Wisconsin is a huge game for us in the Big Ten standings looking forward. We sit at 1-1, middle of the pack. There are 7 teams of the 18 that have 2 losses already. 4 teams are still undefeated, but two of them play this week (OSU-Oregon) so after this weekend there will only be 3 teams with 0 losses.

So, beat Wisconsin and we will be tied for 4th out of 18 in the Big Ten (in terms of losses .. we’ll be technically 0.5 games back from some teams but just bc they didnt have their Bye week yet).

This is the week where the standings will start to show separation. Win, and we’ll be right in the title hunt, especially with UCLA coming up. Lose, and we’ll be in a dog fight in the middle/bottom tier. Beat the Badgers!

1. Massive credit to our defensive staff. Their game plan was elite, and they did it with multiple hurt or missing players. I still wish we made more collision contact when we are in zone, I think we allowed some of those crossers to get up when we could have matched up, contacted, and carried more. But the defense did more than enough to win the game. Their pressure and coverage packages were tremendous.

2. Offense. I think we out schemed ourselves. We are very, very predictable right now. First down Neb brought heat consistently, which is why some of those sideline routes were open. They brought numbers, played man press with little to no help and tried to put us behind schedule. If we got to 2nd and 7+ we rarely if ever ran the ball. This allowed Neb is sit back with 6-7 in coverage and play match up zone. I was begging for a run on 2nd and long all game, but we didnt get it. That being said the Neb defense gave us issues. They brought from depth a lot, their interior DL were animals, but we killed ourselves all game long.

2a. The OL was not ready for the game. Beyond having a new LG we jumped all over the place. We have to get that fixed for when we go on the road.

3. Our young WRs are going to be really good. They made big plays all game long, Black, Duff, and Strong are going to have very nice careers here. I have been a big Long fan since high school, but he still does not squeeze the ball well in contact.

4. Special teams is a roller coaster of emotions. Two blocked punts are awesome but letting the ball bounce and bounce for yards is unacceptable. I also find it completely unacceptable with how we gave up the fake punt. For a coach that micromanages everything, to not be prepared for a fake is unacceptable. I was watching our gun stoppers on blocks earlier this year and we just let the gunners go. That being said it was a nice throw by their punter. The fake FG was terrible (I would have rather we just ran it on 3rd and 4th down) but Schiano said they did not run it correctly and I am going to believe it was player error vs just a terrible call.

5. The goal line series. If I am a coach I am calling a TO and losing my mind. I am not asking the side official if it is a TD I am asking my guys in the box their thoughts and if they even think it is close to a TD I am calling the TO and using it.

6. I would love to hear the rationale of why we went away from the run game directly from the staff. I have some thoughts, we were getting gashed inside, but again on 2nd down Neb was backing way off, but it seems that if we are 2nd and 7+ we will never run the ball. I really feel like, at times, we are running an offense the OC wants to run and not the offense to fit our players.

7. We are using RPOs too much now. at times we just need to run zone or bob blocking and get it to our backs. We were slowing the run plays down with running RPOs and not getting KM or SB going.

8. We are hurt in all 3 phases of the game. Injuries across the board are dangerous. I think we go 2-1 the next three games, but we need that bye week to get here badly.

9. I am still on the 9-2 or 8-3 prediction for the year. We lost a close defensive slugfest in the B10 on the road. We would have paid money to be in games just 5 years ago.

Is Athan's passing splits when throwing from play action and non play action. It's clear he's MUCH more comfortable throwing from PA vs not...

Login to view embedded media

The more concerning aspect of this is that not only did we abandon the run in the game after the 1st quarter, but we also abandoned the play action game as well:

Login to view embedded media

There has to be a solution to this if everybody sits down together.

Looking at all the teams in the Big Ten and most of them still have to prove themselves on the road against a quality opponent. Rutgers has one decent road win against a quality opponent in VT , the other teams have yet to win without the luxury of home games . Michigan just lost to Washington on the road and USC lost to Minnesota and Michigan , so let’s see how Ohio State handles Oregon on the road next .

Rutgers Football versus UCLA on October 19th is set to kickoff at 12:00pm ET and will be televised on FS1.

That the following things happened in the game, what would you say Rutgers won by?:

1. Rutgers blocked not one, but TWO punts
2. Rutgers held Nebraska to only 14 points (almost 20 pts below their season average)
3. Rutgers held the Nebraska rushing game to 3.4 yards per carry (excluding sack yardage)
4. Rutgers sacked Dylan Raiola 4 times
5. Rutgers held Raiola to his worst passing game of his career (just 134 yards passing)
6. Rutgers held Raiola to his worst accurate game of his career (48.1%) by far (next lowest was 63%)
7. Rutgers held Nebraska scoreless in the 2nd half
8. Rutgers held Raiola to only 15 yards passing in the 2nd half
9. Rutgers held Nebraska to 1.9 yards per play in the 2nd half
10. Rutgers committed only 4 penalties to Nebraska's 7
11. Kyle Monangai rushed for 64 yards in the 1st quarter
12. Rutgers had 9 possessions that entered Nebraska territory

... What would you have predicted the Rutgers win margin was? 10? 14? 17? 20+?

RU tied for 6th best - 64%.

Badgers - Opponents have scored 100% of the time.

RUTGERS vs. MARYLAND BUS TRIP

32 people have committed. There are 20 remaining bus seats.

Parking North Brunswick Shopping Center - 500 Milltown Road

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16th

6:30 a.m. - BUS LEAVES (based on Noon game time)
8:30 a.m. - REST STOP - $5.00 50/50
10:00 a.m. - ARRIVE AT STADIUM - BYO TAILGATE
12:00 p.m. - GAME TIME (PRESUMED)
5:00 p.m. - BUS DEPARTS FOR HOME
7:00 p.m. - REST STOP
8:30 p.m. - ARRIVE HOME

$80.00 PER PERSON - BUS ONLY
$60.00 GAME TICKET

You can buy your own game ticket or buy through Mike Mahony.

- BYO TAILGATE -

Contact Mike Mahony (732) 692-0530
Mhmahony325@gmail.com

RUTGERS vs. MARYLAND BUS TRIP

32 people have committed. There are 20 remaining bus seats.

Parking North Brunswick Shopping Center - 500 Milltown Road

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16th

6:30 a.m. - BUS LEAVES (based on Noon game time)
8:30 a.m. - REST STOP - $5.00 50/50
10:00 a.m. - ARRIVE AT STADIUM - BYO TAILGATE
12:00 p.m. - GAME TIME (PRESUMED)
5:00 p.m. - BUS DEPARTS FOR HOME
7:00 p.m. - REST STOP
8:30 p.m. - ARRIVE HOME

$80.00 PER PERSON - BUS ONLY
$60.00 GAME TICKET

You can buy your own game ticket or buy through Mike Mahony.

- BYO TAILGATE -

Contact Mike Mahony (732) 692-0530
Mhmahony325@gmail.com

Login to view embedded media

As I said last week. We beat a very good Washington team.,and in true BigAl style, I put Michigan on an Upset Alert.

At the end of the season, I think Tech and Washington are going to prove to be very good wins

Washington is 2 mistakes away from being a top 10:team this year

I was very critical of our tackling after the Washington game but holy crap what a difference vs. Nebraska. Would have loved to watch practice this past week because I'm guessing there was a major emphasis put on it. All three levels of our D just had some 1 v 1 absolutely dominate wrap up and finish type tackles. Was awesome to see and huge reason we played so well on that side of the ball.

Kudos to both players and staff for making major strides in a short period of time. If that continues we'll be way closer to the defense I thought we'd be before the season started.

Does anyone know if Maryland will put single game tix on sale? Only seeing single tix on sale via StubHub, etc. I have some family in MD and we want to go to the Feb game as a group. Would be 8-14 of us.

TIA!

Rutgers Football versus UCLA on October 19th is set to kickoff at 12:00pm ET and will be televised on FS1.

That’s why we lost the game. We were 4 of 20 on third and fourth downs while Nebraska was 10 for 22. That efficiency is particularly troubling for Rutgers as we hardly throw the ball past 10 yards

Also, After the blocked punt, we had 6 opportunities to score from inside the three yard line.