VT O. (Closer, though).

X-factor(s):

• motive: Gotta be the still perfected hommies @home. VeeTee needs this one; though this one makes the next one: Like a dead man needs a coffin. This one is like buying your 6′ plot ahead of time. EDGE=RU.
• weather: would favor passers IF either team had one. Prolly favors the better/warmer-conditioned squadron. EDGE=unknown?
• health/off-field: Both teams are (actually) pretty dang catch-corp, crippled. 3 RU Wr’s out and that is barely trumped by 2-4 grag-gangers from VT likely down as well.
• penalties: RU is a salty 9th best in yellow laundry this year; and Pry and Co. have come penalizing clean too. EDGE=push.
• Intangibles: 2nd best in TOP (time of possession) and Top-20 in the all-important Turnover Margin marker is very tight. Over 100 spots tighter than Tech as Clockwork Orange goes. EDGE=RU, by nearly 11 minutes! Yikes.
• fatigue: Same or N/A (yet).
• BONUS: this is our only visit to a: FieldTurf Tarkett surfacing team. Think C.F.L. Bob-n-Doug’s version of “Great White North’ bad-weather savvy carpeting, ‘eh’. (That typically does not do the unfamiliar team any favors; either!) EDGE=the RU sneakers.

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of  Scarlets who could O’Hara @Tech=14, maybe 14.75.

the takeaway:

…the takeaway is… the RU program is half full: it took four years to build it up before the breakthrough 2oo5 season. The RH program is half empty: the Big East in the 2ooo’s didn’t have teams like Michigan, ‘the’ Ohio State, and Penn.State. Did it?

---

Since his return, Rutgers has gone o’fer-9 against the Big Ten East’s big 3 by an average score of 42-15 to the ‘rong and it was only that close because of a wild-west 48-42 shootout L to the Wolverines back in 2o2o.

…’half full’ of what Eye leave to you the between the lines… reader.

Still yet, and as said above… peeps need to study the Class-Rank metrics of the rather rank-looking ’22 Knights before they and their High-Horse both… glue-factory, dismount.

Maybe that longview works out… and maybe it don’t?

Tho’ that is a rejoinder for ’25 either way.

That, and ’23 could and prolly should beat ’22, put it that glorified scrimmage way.

***

xxx‘s & ooo‘s:
Not sure Eye sees a brilliant Staff in this one… so, Eye’ll go Point-G1 and pass on this one here.

formulae here favors

…The Hokies had seven plays; that’s (7) that gained 2o+ yards vs. Purdue— all threw the air. With a ground-gaining max’ of 14 yards. Against O.d.u. the F’n Gobblers had nine, that’s (9) hurls of 10+ yards or more— and one, that’s (1) tote north of 8-yards (good fo’ 1o, itself).

…do you see a trend, here folks?

Game Ball or mag·num o·pus:

People; who, don’t… watch?

permutations:

1. Δ1=7o% that this one is not easy on the eyes.
2. Δ2=20% that this one is an eye-gouge or a Gorilla Monson trunk-digging for an international object.
3. Δ3=1o% that Cobra-Ky’ is actually *their* boy and that he sparks something that Golfy or white-bread g.Wells could not.

#ChallangeA.c.c.epted… there are 1,440 minutes in a day and we gonna need at least 60 minutes to win here. Maybe even extra innings.

Rutgers Projected S&P+: 79th.
s.Knights Projected S&P wins: . 5.9 W’s.

the optics…

The Scarlet Knights are 6-1 when running for 14o yards or more, tho’ it’s more about just being able to get moving just a little bit with mo’ than a little bit going for them over on D. As in… over the last three years they’re 1-9 when not getting to 1oo yards rushing and 6-1 when they get to 2oo on the ground. Centennial and bicentennial markers are your MB’s of mercury or in-game barometer(s) here.

We hold them beneath 100 groundings and we have a shot, they get it ground-n-pound going and we have a ricochet shot if that.

the skinny…

Big Tenner isn’t always… better. Check it… Rutgers hasn’t won more than five games in a season in the last three years and has watched its Big Ten win total drop from: 3 to 2 to 1. The Scarlet Knights were outscored in conference play 3o9-1o5 last season. ~-3oo% ppg deficit in-house does not project(s), well.

WWI: “The Great War”…

Trench Warfare favors…

Lo.FM (Long-field Management©)

• Rutgers is a modest looking 86th best in 1st-down O | whereas VeeTee is just a little better though less than average at 77th best in 1st-down D allowed.
• VeeTee is a suspect looking 99th best in 1st-down O | whereas Rutgers is a kinda sporty 4oth best in 1st-down D allowed.
• Rutgers is a gamey 38th best in 3rd down O | whereas VeeTee is a user-friendly 1o1st best in 3rd-down D allowed!
• VeeTee is a blotchy 95th best 3rd down O | whereas Rutgers is a downright solid 4oth best in 3rd-down D allowed!

Lo.FM Analysis:
Well(s), this one does not encode good for the good guys. Neither team is much mo’ than generic on 1st-down though the s.Knights know that Knight-time is the right time after that. That, and it sure looks like the Ty.Bow’ O will have a very difficult time remaining on schedule or not really chasing the sticks in this one here. EDGE=RU. (Not real close, either).

TTT (Time To Throw©)

• Rutgers is a champion level 8th best in sacks allowed O | whilst VeeTee is a: ‘competitive’ 16th best in sacks inflicted D.
• VeeTee is a slightly decent 57th best in sacks allowed O | whilst Rutgers is a forwarding 28th best in sacks inflicted D.
• Rutgers is a pretty blocky 35th best in TFL (tackles for a loss) allowed O | whilst VeeTee is a: ‘very competitive’ 14th best hard-charging in TFL inflicted D!
• VeeTee is a partially inviting 82nd best in TFL allowed O | whilst Rutgers is not as hard as expected 82nd best in TFL inflicted D.

TTT Analysis:
Well, this one had a juke-move (or two) to it. This one favors defenses (plural) and that prolly favors an Under looksee for you Vegas types. As neither offense is very offensive here; other than the s.Knights pass-pro’ which does round-table into passing V-cup shape sharply enough. Likewise, the RU blocking front-5 that plugs away steadily enuff. EDGE=RU, a nearly good edge though not quite great.

Trench Warfare favors… RU pretty decent overall here.

3-game splits, H/A, these both say wait until next time b.street.

Our handy dandy friend, the so-called: Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is merely not much of anything with no opponents in common to round-robin.

Triangle Theory says… same.

the call…

…not a whole helluva a lot to call for here folks— in particular if you like The Who and pinball wizard offense.

IF, however, you like defense, you may have come to the right place. As SHI Stadium may not be scoreboard rocking and this one may just have an N.J. Generals sans Her.Walker kinda flavor to it.

With no word from the scoring machines: the Situation or Snookie as of yet.

–oOo–

the sportlight…

…here in the sportlight… we ain’t exactly expecting this one to be keepin’ the party totally lit.

Nonetheless, that could make for a good close-tight football game; albeit a lowercase octane one. As in do not die of shock if this one goes time-trap or Mister Peabody’s WABAC Machine and reverts into something of a Big East battery-chucking or rock-throwing contest.

With no word from anyone buried over in the Meadowlands…

♥  ♣  ♦ ∪

The VerdicT:

…as offensively impoverished as these two clubs have most recently been… Eye could see why you might describe this as a race to twenty-five. Or maybe a race to 2o.

As in… in ’22 RU scored 17 or fewer points in eight of 12 games. So, 2.5 plays could in theory be enuff to win this one here.

20’ish. The first one there wins?

Not umpossible. As points will be at a premium here. Maybe even a 2-score race to 14?

---

Nonetheless, ~27% of our 1’s are dinged, dented, or flat-out; out.

That makes it ’bout 8o-85% tough to take Tech, here.

FREE 🐍-Ky‘-🥋!!!

However, therefore, ergo and to Whit… here nursing my 3o4 Friday nite coffee’s plural -and if you ask me- which you did via reading these very words…

…IF you asks me?

They gonna pop-clean for *their* boy Cobra-Ky’.

Don’t know if that is quite enough emotional bandwidth to go Eagle Fang or Miyagi-Do and win the All-Valley as the visitor.

Nevertheless, methinks they surprise a bit here and this one is gonna be he who scores last laughs, last.

Not exactly a RUTgerS day.

💯

🙏>>>🏈

upset Index=29%

#wimps!

Virginia Tech=17, Rutgers=27

“LETS GO!“

Please support the VT F.C.A.!

“HOKIES!“

bourbonstreet**