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Football GAMEDAY THREAD: Rutgers Football versus UCLA

Rutgers and UCLA meet for a battle in Piscataway, New Jersey. for their first conference win of the season.

Top Rutgers Players

Kyle Monangai has rushed for 739 yards (123.2 per game) and seven TDs in six games.
Athan Kaliakmanis has passed for 1,050 yards (175 per game), completing 52.1% of his passes, with eight touchdowns and four picks in six games.
On the ground, Samuel Brown V has scored three touchdowns and collected 201 yards (33.5 per game).
In six contests, Dymere Miller has 21 receptions for 279 yards (46.5 per game) and one touchdown.
As a tone-setter on defense, Rutgers' Dariel Djabome has delivered 33 tackles, one TFL, and one sack in six games played.
 
Bagarocks said:
Is this to mean those games dont count?
Click to expand...

They count in overall record.
It's to mean when projecting future performance - those games should be weighed much less.
Considering they aren't very comparable to the rest of the schedule.

Suppose Rutgers gets blown out by Top 10 OSU and PSU early in the season.
It would make sense to say "well the rest of the schedule isn't nearly as hard so those games could be outliers and not great predictors."

Critical analysis isn't that hard.
 
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NickRU714 said:
They count in overall record.
It's to mean when projecting future performance - those games should be weighed much less.
Considering they aren't very comparable to the rest of the schedule.

Suppose Rutgers gets blown out by Top 10 OSU and PSU early in the season.
It would make sense to say "well the rest of the schedule isn't nearly as hard so those games could be outliers and not great predictors."

Critical analysis isn't that hard.
Click to expand...
Especially from critics.
Didn't see anyone mention that Hawaii sucks this year (lost to Sam Houston's mother) and UCLA lost to a wobbly Minnesota (at least when they played them.
But your point is a good one--ALL fans of ALL teams tend to get a little overly exuberant about their records and stats early in the year, which is unwise when: (1) the early schedules usually include 2-3 cupcakes (Rutgers had 2, UCLA had 1); (2) Injuries-yes, every team has them, but it does seem they are piling up in bad places for Rutger (LB and DBs and RB); (3) development and improvement as the year proceeds. On #3, UCLA may be developing and improving. I watched the post game interview with Luke Fickel, and he said that is exactly what is going on with Wisconsin on offense and defense.

As for Rutgers, I have said in other threads to chuck out the Nebraska game because the conditions were horrible (but on the plus side, the defense was lights out, while the offense sputtered), but is the Wisconsin game part of a pattern of regression (due to poor coaching, execution and/or injuries), or just a WTF game. Time will tell. Usually, I am optimistic, but I am on the fence on the result for UCLA. Would not surprise me if we lose a close game, but when you consider UCLA's schedule, they may not be as terrible as their record indicates. But that will not stop the usual idiotic critics from lobbing hate and overly critical comments at Rutgers.

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
August 314:30 p.m.at Hawaii*CBSW 16–1315,194
September 144:30 p.m.IndianaNBCL 13–4247,811
September 2112:30 p.m.at No. 16 LSU*ABCL 17–34100,315
September 288:00 p.m.No. 8 Oregon
  • Rose Bowl
  • Pasadena, CA
FOXL 13–3443,051
October 59:00 a.m.at No. 7 Penn StateFOXL 11–27110,047
October 126:00 p.m.Minnesota
  • Rose Bowl
  • Pasadena, CA
BTNL 17–2142,012
 
Knight Shift said:
but is the Wisconsin game part of a pattern of regression (due to poor coaching, execution and/or injuries), or just a WTF game. Time will tell. Usually, I am optimistic, but I am on the fence on the result for UCLA.
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I'm in the same boat, I really don't know what to expect in this game. The team that beat VTech and UDub? We win the game easy. The sputtering offense we saw against Nebraska and Wisky? We lose.
 
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DJ Spanky said:
I'm in the same boat, I really don't know what to expect in this game. The team that beat VTech and UDub? We win the game easy. The sputtering offense we saw against Nebraska and Wisky? We lose.
Click to expand...
And you are forgetting about UCLA-a team that lost to undefeated Indiana, USC, Penn State, LSU and a close one to Minnesota by 4 pts (a solid, mid-level B1G team) does not make them a bad team. Maybe they were "unlucky" against Minnesota and Rutgers was "lucky" against Va Tech and Washington. But that will not stop the usual haters from crowing about how Rutgers sucks should we lose. For me, it will depend on if we lose, how we lose. But with that said, even if it is a close lose, the haters will pick on the passing game, the running game, the defense and a host of other things. I promise to only pick on the game day production, Joe Nolan and perhaps special teams.
 
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Knight Shift said:
I promise to only pick on the game day production, Joe Nolan and perhaps special teams.
Click to expand...


Remember:

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GZ4jb1YXkAAQkEy
 
The UCLA game is a concern. UCLA has played at LSU and at PSU. While not winning they have faced the toughest environments. And have hung tough for various periods of those games. And they do have some athletes.

Hard to believe Bienemy will not get better at running the offense as he's a competent OC. The belief that RU is so far superior in talent (especially with injuries) and execution that this will be a walkover is not based in the evidence of the games this season.
 
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ru-baby said:
The UCLA game is a concern. UCLA has played at LSU and at PSU. While not winning they have faced the toughest environments. And have hung tough for various periods of those games. And they do have some athletes.

Hard to believe Bienemy will not get better at running the offense as he's a competent OC. The belief that RU is so far superior in talent (especially with injuries) and execution that this will be a walkover is not based in the evidence of the games this season.
Click to expand...
Well stated. Unrealistic expectations by RU fans will result in gross overreaction should Rutgers lose.
 
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DJ Spanky said:
I'm in the same boat, I really don't know what to expect in this game. The team that beat VTech and UDub? We win the game easy. The sputtering offense we saw against Nebraska and Wisky? We lose.
Click to expand...
Right now we have a shell of the team that beat Virginia Tech and UW.

No Strong
No Sam Brown
No Felter
No Longerbeam
No Powell
No Lewis

-They haven't been able to run the ball for two weeks in a row
-Athan panics in the pocket and throws inaccurate passes
-Kirk forgot about Dymere Miller, but they love Chris Long who can't catch the ball.
-Every play either a delayed handoff up the middle or a throw to the sideline.
-Defense can't seal the edge or defend the pass.

Not a good team right now.
 
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Rokodesh said:
Right now we have a shell of the team that beat Virginia Tech and UW.

No Strong
No Sam Brown
No Felter
No Longerbeam
No Powell
No Lewis

-They haven't been able to run the ball for two weeks in a row
-Athan panics in the pocket and throws inaccurate passes
-Kirk forgot about Dymere Miller, but they love Chris Long who can't catch the ball.
-Every play either a delayed handoff up the middle or a throw to the sideline.
-Defense can't seal the edge or defend the pass.

Not a good team right now.
Click to expand...
I know Bailey isn't on that list, but he seems to play sparingly...at best.
Not sure what that leaves us to pressure the opponent's quarterback.
 
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This game will be more difficult than people think. If we were injury-feee, I would say it was an easy W, but not anymore. Both teams are desperate for a win for different reasons, and that makes this game completely unpredictable.
 
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I saw a good part of the UCLA-PSU game and the 4th Q of the UCLA-Minn game. They played tough in both of those games. They are not easy to run the ball on and have some good athletes on offense. They are still playing hard and have played a very tough schedule. I hope RU gets some of the D players back, especially Powell, Longerbeam and Lewis. If they don’t have those guys, it could be a major problem. RU has to find a way to win. They are likely looking at a bad loss at USC. If they lose to UCLA, the season could really start to unravel going into the bye.
 
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If we can't beat UCLA at home (another 9am start for them) with the schedule they've had the last few weeks (late home games their time and cross country travel (PSU) 9am starts their time) I don't know what to say. It would be disappointing. When IU is brought up at 6-0, many say well who have they played. I think that's a fair comment. (next 2 weeks for them will be interesting to see) They handily beat UCLA at UCLA but no one said that was a good win, it wasn't considered a big deal. Perfectly fair but if that be the case UCLA shouldn't be a tough opponent.
 
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This game will be decided by the answer to this question, Can Rutgers OL block UCLA DL?

I had thought of this as a RU walk over victory, however after studying the Bruins I have trepidations. Quite simply I do not see how we consistently block their front 7. Our defense will be challenged as well, but I think we will limit the damage. However they are big and well coached, and between the size, skill, and timely blitzing I Sadly have a bad feeling.
 
Not sure what to think of them. They have had very small recruiting classes the last three years but pretty good star average, maybe they are more through the portal. They looked tough the little bit i saw of them against PSU. Travel and early start should help us. They will come to win after all the tough games they have played. Losing to a 1-5 team will have bad look, I am concerned.
 
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