Pressure on from day one, September 3rd

[Mr_Twister]

With the current mess at Northwestern, the pressure to win is on from day one of the 2023 season.
A season-opening loss at home to Northwestern would rival the ignominy of the loss to New Hampshire, and the Rutgers alumni Spring game victory.

 

[Knight Shift]

No it would not. Not even close.

 

[dconifer0]

After the summer of 2018 at Maryland, where a player actually died and the coach was suspended and fired, all we heard was about how the demoralized team was going to collapse. Then they went out and beat nationally-ranked Texas on opening day (for the second year in a row). I wouldn't write NU off over this...

 

[e5fdny]

No it would not. Not even close.

Agree.

But to the OP’s point this is like a bowl game prep (which the current HC is pretty darn good at) with an extra week of practice thrown in.

 

[newell138]

With the current mess at Northwestern, the pressure to win is on from day one of the 2023 season.
A season-opening loss at home to Northwestern would rival the ignominy of the loss to New Hampshire, and the Rutgers alumni Spring game victory.

Seems a bit dramatic and unnecessary since I just read we are going 8-0

 

[Knight Shift]

Agree.

But to the OP’s point this is like a bowl game prep (which the current HC is pretty darn good at) with an extra week of practice thrown in.

I've interacted with the OP on these forums. IIRC, he's not an alum, lives in Florida, but has some interest in Rutgers, perhaps because OP lived in Jersey or has some sort of Jersey connection. Has promoted SEC and Finebaum in the past. That's fine, as Rutgers could use all of the core and peripheral fans they can get. He does like to make provocative posts, and that's fine too, but he should expect some push back.

A post like the original post in this thread, however, is a dog whistle for the usual suspects (there are about 5-10 of them), and the dogs will come running at the fresh meat that has been posted. Whatever.

I recall listening to a discussion on Twitter with the eternally optimistic Aaron Breitman (of the Scarlet Faithful blog) and @mb5789 a few days ago, and the general tenor of the discussion is that the ante is certainly raised with all of the crap that has hit the fan in Evansville. They could be a mess and circling the wagons, letting a DC be the interim HC with no P5 coaching experience.

The other side of the coin, however, is sometimes a situation like the one in Evansville can galvanize a team in one of two ways: (1) if the team was mostly behind the former HC, they are going to show the world that the higher ups were wrong about Fitz; (2) if the team glad Fitz is gone because of all of the dysfunction, this will galvanize the team. It's a fair question to ask what was going on under Fitz and the effect on the team looking at:
2019: 3-9/1-8
2020: 7-2/6-1 (covid year fluke?)
2021: 3-9/1-8
2022: 1-11/1-8 (ironically, Fitz' last victory was over dysfunctional Frost-led Nebraska)

As a student of leadership and its tactics, this will be an interesting one for Northwestern.

 

[e5fdny]

As a student of leadership and its tactics, this will be an interesting one for Northwestern.

And for us too.

Which, without the added hyperbole of the original post, is true as well.

 

[Jtung230]

Pressure is always on to be 1-0 every week

 

[e5fdny]

Pressure is always on to be 1-0 every week

During the bye week too.

 

[Jtung230]

During the bye week too.

Keep chopping

 

[MADHAT1]

Not one of us can be sure of how NU will be taking Frits firing, but I would guess the coaches there are stressing the we're all in this together and let's go out and show them what this team is made of.

No staff turnover besides the HC ,who was replaced by the newest member,means ( in my opinion) the coaches know how to use this scandal to motivate the players for the first game of season by stressing lets show the world we are winners and not what they think we are.

 

[Mr_Twister]

I've interacted with the OP on these forums. IIRC, he's not an alum, lives in Florida, but has some interest in Rutgers, perhaps because OP lived in Jersey or has some sort of Jersey connection. Has promoted SEC and Finebaum in the past. That's fine, as Rutgers could use all of the core and peripheral fans they can get. He does like to make provocative posts, and that's fine too, but he should expect some push back.

A post like the original post in this thread, however, is a dog whistle for the usual suspects (there are about 5-10 of them), and the dogs will come running at the fresh meat that has been posted. Whatever.

I recall listening to a discussion on Twitter with the eternally optimistic Aaron Breitman (of the Scarlet Faithful blog) and @mb5789 a few days ago, and the general tenor of the discussion is that the ante is certainly raised with all of the crap that has hit the fan in Evansville. They could be a mess and circling the wagons, letting a DC be the interim HC with no P5 coaching experience.

The other side of the coin, however, is sometimes a situation like the one in Evansville can galvanize a team in one of two ways: (1) if the team was mostly behind the former HC, they are going to show the world that the higher ups were wrong about Fitz; (2) if the team glad Fitz is gone because of all of the dysfunction, this will galvanize the team. It's a fair question to ask what was going on under Fitz and the effect on the team looking at:
2019: 3-9/1-8
2020: 7-2/6-1 (covid year fluke?)
2021: 3-9/1-8
2022: 1-11/1-8 (ironically, Fitz' last victory was over dysfunctional Frost-led Nebraska)

As a student of leadership and its tactics, this will be an interesting one for Northwestern.

You can add to the profile … 30 years and more season ticket buyer for both Rutgers football and basketball, starting before you got priority points for your patronage. Despite hardly getting to enough games, I still support our programs, giving away my ducats and parking tags to fellow Rutgers fans. I do not sell the tickets and parking tags. I’m happy putting Rutgers fans in my ideal seats and parking.

 

[cubuffsdoug_rivals]

Why do RU fans always look at things from a negative POV? It's that mindset that opposing fans jump on and mock us. Those same RU fans are suddenly appalled that others think so lowly of us.

If we talk a good game like everyone else, opposing fans don't mock you over time because they believe the hype too.

 

[Knight Shift]

You can add to the profile … 30 years and more season ticket buyer for both Rutgers football and basketball, starting before you got priority points for your patronage. Despite hardly getting to enough games, I still support our programs, giving away my ducats and parking tags to fellow Rutgers fans. I do not sell the tickets and parking tags. I’m happy putting Rutgers fans in my ideal seats and parking.

Thank you!!! Sorry, but disagree with magnitude of losing to Wildcats. I agree it "should" be a win, but Wildcats could be a wild card for the reasons I posted above. It's not the "end" of the season if RU loses, but it will put a huge dent in Rutgers getting to six wins. I've ranked the games in winnability (not a word, I know) before:

"Should" be wins:
Wagner
Temple
Indiana
Northwestern- Va Tech

Toss-ups (win 1 or more?): (these could very well all be losses too- 2 out of 3 will be tough):
Michigan State-Maryland-Iowa

Likely Losses (in order of difficulty):
Ohio State
Michigan
Penn State
Wisconsin

 

[Knight Shift]

Why do RU fans always look at things from a negative POV? It's that mindset that opposing fans jump on and mock us. Those same RU fans are suddenly appalled that others think so lowly of us.

If we talk a good game like everyone else, opposing fans don't mock you over time because they believe the hype too.

IDK, could be years of futility since 2015?

As usual, hope springs eternal pre-season. I'm more optimistic than usual about this season, but questions linger about the passing game. Stoked about defense though.

 

[RUforlife]

Year four of a rebuild in the transfer portal era and anything short of an earned bowl game is unacceptable. Throw in the fact that we will likely never play four weaker teams in the first five games going forward and there is no excuse why the head coach should not be held accountable to win 6 or 7 games this year. There are no more free years, it is time to win.

 

[scarletbergen]

We are still a year away from significant wins, but I am very hopeful that this season will be a fun build up

 

[MADHAT1]

We are still a year away from significant wins, but I am very hopeful that this season will be a fun build up

if not a winning season with a bowl game as a reward this year , a season that shows the type of competitiveness that gives hope the team is on the right track to become a winner soon

 

[Scarlet Jerry]

Northwestern is not our must win game - Wagner is. We will have increased national attention on the Northwestern game though, just because of the scandal. We know that we will have a strong defense, but the big question is if our offense can move the ball. The running back room is strong, but can the QBs reliably complete short passes and will the offensive line show improvement? Those two factors will determine our season this year. I still think we are a year away, but I’m an optimist and I hope that we can scrape together 6 wins.

Scarlet Jerry

 

[MADHAT1]

Northwestern is not our must win game - Wagner is. We will have increased national attention on the Northwestern game though, just because of the scandal. We know that we will have a strong defense, but the big question is if our offense can move the ball. The running back room is strong, but can the QBs reliably complete short passes and will the offensive line show improvement? Those two factors will determine our season this year. I still think we are a year away, but I’m an optimist and I hope that we can scrape together 6 wins.

Scarlet Jerry

Beg to differ,
Northwestern is a must win game , even if only for attendance purposes.
A loss will have fans feel the season won't be so good and coud decise4d that going to Temple and VT will be a waste of time.
Even a beat-down of Temple might not help fans returning to see the VT game.
Northwestern will be the game that will have casual fans thinking Rutgers might have something on the ball this year and might be worth seeing play the next two games if it's a win.
A loss might bring out lets find something else to do from casual fans and some season ticket holders , feeling Rutgers isn't going to be any good this year and might as well not waste out time going to their next two home games..

 

[Rufaninga]

Why do RU fans always look at things from a negative POV?

Fans are conditioned by results on the field.
Take 2007 for example, that summer people had high expectations. The sleeping giant was finally awakened..

A few sub .500 seasons and fans believe most games are more likely to end in a loss vs a W.

Winning cures that fan disease

 

[cubuffsdoug_rivals]

Fans are conditioned by results on the field.
Take 2007 for example, that summer people had high expectations. The sleeping giant was finally awakened..

A few sub .500 seasons and fans believe most games are more likely to end in a loss vs a W.

Winning cures that fan disease

Winning doesn't cure it. When we were winning during that stretch (2005-2014), you had fans still thinking the worse has yet to come. I chalk it up to a lack of self-esteem and projecting that issue onto everything important to them. I love the posters who tells every to remain focus for the next game. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. When did fan focus impact the out come of the game?

As a fan, I have no problem enjoying the opportunity to feel good about a chance to smash an opponent down on their luck. I say enjoy the moment because you're not guaranteed another in future. Trust me, the players will be more than focused.

 

[Section124]

Winning doesn't cure it. When we were winning during that stretch (2005-2014), you had fans still thinking the worse has yet to come. I chalk it up to a lack of self-esteem and projecting that issue onto everything important to them. I love the posters who tells every to remain focus for the next game. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. When did fan focus impact the out come of the game?

As a fan, I have no problem enjoying the opportunity to feel good about a chance to smash an opponent down on their luck. I say enjoy the moment because you're not guaranteed another in future. Trust me, the players will be more than focused.

Maybe the lack of self esteem is related to:

We beat Michigan St. Lose the next week to New Hampshire.
Beat Louisville and lose the next week to Cincinnati.
Choked at UCONN, against Penn St and Louisville when they all mattered.

We had some nice seasons during that run but the issue is we never really won anything (except a share of a Big East title). This fan base wants more. First we just want to score points and be competitive.

 

[Extra Point_rivals157299]

I wouldn't be that dramatic about Northwestern. They are a B1G team and wounded at that. A loss wouldn't surprise me. But I am confident that Rutgers will win, RU is going to be tough team. If Rutgers scores 3 or 7 points the game is over. And I expect the offense to be a scoring machine this year.

 

[Mr_Twister]

Year four of a rebuild in the transfer portal era and anything short of an earned bowl game is unacceptable. Throw in the fact that we will likely never play four weaker teams in the first five games going forward and there is no excuse why the head coach should not be held accountable to win 6 or 7 games this year. There are no more free years, it is time to win.

It is time to win. Always has been. Playing 3 teams each year who have a comparable or better player at every position (but punter) doesn’t give our program much margin for error.

 

[Joey Bags]

Going to be very, very tough to beat NW. Coaches will have them ready to put up points even with everything going on, and we still have ZERO offense whatsoever 4 years into a rebuild.

 

[Waldo73]

How can you even equqte Northwestern with New Hampshire?

 

[RUGuitarMan1]

We are still a year away from significant wins, but I am very hopeful that this season will be a fun build up

Why are we a year away from significant wins? The staff has had 3 full years to put their plan into place. We have heard endlessly about the majesty of the “culture” that is being built. With access to the transfer portal and now 3 full recruiting classes in place, I would anticipate much improvement on the field in regard to wins/losses. 4 or 5 wins with 1 or 2 conf. wins and several blowout losses isn’t getting it done. The RU fan base should expect 6 wins and a bowl bid this year at least. This is big time college football, not let’s try hard to win some games.

 

[cubuffsdoug_rivals]

Going to be very, very tough to beat NW. Coaches will have them ready to put up points even with everything going on, and we still have ZERO offense whatsoever 4 years into a rebuild.

See, I love that approach. NW has the worst offense in the B1G, but somehow they will be able to score at will against our defense. What makes this statement silly is that they lost a ton of talent on offense and didn't replace all of it. Meanwhile, our fans mock our offense, which is better than NW. Somehow our fans see everyone else as superior to Rutgers without knowing the facts about either team. Btw, their defense is the worst in the B1G too.

 

[Frabjous_rivals]

I've interacted with the OP on these forums. IIRC, he's not an alum, lives in Florida, but has some interest in Rutgers, perhaps because OP lived in Jersey or has some sort of Jersey connection. Has promoted SEC and Finebaum in the past. That's fine, as Rutgers could use all of the core and peripheral fans they can get. He does like to make provocative posts, and that's fine too, but he should expect some push back.

A post like the original post in this thread, however, is a dog whistle for the usual suspects (there are about 5-10 of them), and the dogs will come running at the fresh meat that has been posted. Whatever.

I recall listening to a discussion on Twitter with the eternally optimistic Aaron Breitman (of the Scarlet Faithful blog) and @mb5789 a few days ago, and the general tenor of the discussion is that the ante is certainly raised with all of the crap that has hit the fan in Evansville. They could be a mess and circling the wagons, letting a DC be the interim HC with no P5 coaching experience.

The other side of the coin, however, is sometimes a situation like the one in Evansville can galvanize a team in one of two ways: (1) if the team was mostly behind the former HC, they are going to show the world that the higher ups were wrong about Fitz; (2) if the team glad Fitz is gone because of all of the dysfunction, this will galvanize the team. It's a fair question to ask what was going on under Fitz and the effect on the team looking at:
2019: 3-9/1-8
2020: 7-2/6-1 (covid year fluke?)
2021: 3-9/1-8
2022: 1-11/1-8 (ironically, Fitz' last victory was over dysfunctional Frost-led Nebraska)

As a student of leadership and its tactics, this will be an interesting one for Northwestern.

The Purple Aces are in Evansville, the Purple Wildcats are in Evanston.

 

[RU848789]

Thank you!!! Sorry, but disagree with magnitude of losing to Wildcats. I agree it "should" be a win, but Wildcats could be a wild card for the reasons I posted above. It's not the "end" of the season if RU loses, but it will put a huge dent in Rutgers getting to six wins. I've ranked the games in winnability (not a word, I know) before:

"Should" be wins:
Wagner
Temple
Indiana
Northwestern- Va Tech

Toss-ups (win 1 or more?): (these could very well all be losses too- 2 out of 3 will be tough):
Michigan State-Maryland-Iowa

Likely Losses (in order of difficulty):
Ohio State
Michigan
Penn State
Wisconsin

Agree with just about all of this. We should beat NW, but will not be more than a few point favorite at home, so it's far from a given (and a loss would be nowhere near the magnitude of that NH loss), although a loss will be a gut-punch and will really hurt our chances of getting to a bowl. Good post.

 

[Knight Shift]

The Purple Aces are in Evansville, the Purple Wildcats are in Evanston.

Thanks. Evanston, Evansville, Evan Dando. . . . . Out here on the coast. . .

Seriously, I like to be accurate, but once I f something like this up once, I will make the same mistake over and over again. It's an incurable disease I have.

 

[Knight Shift]

Northwestern is not our must win game - Wagner is. We will have increased national attention on the Northwestern game though, just because of the scandal. We know that we will have a strong defense, but the big question is if our offense can move the ball. The running back room is strong, but can the QBs reliably complete short passes and will the offensive line show improvement? Those two factors will determine our season this year. I still think we are a year away, but I’m an optimist and I hope that we can scrape together 6 wins.

Scarlet Jerry

If RU loses to Wagner, I will personally storm the field and tear down the goal posts.

 

[Colbert17!]

People posting on this board about the possibility of losing to Wagner are less realistic than the ones who predict a Michigan or tOSU win. This will be as bad or worse than last year's game.
And does a fan base obsess over a loss from 19 years ago like we do over the UNH game?
Let it go.

 

[Knight Shift]

Maybe the lack of self esteem is related to:

We beat Michigan St. Lose the next week to New Hampshire.
Beat Louisville and lose the next week to Cincinnati.
Choked at UCONN, against Penn St and Louisville when they all mattered.

We had some nice seasons during that run but the issue is we never really won anything (except a share of a Big East title). This fan base wants more. First we just want to score points and be competitive.

Really? Long time ago.

 

[Joey Bags]

If RU loses to Wagner, I will personally storm the field and tear down the goal posts.

They played Putin to a draw, so we better bring our A game

 

[Knight Shift]

They played Putin to a draw, so we better bring our A game

I'm sorry, I'm missing the point or the joke. It's late,and I'm tired and more dense than usual. Help me out.

 

[MURF87]

I'm sorry, I'm missing the point or the joke. It's late,and I'm tired and more dense than usual. Help me out.

He’s talking about Prigozhin’s company of mercenaries Wagner, and the recent attempt to get to Moscow.

 

[Knight Shift]

He’s talking about Prighozin’s company of mercenaries Wagner, and the recent attempt to get to Moscow.

But . . . . for me:

 

[read option]

I think the pressure is on the O to be clicking from the get go. Can’t come slow out the gate and either fall behind or keep NW in the game. Need to establish the LOS, Wimsatt needs to complete the throws he should, need to be smart with the football. Game 1 is on the O.