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Reason for Optimism

I know everyone is disappointed with the way the season went but I think there's reason for optimism. And that's a lot coming from me. It wasn't too long ago that we were UConn and Temple bad. Just blown out every week no matter who the opponent was. Chris Ash made us a national laughinstock where medicore P5 teams would beat us by 40. This year expectations were through the roof. However, we got hit hard by injuries this year. Not an excuse because every team deals with injuries but this year was particularly bad. Even with all the injuries, we still could've won Nebraska and UCLA. Which would've been what everyone predicted pre-season.

The reason why I'm optimistic about the program is that we have some good young players. Ian Strong and Duff are going to be stars. They are both big bodied receivers and are only going to get better. They both look like future NFL potential. Benjamin and Raymond were both awesome. Minnesota is a very good team. I thought we'd be dead in the water without Monangai but they both ran similar. We are 5-4 with another chance to go to a bowl. We have 3 winnable games on our schedule. I'm not saying we're going to win, but they are winnable. At this juncture, we're a mid level P5 team.

Hell it's been a long time since we've had even average QB play. Athan is a mid level P5 QB. He's rated a 78 in NCAA 25. That's probably what I'd rate him. He's serviceable. The last even semi respecful season for a QB at Rutgers was Chris Laviano in 2015. Nearly a decade ago. He went for 2247, 16 TDs and 12 picks. Athan's going to beat that season. Which makes Athan comparable to Gary Nova. There are similarities. Athan's good, is actually very good. However, he makes some bonehead mistakes at times. What I like most about him is he's kind of a gamer. I thought Vedral was a good teammate and tried hard. However, his physical limitations stopped him from being an effective QB. Same with Gio. Kaliakmanis was exactly what we needed. Athan is never the worst player on the field. According to PFF, Athan is our fourth best offensive player. It goes Hollin Pierce, Sam Brown, Kyle Monangai and then Athan.

But with all the injuries, to be 5-4 at this point isn't a complete disaster. With some of the young players flashing and the recruiting class we have coming in, there's a lot of reasons for optimism. Greg was right and called us all out. Don't doubt Greg.

RAPID REACTION - Wagner

1. Can’t take too much from this game, as Wagner was not a good team. But there were some good signs (and a couple of not-so-good signs) nonetheless.

2. Dylan with an all around good game, played like an established veteran, creating scoring chances for himself and others. Had 20 pts, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists and 9-14 from the field. He is sooo good “at the rim.” Guarantee he will be practicing FTs tonight at the APC after going 1-6 at the line.

3. Pleasant surprise of the night was the play of Lathan Sommerville. Went for 11 and 8 and had some nifty post moves, plus he was more aggressive in rebounding the ball.

4. But (current) starting C Manny Ogbole was a complete non-factor. He’s just very stiff and unskilled. Pike needs to continue to force feed Sommerville to get him ready for the big opponents.

5. The offense generally functioned well, with good ball movement, ZERO guys just dribbling with nowhere to go and ZERO hoisting up desperation shots late in the clock. We consistently got really good looks, with guys making the extra pass. The fact that we went 7-23 (30%) doesn’t concern me, as there wasn’t a “bad” shot among them. The guys that we WANT shooting threes (Martini, Harper, Hayes, Acuff) were a solid 6-16 (37.5%).

6. Acuff still looked rusty, but hitting that three late in the game was really important to give him confidence. That shot could unlock his potential.

7. Absolutely love PJ Hayes. Kid is a baller, plays better defense than we all thought he would, and has a money stroke. Had 12 points on 4-6 (2-4).

8. JMike with a solid floor game, with the usual good on-ball defense (plus 2 blocks and a steal), but also 5 assists and 0 turnovers. He was also 3-4 at the line. He was 0-3 from deep, but I didn’t hate any of those shots.

9. We won handily, that’s all that matters without our best offensive player and after a slow/ragged start.

Final Fall Women's Golf Rankings

The Fall portion of NCAA Women's golf is complete. Rutgers played in 5 events with their best finish 4th out of 15 at Louisville's Cardinal Cup. During this half of the season they traveled to Oklahoma, Texas, and California where they faced a number of the Top 25 squads including #1 Stanford and #2 Arkansas.

Here's a look at where Rutgers and the B1G stand......

Women - 280 Teams

#4. USC
#6. Oregon
#9. Northwestern
#22. Michigan St
#28. UCLA
#29. Ohio St
#33. Purdue
#42. Minnesota
#52. Washington
#64 Maryland
#67 Michigan
#69 Indiana
#70 Illinois
#109. Wisconsin
#112 RUTGERS
#116. Penn St
#123 Iowa
#177 Nebraska

Rutgers Individual - 1801 Ranked

#386. Sr Lucrezia Rossettin
#392. Fr Joline Truong
#539. So Grace Lu
#814. Fr Judy Amano
#923. So Krystal Li
#930. So Lorena Rossettin
#1159. So Emily James

Grad Kayla Diaz has not played

TOP 5 B1G Players

#1. Jasmine Ko - USC
#12. Katherine Park - USC
#13. Kiara Romero - Oregon
#19. Natasha Kiel - Purdue
#20 Vivian Lu - Washington

#6 is Holmdel's Megha Ganne (Stanford)

Biggest Win in Greg 2.0???

One of the hottest teams in the B10 comes to SHI - a team that has historically crushed us. and we are without our top player

Finally got pressure on the QB. Defense gelled as time went on and our pass game is legit

If we lose this game. our chances to go bowling are slim. This was the most complementary game our O &D have played all - have to like our chances of getting to 6 or 7.

Great adjustments by Greg. Joe and Kirk

Finally a complete game

Discounting the 1st two tomato cans I thought that this was our 1st complete game. Both Offense and Defense looked fine ane we played equally well in both halfs. Throw in a punt tunback so kudos to special teams as well. Washington game was close but the D fid not distinguish itsrlf by yielding 500 + yards.

While yesterdsys result gives hope for 6+ wins my unthusiasm is tempered by sustsinability as things have been so up and down

One observation is that the Minnesota QB was terrible on long throws as he overthrew a couple of open receivers. Good news is that
We don" t face any Heisman candidates in the final three
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Coach H vs Coach H

Both QB's put up great 1st half numbers but still a 14-9 game. Most of the second half after adjustments was a clinic on how to play Defense. The turnover was huge. Looked like we had a second turnover but just a great battle between these two coaches and of course the players on the field getting it done.

Also nice okay call by Ciarocca on the last TD. Strong went to the spot were the safety vacated.
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