This Game was a Building Block

Colbert17!

Heisman
Aug 30, 2014
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Well true . But today was winnable and we didn’t even make a game of it really . I think many fans fear the season may be collapsing
Not me. If you told me in August that on this date we’d be 4-2 I’d say that that was about right and anyone who thought better would have been delusional.
Once again for me the success of this season is hinged on the next two weeks
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
11,743
10,866
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The biggest problem is Greg Schiano. More intent on playing a chess match with himself trying to will a 10-7 final score so purposely avoiding trying to score, who tries not to put an offense in position to win until its too late and the game is likely out of reach

Just curious where you are getting that take from this game? We ran 38 pass plays vs. 22 run plays. A STUPID play call (stark opposite of conservative) resulted in a 17-0 halftime score rather than 10-3 at worst if we had played Schiano ball there and just kept it on the ground.

We recruited a 4 star QB, but he clearly has accuracy issues that limit his game and, in turn, limit our offense. To me - that’s the only real take away I see from this particular game. You want to blame that on Schiano - ok I guess - he recruited GW, but I’m not sure accuracy is always something a coaching staff can fix in a QB. Nor does it make the loss contributable to conservative play either. We weren’t really conservative - we just couldn’t execute. There’s no magical scheme that easily gets you over the hump of a non-existent run game.

But we have a good defense that is going to keep us in games. That’s the good news. We’re not a laughing stock anymore and we’re clearly getting closer to being pretty good. Your take here in bashing the coach just seems a bit harsh to me right now given where we are.
 
Jun 7, 2001
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Just curious where you are getting that take from this game? We ran 38 pass plays vs. 22 run plays. A STUPID play call (stark opposite of conservative) resulted in a 17-0 halftime score rather than 10-3 at worst if we had played Schiano ball there and just kept it on the ground.

We recruited a 4 star QB, but he clearly has accuracy issues that limit his game and, in turn, limit our offense. To me - that’s the only real take away I see from this particular game. You want to blame that on Schiano - ok I guess - he recruited GW, but I’m not sure accuracy is always something a coaching staff can fix in a QB. Nor does it make the loss contributable to conservative play either. We weren’t really conservative - we just couldn’t execute. There’s no magical scheme that easily gets you over the hump of a non-existent run game.

But we have a good defense that is going to keep us in games. That’s the good news. We’re not a laughing stock anymore and we’re clearly getting closer to being pretty good. Your take here in bashing the coach just seems a bit harsh to me right now given where we are.
For where we’re at, we’ll likely beat the teams we’re supposed to beat, and struggle with the rest
 
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jsol_05

All-Conference
Jul 2, 2005
4,911
2,621
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I actually didn’t have a problem with the way GS coached this game until he didn’t take the late FG. It was 10-0 on the road with a QB who was playing poorly. If he doesn’t throw a killer INT it’s no worse than 10-3 at half. We played well in 3Q. Easily could’ve been a one score game late.

Also, let’s not ignore that Fickle wants to go up and down the field and handpicked his QB. You think he was happy his offense had 10 on us in the first half? Our defense is very good. That’s Schiano too.
The goal is to win, not to be very good in a loss.
 
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PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
11,743
10,866
78
For where we’re at, we’ll likely beat the teams we’re supposed to beat, and struggle with the rest

I really hope we can grind out yards against Indiana and Michigan State. I think (hope) their defensive fronts will be closer to VTech and NW than Michigan / Wisconsin and we’ll have more success.

The big question is - what if that’s not the case? Or inevitably - when we play Iowa, Maryland, PSU? OSU I chalk up to an automatic pounding and I’m just hoping nobody gets hurt. My question is - if we can’t run the ball at all on another given day, should we be sticking with Gavin? The film from yesterday indicates that Evan might deserve a crack at running a few series in a game where we must throw the ball a lot and the D is completely shutting down our run game. I’m not proposing Gavin should be benched - I’m saying the next time Kyle and company are on par for a collective rush day of only 20 yards - what then?
 
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kupuna133

All-American
Jul 13, 2015
6,074
6,713
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Just curious where you are getting that take from this game? We ran 38 pass plays vs. 22 run plays. A STUPID play call (stark opposite of conservative) resulted in a 17-0 halftime score rather than 10-3 at worst if we had played Schiano ball there and just kept it on the ground.
There is no debate the playcalling is conservative and predictable to a fault. The issue is Kirk takes gambles when he should get vanilla. Calling a TE screen coming out of your end zone in the 1q lead to a short field. Not called for. A draw would have a better result if he wants to mix it up

He made all the right calls on that end of quarter drive only to **** the bed inside of the 5 yard line. Why call a 35 yard throw across the field when rhe DB only has to defend 15 yards and doesn’t have to worry about being beat deep? That situation calls for playing vanilla not taking risks. Made the same mistakes in the Michigan game with playcalling. Inside the 10’yard line on both ends of the field everything speeds up. This is the time to slow everything down.
 

tico brown

Heisman
Oct 16, 2005
43,245
13,285
93
I’m probably the only idiot here who thinks like this and I’m sure he and everyone else wouldn’t give a rats 🍑. But Instagram Al has grown on me. Hearing him say what he writes comes out better and may convince others to at least give it a thought, if any of this makes sense.

Oh well, on to next week.
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
11,743
10,866
78
There is no debate the playcalling is conservative and predictable to a fault. The issue is Kirk takes gambles when he should get vanilla. Calling a TE screen coming out of your end zone in the 1q lead to a short field. Not called for. A draw would have a better result if he wants to mix it up

He made all the right calls on that end of quarter drive only to **** the bed inside of the 5 yard line. Why call a 35 yard throw across the field when rhe DB only has to defend 15 yards and doesn’t have to worry about being beat deep? That situation calls for playing vanilla not taking risks. Made the same mistakes in the Michigan game with playcalling. Inside the 10’yard line on both ends of the field everything speeds up. This is the time to slow everything down.

I’m not saying we don’t play a conservative style. My point was only that I fail to see how conservative play was the problem in this game. As you said - taking a chance that was uncalled for was the turning point in this game.
 

LotusAggressor_rivals

All-American
Oct 11, 2003
15,267
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you coach with the talent you have on the roster and have faith in.
Right now the Rutgers roster is not a real talented one and Schiano need to maximize
it's strength calling the game, while minimizing the weaknesses in order to have a better chance of winning.
Mistakes are made playing to conservative on the offensive end , but if the OL isn't one that can protect and open holes easily a wide open offense might prove more mistake prone
Especially if the QB hasn't proved ready for a staring role and just shows flashes of greatness along with looking , at times, like he still isn't ready to be the man.
The problem is that you can't effectively play a conservative defense-run-the-ball-punt-and-play-field position style of football without a dominant or at least consistently above average OL. That kind of football requires sustaining drives and picking up third downs to move the chains. RU was able to do that in the 4 wins against inferior opposition. We've seen in the last 2 games that it won't work against better teams. There were 6 punts in the 1st half against Wisconsin. 4 of the drives were 3 and outs.
 
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kupuna133

All-American
Jul 13, 2015
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I’m not saying we don’t play a conservative style. My point was only that I fail to see how conservative play was the problem in this game. As you said - taking a chance that was uncalled for was the turning point in this game.
It’s not that it’s conservative. It’s that it’s conservative and predictable. Very little change in formation and package. No problem with running the ball. It’s as others have said. No reason to call this offense RPO because there is no option at all. It is predetermined handoff predetermined pass. There is no read. Because if there was in fact a read Gavin would be sitting on the bench because he is misreading on most plays.
 

fg7321

All-American
Nov 29, 2009
4,259
5,133
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I’m probably the only idiot here who thinks like this and I’m sure he and everyone else wouldn’t give a rats 🍑. But Instagram Al has grown on me. Hearing him say what he writes comes out better and may convince others to at least give it a thought, if any of this makes sense.

Oh well, on to next week.
That's because the team is getting better and growing to the level of Al's posts.
 

brgRC90

Heisman
Apr 8, 2008
34,957
15,859
0
The goal is to win, not to be very good in a loss.
And they weren't very good in a loss.
3 plays 5 yds
5 plays 37 yds
3 plays 5 yds
3 plays 7 yds
3 plays 0 yds
9 plays 69 yds INT for TD
7 plays 26 yds
3 plays -6 yds
10 plays 57 yds TD
3 plays 4 yds
7 plays 59 yds
3 plays 21 yds TD
 
Oct 17, 2007
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A little over the top with that. Northwestern is 3-3, and VT is looking good with Mimes at QB, but neither are very good.

Don't be silly, we should have replaced Wagner with Georgia and GS should have lobbied the B1G to remove NW and replace them with playing tOSU again.

In year 4 after Chris Ash I expect to have the mercy rule called on the road in RU's favor at Michigan. Anything less is simply unacceptable.

(BTW you know they're cuing up to say after we get a bowl bid that we only beat bad teams like they did in GS 1.0, accuracy aside).
 

Plum Street

Heisman
Jun 21, 2009
27,306
23,009
0
Not me. If you told me in August that on this date we’d be 4-2 I’d say that that was about right and anyone who thought better would have been delusional.
Once again for me the success of this season is hinged on the next two weeks
I agree . Just win 2 more and it’s a successful season
But man we had a chance and now have little margin for error
 

MADHAT1

Heisman
Apr 1, 2003
30,630
15,607
113
Halfway through the season, the only two losses are @Michigan and @Wisconsin. Many are complaining. Really an odd bunch..
the Debbie owner agenda comes first, for many here .
Some because they wished and hoped for years Rutgers would be a top program only to feel defeat and some who just don't like Rutgers and want to put it down every chance they get
Peter Positive isn't in their makeup
 

LotusAggressor_rivals

All-American
Oct 11, 2003
15,267
7,008
113
Anything less than 6 wins is a failure. That pretty much makes MSU and Indiana must wins. Unless there's a hidden plan B with this offense, this level of performance isn't going to cut it against Iowa, Ohio State, Maryland, and Penn State. The level of offensive futility displayed in this game might result in not winning another game without the defense and special teams scoring.
 

Knight Shift

Heisman
May 19, 2011
85,705
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113
Anything less than 6 wins is a failure. That pretty much makes MSU and Indiana must wins. Unless there's a hidden plan B with this offense, this level of performance isn't going to cut it against Iowa, Ohio State, Maryland, and Penn State. The level of offensive futility displayed in this game might result in not winning another game without the defense and special teams scoring.
I'm calling it now. We beat Iowa 2-0.
 

yessir321

All-Conference
Sep 26, 2018
3,313
2,229
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Just curious where you are getting that take from this game? We ran 38 pass plays vs. 22 run plays. A STUPID play call (stark opposite of conservative) resulted in a 17-0 halftime score rather than 10-3 at worst if we had played Schiano ball there and just kept it on the ground.

We recruited a 4 star QB, but he clearly has accuracy issues that limit his game and, in turn, limit our offense. To me - that’s the only real take away I see from this particular game. You want to blame that on Schiano - ok I guess - he recruited GW, but I’m not sure accuracy is always something a coaching staff can fix in a QB. Nor does it make the loss contributable to conservative play either. We weren’t really conservative - we just couldn’t execute. There’s no magical scheme that easily gets you over the hump of a non-existent run game.

But we have a good defense that is going to keep us in games. That’s the good news. We’re not a laughing stock anymore and we’re clearly getting closer to being pretty good. Your take here in bashing the coach just seems a bit harsh to me right now given where we are.
I don't disagree with most of this, where it gets frustrating is Greg's unwillingness to go out and even bring in competition for Gavin. Iron sharpens Iron, the roster is directly on the HC now in year 4 and last season it was clear as day Gavin had accuracy issues, that's nothing new. When the offense is so bad that you fire the OC midway through the year and go out and spend $1.4 million per year on a new flashy coordinator you expect better results.

The next two weeks are the make or break of our season.
 

Samson1975!!!

Junior
Nov 22, 2022
300
296
63
Why are fans still blaming the recievers and the blocking? The offensive line has been pretty stout this year in pass protection and while our recievers might not be the fastest athletes or ace route runners just yet, they have been making circus catches while covered pretty consistently.
 
Jun 7, 2001
34,541
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I don't disagree with most of this, where it gets frustrating is Greg's unwillingness to go out and even bring in competition for Gavin. Iron sharpens Iron, the roster is directly on the HC now in year 4 and last season it was clear as day Gavin had accuracy issues, that's nothing new. When the offense is so bad that you fire the OC midway through the year and go out and spend $1.4 million per year on a new flashy coordinator you expect better results.

The next two weeks are the make or break of our season.
His overall accuracy is acceptable. Last time I checked it was 53.8%, which will be brought down by Saturdays game. Where he needs to get better is avoiding the pick 6 throws, which have happened in each of the last two games. We get the next two games, and we’re where we need to be.
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
11,743
10,866
78
Point taken.
Gavin has now played in 18 games. Not sure how many P5 Coaches in CFB today would keep him as the starting QB based on what he has shown. Well we know there is one.

I don't disagree with most of this, where it gets frustrating is Greg's unwillingness to go out and even bring in competition for Gavin. Iron sharpens Iron, the roster is directly on the HC now in year 4 and last season it was clear as day Gavin had accuracy issues, that's nothing new. When the offense is so bad that you fire the OC midway through the year and go out and spend $1.4 million per year on a new flashy coordinator you expect better results.

The next two weeks are the make or break of our season.

Greg was in a bind with Gavin for this season. We couldn’t recruit over him. Think of the message that would send. We took this kid away from his senior year of high school. Hurt last season. Greg had to go all in with him this year but he doesn’t necessarily need Gavin to pan out. As long as we show improvement in most other aspects of the game that’ll be more than enough to keep him around. Losing out with a non-existent run game would be the only way he’s on the hot seat in my opinion.
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
11,743
10,866
78
His overall accuracy is acceptable. Last time I checked it was 53.8%, which will be brought down by Saturdays game. Where he needs to get better is avoiding the pick 6 throws, which have happened in each of the last two games. We get the next two games, and we’re where we need to be.
His accuracy is good enough for a low volume passing QB whose role is to manage the game. In other words, when Kyle and company are running for decent yardage Wimsatt is fine. Nothing we’ve seen from him so far tells me he’s capable of carrying us to a win with his arm on a day when the run game isn’t there. Evan looked more the part to me in that respect. But Evan had a lot of time to make those throws. The issues with Evan in the past were when he’s being pressured. Gavin is good at scrambling to avoid sacks and throwing the ball away.
 
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bac2therac

Hall of Famer
Jul 30, 2001
238,610
168,325
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Just curious where you are getting that take from this game? We ran 38 pass plays vs. 22 run plays. A STUPID play call (stark opposite of conservative) resulted in a 17-0 halftime score rather than 10-3 at worst if we had played Schiano ball there and just kept it on the ground.

We recruited a 4 star QB, but he clearly has accuracy issues that limit his game and, in turn, limit our offense. To me - that’s the only real take away I see from this particular game. You want to blame that on Schiano - ok I guess - he recruited GW, but I’m not sure accuracy is always something a coaching staff can fix in a QB. Nor does it make the loss contributable to conservative play either. We weren’t really conservative - we just couldn’t execute. There’s no magical scheme that easily gets you over the hump of a non-existent run game.

But we have a good defense that is going to keep us in games. That’s the good news. We’re not a laughing stock anymore and we’re clearly getting closer to being pretty good. Your take here in bashing the coach just seems a bit harsh to me right now given where we are.

First quarter playcalling
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
11,743
10,866
78
First quarter playcalling
I mean - yeah, we tried to run the ball some at the beginning of the game. We weren’t successful. Then we adjusted. At the end of the day, Gavin couldn’t make enough plays in the air and had one killer pick six so we came up short. I’m guessing Kirk didn’t expect our Rbs to be held to 20 yards.
 

yessir321

All-Conference
Sep 26, 2018
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Greg was in a bind with Gavin for this season. We couldn’t recruit over him. Think of the message that would send. We took this kid away from his senior year of high school. Hurt last season. Greg had to go all in with him this year but he doesn’t necessarily need Gavin to pan out. As long as we show improvement in most other aspects of the game that’ll be more than enough to keep him around. Losing out with a non-existent run game would be the only way he’s on the hot seat in my opinion.
What message? This isn’t pop Warner, this is major college football. You’re either good enough or you aren’t, the message should be ‘we are here to win’. It’s that simple
 
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NickRU714

Heisman
Aug 18, 2009
13,604
12,367
0
In two years we’ll beat someone of consequence. The QB needs to get better and throw more accurately.

Right now the WR Corp is weak, and struggles against better competition. Our best WRs are still in high school, Korey Duff and Ben Black.

Now we're waiting for Duff and Black?
Does that mean Dylan Braithwaite is no longer an "instant impact" WR?
 

LotusAggressor_rivals

All-American
Oct 11, 2003
15,267
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Now we're waiting for Duff and Black?
Does that mean Dylan Braithwaite is no longer an "instant impact" WR?
I'm wondering who is going coach the future Patrick Mahomes to throw the ball in the general vicinity of these future Jerry Rices and Travis Kelces. I also wonder who is going to design an offense that will actually call plays in which they are participants in something other than paycheck blowouts against inferior opposition.
 
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RU#1fan

Heisman
Mar 7, 2003
23,096
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113
I’m not saying we don’t play a conservative style. My point was only that I fail to see how conservative play was the problem in this game. As you said - taking a chance that was uncalled for was the turning point in this game.
This.
Should have sent Strong on that route and made it a jump ball at worst, the DB was 5’9 …we score a TD.
 
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Jun 7, 2001
34,541
41,977
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Al,

At 53.8% Gavin ranks 110th out of 114 qualified CFB qb’s…. I understand your enthusiasm but no, the 4th worst completion percentage in college football is not ‘acceptable’


53.8% is 9 percentage points higher than it was last year. 55% was my goal for him this year, and he is within striking distance. He’s made two bad mistakes, but overall has a 6:2 TD to int ratio, which is quite good.
 
Jun 7, 2001
34,541
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His accuracy is good enough for a low volume passing QB whose role is to manage the game. In other words, when Kyle and company are running for decent yardage Wimsatt is fine. Nothing we’ve seen from him so far tells me he’s capable of carrying us to a win with his arm on a day when the run game isn’t there. Evan looked more the part to me in that respect. But Evan had a lot of time to make those throws. The issues with Evan in the past were when he’s being pressured. Gavin is good at scrambling to avoid sacks and throwing the ball away.
Just like Mike Teel, he will get there one day, but it won’t be today. If he can avoid the pick 6’s, his play is adequate to win games we should win. He and his wide receivers are getting better every game, especially Washington, Jackson, and Strong.
 

Colbert17!

Heisman
Aug 30, 2014
17,239
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I think this board convinced itself that we could beat Wisconsin. The fact that we didn't play very well but the game was within two scores is a positive.
But let's be honest, did you really think we were beating Wisconsin on the road this year???
I didn't think so.
 
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Colbert17!

Heisman
Aug 30, 2014
17,239
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Just like Mike Teel, he will get there one day, but it won’t be today. If he can avoid the pick 6’s, his play is adequate to win games we should win. He and his wide receivers are getting better every game, especially Washington, Jackson, and Strong.
Strong HAS TO play more.
 
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