Rutgers Football

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Both Tom Luicci and I have given you some insight from the Army players and coaches about the team, but sometimes the truth gets lost in team-speak. So for the inside dirt on the Black Knights, we cut through the government secrets and delved into the insight of Sal Interdonato who covers the team for the Times Herald-Record of Middletown, N.Y. and on the Record's Army Football blog.

We exchanged emails and came up with five questions and answers on the most pressing topics for this weekend's Army-Rutgers game.

Like I said before, the following information is top-secret. This blog will self-destruct in 5...4...3...:

Continue reading "Inside Army with beat writer Sal Interdonato" »

Rutgers is pushing wide receiver Kenny Britt for All-America honors. Should he be named to the first team, he would be the first Scarlet Knight to earn the honor since TE Marco Battaglia in 1995 (Ray Rice was a second team pick twice).

Continue reading "Is Rutgers' Kenny Britt better than Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree?" »

According to an internal review released by Rutgers Wednesday, the athletic department was allowed to operate virtually independently of the school as it pushed to bring athletic success to the university.

The panel of business leaders, judges, lawyers, and Rutgers officials who compiled the 35-page report concluded that the state university was ill-prepared to handle its push into big-time football.

It also said that Rutgers president Richard L. McCormick and the school's board of governors failed to monitor athletic director Robert E. Mulcahy.

Read the Star Ledger's full coverage here.

When someone asked Art Forst if he'd experienced his welcome-to-college-football moment yet, Rutgers' true freshman offensive lineman said it happened in his first college start against Cincinnati on Oct. 11.

"Terrill Byrd," he said, referring to the Bearcats' standout senior defensive tackle. "That was my welcome to college football."

Forst survived that tough initiation to the college ranks and has grown from it, with the 6-8, 310-pound guard from Manasquan High School coming off "the best game he has played since we moved him in there," against South Florida last week, coach Greg Schiano said Wednesday.

Continue reading "True freshman Forst solid on Rutgers offensive line" »

ESPNU.com columnist Brian Bennett shows a little love for Rutgers football today with his featured piece on Scarlet Knights defensive back Zaire Kitchen.

Continue reading "There's no stopping Rutgers' Zaire Kitchen" »

RUTGERS NOTEBOOK

A funny thing happened on the way to Army's second win of the year -- the Black Knights did it without a pass completion.

Which begs the question this week at Rutgers as it prepares to face Army: How does it defend a team that doesn't have to pass the ball to win a game?

Continue reading "Army offense is no force through the air" »

Few of Andrew DePaola's teammates were surprised when he moved so seamlessly from holder to long snapper during an extra point try at a moment's notice last Saturday against South Florida, filling in for the injured Jeremy Branch.

Many of them know his story: a walk-on quarterback who earned playing time as a holder, then worked his way into the top five at wide receiver while also taking reps as a long snapper in practice, just in case an emergency like last weekend's arose.

"We've seen him do so many things, and do them well, that it was like 'Andrew will handle it,'" linebacker Kevin Malast said.

Continue reading "Versatility a snap for Rutgers' DePaola" »

(Editor's note: Updated information from the Las Vegas Bowl and the Poinsettia Bowl is that both games will have both slots filled, regardless of what happens in the Pac-10 race.)

How does a bowl trip to San Francisco sound right about now if you're a Rutgers fan? Better yet, how about Hawaii?

There's a possibility that the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco on Dec. 27 and the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24 could become available if the Pac-10 can't fill its bowl spots -- with Rutgers available for both under the right scenarios.

Continue reading "Will the Pac-10 hold the key to Rutgers' bowl prospects?" »

Star-Ledger staff writer Brendan Prunty takes a look back at last week's Big East football action, and offers his team rankings in the conference.

Continue reading "Big East football notebook" »

Mike Teel thinks about the irony of situations about as often as he does individual records -- which is to say, never. So it hadn't dawned on him that when he does become Rutgers' career passing leader -- which will happen either on Saturday against Army or on Dec. 4 against Louisville -- it will be at home.

Rutgers Stadium has hasn't always been kind to the Knights' fifth-year senior, especially this season, when he heard plenty of boos during the team's 1-5 start. Most quarterback cheers then were saved for Teel's backup entering the game.

But with Rutgers on a four-game winning streak and back in bowl contention at 5-5, the final two home games of Teel's career are a chance for Rutgers fans to celebrate his accomplishments.

Continue reading "Talk with coach sparked Rutgers football's Teel" »

Despite being officially made a lame-duck head coach when he was fired Sunday afternoon, Syracuse's Greg Robinson found out Monday he has the support of his peers in the league.

"Greg Robinson is a friend of mine," West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said during the weekly Big East conference call. "Greg Robinson is a class act. Greg Robinson is a heck of a football coach. I absolutely hate it with all my heart to see such a class man leave the Big East."

Robinson -- who will coach the team's final two games of the season -- is 9-36 in four years at the school.

Continue reading "Big East coaches voice support for Syracuse's Greg Robinson after firing" »

With renewed bowl buzz thanks to four straight victories and a 5-5 record, Rutgers will be looking to get over .500 for the first time this season -- while taking another big step toward its fourth straight bowl appearance.

Head coach Greg Schiano, as he does every Monday, met with the media at the Hale Center and touched on a variety of topics, highlighted by Saturday's home game against Army (3-7).

Here are the key excepts from Schiano's latest Q&A session with the press:

Do you have a health update -- specifically with long snapper Jeremy Branch, who appeared to suffer a serious knee injury on Saturday?

"Jeremy, the MRI findings are not good. He will probably end up needing surgery at some point. I don't know right now what the plans are about will he snap or not the rest of the season. That's still up in the air, will he be able to? But there is damage there so we will address that as we go along. Other than that it was a very physical football game. We're certainly feeling the effects of that. But until we get to practice (Tuesday) we really won't (know) who won't be able to take part."

Continue reading "Rutgers football: Schiano's weekly Q&A with the media" »

It looks like Rutgers has a good shot at a bowl berth (could you imagine that after the Navy game?) and now online speculation is where the knights might be headed -- Meineke (Charlotte), International (Toronto), Papajohn's.com (Birmingham). and the St. Petersburg Bowl. Which is your bowl pick for the Scarlet Knights and which one would you travel to?

Continue reading "Rutgers football fans, which bowl would you pick?" »

As if Rutgers' bowl prospects weren't confused enough, here's something else to make it complete chaos: According to the Big East, there are at least two scenarios in which the Scarlet Knights can still win the league title -- which would mean a BCS berth in the Orange Bowl.

Continue reading "Rutgers in the Orange Bowl? It's a long shot -- but, yes, still possible" »

As Rutgers continues to roll, the weekly Big East Player of the Week awards continue to roll in.

For the second week in a row, a Scarlet Knight has been named the offensive player of the week. Wide receiver Kenny Britt became the second Rutgers player in as many weeks -- and third this year -- to be named the league's offensive player of the week. Britt, had eight passes for 173 yards and a touchdown in Rutgers' 49-16 win over South Florida on Saturday.

Continue reading "Rutgers has a two-fer in Big East Players of the Week" »

Every week, the Star-Ledger's Tom Luicci delivers his take on what's happening in college football:

5 QUESTIONS

Q. For someone who is late arriving to college football, can you quickly summarize this season?

A. Sure. Just look at the ACC standings. Three teams trail new Atlantic Division leader Maryland by a game in the loss column. Four trail new Coastal Division leader Miami in the loss column. Every school has at least two league losses and three overall. And none is Top 15 worthy. In other words, parity rules.

Q. But old standbys like Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida and USC still have a shot at the national title, don't they?

A. Yes. So does Texas Tech. And Oregon State could wind up in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1965, Vanderbilt is bowl-eligible for the first time in 26 years and Michigan has lost a record eight games. Did we also mention that Cincinnati could wind up playing in the Orange Bowl?

Continue reading "College Football Plus" »

Ray Rice is used to the holes being a little bigger in New Jersey.

The former Rutgers star, now part of the Baltimore Ravens' committee of ball carriers, rushed for 19 yards on eight carries on his homecoming -- that's an average of 2.4 yards -- in the lopsided 30-10 defeat at the hands of the Giants Sunday. His longest run from scrimmage was five yards.

Rice, a rookie, also caught four passes for 18 yards -- and maybe that was even more surprising than his struggles on the ground Sunday. As talented as he was in Piscataway, he wasn't much of a threat out of the backfield for the Scarlet Knights.

Continue reading "Rutgers alum Ray Rice struggles in homecoming as Ravens lose to Giants" »

Just wanted to let Rutgers fans know our men's and women's basketball blogs are up and running. Bookmark them at:

www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball

www.nj.com/rutgerswomen

Today we have a game story from the men's win over Delaware, quick-hit observations by staffer Brendan Prunty, an in-game blog that gives you the feel of the ebb and flow of the game, and various news and notes.

You've seen how extensive our coverage of the football team is -- we hope to do the same for the men's and women's basketball teams.

Even with a 1-5 record, Greg Schiano said, yes, he did believe this kind of turnaround was possible for his Rutgers football team.

"I think we were very close in all those games (that were lost)," Schiano said Sunday. "Even the one where the score was out of hand, against North Carolina. You look at the game early -- I just watched the tape and, as a coaching staff, we agreed we were a step away here, and a missed block away here, a missed tackle away here, or a missed check in the secondary -- and we weren't as far off as it may have looked.

"It'll continue to be good if we continue to do the things that we do in our preparation."

Continue reading "Rutgers' Schiano never doubted his team" »

Syracuse fired head coach Greg Robinson today, a day after the Orange fell to 2-8 overall and 1-5 in the Big East following a 39-14 loss to UConn at the Carrier Dome.

Robinson, 9-36 overall and 3-24 in the Big East in his four years at Syracuse, has a year remaining on his contract and earns $1.1 million per season. He is expected to coach the Orange for the last two games.

According to our sister paper, The Syracuse Post-Standard, UConn coach Randy Edsall (a Syracuse grad), former UConn and current East Carolina coach Skip Holtz and former Raiders coach Lane Kiffen (who worked with current Syracuse AD Daryl Gross at Southern Cal) are candidates the school may approach about the job.

Syracuse has two games left this season: at Notre Dame and at Cincinnati.

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano had no more further information on the status of long snapper Jeremy Branch, who suffered a serious-looking right knee injury in Saturday's 49-16 win over South Florida. As he said Saturday, Schiano repeated that Branch will have an MRI Sunday and the results will be given to the media Monday.

"I don't think it's going to be good results, but you never know,'' Schiano said of Branch.

Continue reading "Highlights from Rutgers coach Greg Schiano's conference call" »

Another weekend, another shuffling of the standings (and hopes) in the Big East conference.

Rutgers is in great shape, thanks to its 49-16 rout of South Florida in Tampa. But where does it stand in the conference? Glad you asked, here's a breakdown:

1. Cincinnati (8-2; 4-1)
Game Left:Pittsburgh, Syracuse, @ Hawaii
Comment: Took care of trap game and regional rival Louisville on Friday night. Only game that should scare them is Pitt. Beat the Panthers at home and Cincy should be BCS bound. Editor's note: Cincy will play 13 regular-season games, with the final one being against Hawaii.

Continue reading "Big East breakdown: A team-by-team look" »

Star-Ledger Rutgers football beat writer Tom Luicci and columnist Steve Politi dig deep into Rutgers' 49-16 victory over South Florida Saturday. Among the topics up for discussion after the blowout are the great defensive effort, a new steadiness in Mike Teel's game, and Kenny Britt's explosive performance:

1. Let's go down the list of impressive efforts. The defense: how do you explain six forced turnovers?

Luicci: First of all, remember the opponent: South Florida is in free fall and QB Matt Grothe has been mistake-prone his entire career (we told you he would turn the ball over a few times in Saturday's game preview). In some ways, this is just the numbers balancing out. Rutgers played solid defense the first six games yet couldn't force a turnover against the first five 1-A opponents.

Continue reading "Teel's new steadiness, Britt's explosiveness, and other Rutgers topics" »

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Donald Brown rushed for 131 yards and scored on a 49-yard run and Connecticut beat Syracuse 39-14 on Saturday night.

Connecticut (7-3, 3-2 Big East) had lost three of four after opening the season with five straight wins and finally overwhelmed the Orange (2-8, 1-5 Big East).

Jasper Howard and Robert McClain scored on consecutive plays from scrimmage in the final seconds of the third quarter, and Syracuse fell apart to give UConn coach Randy Edsall just his fourth win in 16 Big East road games.

Continue reading "Former Red Bank Catholic star Brown leads Connecticut to 39-14 victory over Syracuse" »

Star-Ledger Rutgers football beat writer Tom Luicci and columnist Steve Politi weigh in on where Rutgers and its conference competition could wind up this year:

Luicci: If Notre Dame beats Syracuse next week, the Irish will probably get the Gator Bowl at 7-5 (how things have changed in South Bend when Notre Dame is this desperate to go bowling after facing one of the nation's easiest schedules). That means a Big 12 team will slide into the Sun Bowl.

So what does that leave?

The league champion -- say Cincinnati for now -- in the BCS (hard to believe, isn't it? That could have been Rutgers, too).

That leaves the Meineke Car Care Bowl, International Bowl, Papajohn'scom. Bowl and the new St. Petersburg Bowl.

Continue reading "The Big East bowl picture: Who's going where?" »

Box Score

Newspaper Stories

Rutgers routs South Florida, 49-16, as pursuit of bowl appearance continues

Steve Politi: Rutgers' season not perfect, but looking good

Martinek has career day against South Florida

Notebook: Rutgers not thinking postseason despite drubbing of South Florida

Blog posts

As They Played: A rundown of all the action on the field

Ranking the Big East: Luicci and Politi's take

The Big East bowl picture: Who is going where?

The Morning After: Questions and Answers after the big win

You Make the Call:

Your feelings about Rutgers now

NOTEBOOK

TAMPA, Fla. -- Rutgers may have thrust itself into the middle of the Big East's murky bowl situation with Saturday's rout over South Florida, but that doesn't mean the players are thinking postseason yet.

Not with two one-game seasons to go -- Army on Saturday and then Louisville on Dec. 4 -- and the Knights needing to win both to be 7-5.

But how satisfying would it be for a team that was once 1-5 to wind up in a bowl?

"It would be special," said wide receiver Kenny Britt, "but we're not focused on a bowl game now. We play one-game seasons. Army is our next one-game season."

Continue reading "Rutgers not thinking postseason yet despite 49-16 rout of South Florida" »

TAMPA, Fla. -- Rutgers emptied the playbook at times against South Florida, with 325-pound tackle Anthony Davis lining up as a fullback and quarterback Mike Teel catching his first career pass.

The tricks received mixed reviews, but ultimately, they were unnecessary. Rutgers returned to the smash-mouth running game that had carried this team to most of its victories over the past few years, and it was freshman running back Joe Martinek leading the way.

Martinek finished with a career-high 98 yards on 21 carries, including two touchdown runs, in the 49-16 victory over South Florida. His best performance was a nifty 19th anniversary gift for his parents, who turned the trip to Tampa into an extended celebration.

Continue reading "Martinek rushes for career-high 98 yards in Rutgers' 49-16 victory over South Florida" »

TAMPA, Fla. -- The question had to pop in the mind of every Rutgers fan Saturday during this 49-16 butt-whooping of South Florida: Where the heck was that team all season?

The big plays on offense. The six turnovers on defense. The pounding running attack. The utter domination of a conference rival, on the road, for a fourth straight victory.

Here is some free advice before they pull all their hair out: Let it go. Yes, if the Scarlet Knights complete this turnaround with two more victories and end up in another bowl game, there will always be the "what if?" about the 2008 season, especially with the Big East up for grabs.

Continue reading "Rutgers' season not perfect, but looking good" »

Star-Ledger Rutgers football beat writer Tom Luicci and columnist Steve Politi show us how they'd rank the Big East now:

Luicci:
1. Cincinnati
2. West Virginia
3. Rutgers
4. Pittsburgh
5. Connecticut
6. Louisville
7. South Florida
8. Syracuse

Politi:

1. Cincinnati
2. Pittsburgh
3. West Virginia
4. Rutgers
5. Connecticut
6. South Florida
7. Louisville
Infinity. Syracuse.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Is this really the same Rutgers team that was caught in a scoreless first half against Fresno State, lost to Navy and scored a grand total of 22 points in consecutive games against Cincinnati and Connecticut?

Well, yes and no.

"It feels like it's a completely different season," quarterback Mike Teel said. "It's unbelievable."

Given up for dead by many at 1-5, mediocrity -- which is really what .500 is -- never looked so good. The Scarlet Knights continued their improbable push for a fourth straight bowl appearance with a performance Teel summed up so eloquently.

Unbelievable.

Continue reading "Rutgers gets back to .500 with 49-16 pounding of South Florida" »

From 1-5 to 5-5, Rutgers has made an amazing turnaround.

Same can be said for Teel (three more TD passes) and Schiano (he never lost faith).

Optimists will point to a 7-5 finish and a fourth straight bowl trip. Others will lament the ones that got away early.

Either way, today was another example of why fans flocked to this team in 2006 and 2007. A turnover-producing defense and a quick-strike offense.

So we ask you, if you've been down on this program, how do you feel now?

Rutgers continued its push for a bowl appearance with a 49-16 drubbing of South Florida Saturday. Here is a rundown of all the action on the field you might have missed:

3:35 p.m.: Now that's an appropriate way to end it. A sack, a fumble, a recovery. That's the sixth forced turnover of the game. Rutgers wins, 49-16.

Final numbers:

Teel: 18-29 for 294, 3 TDs, 2 picks

Martinek: 21 carries for 98, 2 TDs

Britt: 8 catches for 173, 1 TD

Underwood: 4-49

Continue reading "As They Played: Rutgers at South Florida" »

Louisville lost to Cincy, 28-20, in a rainstorm Friday night in Louisville. And that's good for Rutgers.

While Cincy improved to 4-1 and maintained its hold on the Big East lead, Louisville fell to 1-4. More importantly, it fell to 5-5 overall. It next meets West Virginia.

Louisville, seemingly a lock to become bowl eligible at 5-2, isn't so anymore. It needs another victory. Rutgers, 4-5 overall, needs to win two of its last three (S. Florida, Army, Louisville) to become bowl eligible.

What's this all mean: The Rutgers-Louisville season-ender could end up being for a bowl bid.

Cincy, West Virginia, Pitt, South Florida and UConn are all bowl eligible.