Getting bowl eligible?

[Knight Shift]

Wasn’t expectations higher for this season though?

Avoid most of the top Big Ten teams (despite what people keep saying about Nebraska, Wisconsin and Washington).
Nearly the entire offense returning
Returning Big Ten rushing leader
Improved WRs
Improved QB
Nearly zero injuries for the offense
Returning OC

Considering all that, not sure a 1 win improvement is that impressive.
What happens when OSU and PSU are back on the schedule?
When KM leaves?

If not this year, then when?
Wasn’t this kinda a perfect storm?

Expectations are often not realistic, are they?

Let's review some facts.
We beat cupcakes Howard and Akron (currently 1-6/0-3 in conference) and did not look great in those games.-Excuse- Toure and Powell were not playing, and linebackers were not experienced.

We squeaked by mediocre to good Va Tech and Washington. Red flags were there, but fans were drunk on the Kool Aid because we were undefeated. Defense got lit up in Washington game.

Nebraska- willing to throw that game out. We may well have won that game under better weather and at home, but we did not. 0 for 6 at the goal line was a huge red flag. The special teams flubs (Nebraska's fake punt that they scouted us perfectly and our muffed fake FG) were more huge red flags. Will Greg realize he should actually hire a special teams coach--special teams is a disaster for RU.

Wisconsin- so they are playing a second string QB and lost their running back. You know what though, they have been improving each game, whereas Rutgers may be regressing up until yesterday, and that was confirmed yesterday. Poor defensive play smacked RU in the face, feeble, unimaginative offense, and a host of other warts. More special teams miscues. Hello, would it hurt to hire a special teams coach? Doubt that will happen.

Perhaps the players and coaches drank the hype-flavored Kool-Aid and did not prepare and practice hard enough. We knew KC was not a very imaginative OC. Starting to wonder if Corey Hetherman was the brains behind the defense. Minnesota (Hetherman is their DC) is #4 in B1G defense, Rutgers pretty far down in the defensive rankings.

So Powell and Longerbeam were out yesterday, and then we lost Lewis for most of the game. That's life. Shouldn't all the experience the younger guys got made some kind of a difference by the sixth game? Does not seem to be the case. Gave up 551 yards and 52 points yesterday, nearly the same that Purdue gave up.

On the bright side, Purdue put up quite a fight against and almost beat Illinois, taking them to OT yesterday. And USC lost and has a record worse than Rutgers. UCLA and Maryland and MSU suck, and Minnesota struggled with sucky UCLA. We are going 6-0 baby!!!!!

Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

[NotInRHouse]

Expectations are often not realistic, are they?

Let's review some facts.
We beat cupcakes Howard and Akron (currently 1-6/0-3 in conference) and did not look great in those games.-Excuse- Toure and Powell were not playing, and linebackers were not experienced.

We squeaked by mediocre to good Va Tech and Washington. Red flags were there, but fans were drunk on the Kool Aid because we were undefeated. Defense got lit up in Washington game.

Nebraska- willing to throw that game out. We may well have won that game under better weather and at home, but we did not. 0 for 6 at the goal line was a huge red flag. The special teams flubs (Nebraska's fake punt that they scouted us perfectly and our muffed fake FG) were more huge red flags. Will Greg realize he should actually hire a special teams coach--special teams is a disaster for RU.

Wisconsin- so they are playing a second string QB and lost their running back. You know what though, they have been improving each game, whereas Rutgers may be regressing up until yesterday, and that was confirmed yesterday. Poor defensive play smacked RU in the face, feeble, unimaginative offense, and a host of other warts. More special teams miscues. Hello, would it hurt to hire a special teams coach? Doubt that will happen.

Perhaps the players and coaches drank the hype-flavored Kool-Aid and did not prepare and practice hard enough. We knew KC was not a very imaginative OC. Starting to wonder if Corey Hetherman was the brains behind the defense. Minnesota (Hetherman is their DC) is #4 in B1G defense, Rutgers pretty far down in the defensive rankings.

So Powell and Longerbeam were out yesterday, and then we lost Lewis for most of the game. That's life. Shouldn't all the experience the younger guys got made some kind of a difference by the sixth game? Does not seem to be the case. Gave up 551 yards and 52 points yesterday, nearly the same that Purdue gave up.

On the bright side, Purdue put up quite a fight against and almost beat Illinois, taking them to OT yesterday. And USC lost and has a record worse than Rutgers. UCLA and Maryland and MSU suck, and Minnesota struggled with sucky UCLA. We are going 6-0 baby!!!!!

Lather, rinse, repeat.

But for the bad call we would have gone into OT versus Nebraska too.

You're def right about defense versus Washington but obviously they were solid versus Nebraska. I think people want to make a mountain out of one game...god forbid we lose next week it's a different story. It's justified to be upset about how we played yesterday but to essentially declare the season over and erase prior successes and declare none coming based off one game is moronic.

Look at last year the melt down after UMD versus the performance versus Miami...just one example and there are probably some every year. We have WTF games. We have good wins. C'e la vie outside of Columbus and Tuscaloosa.

 

[scottsdaleal]

as bad as today was they will squeak out 2-3 more wins but what does that say.....6-6 or 7-5 is where we should peak as a program

Until we get a QB that can be a difference maker…that is the upside. The good news is Surace and the kid from Pennsy that committed are those kind of upgrades.

 

[ashokan]

Army, Navy, Nebraska all ranked

2024 AP Poll College Football Rankings, Week 8 - ESPN

Find the complete NCAAF Week 8 rankings on ESPN. Includes the full votes and trend for the top 25 NCAAF teams.

www.espn.com

 

[Fat Koko]

Army, Navy, Nebraska all ranked

2024 AP Poll College Football Rankings, Week 8 - ESPN

Find the complete NCAAF Week 8 rankings on ESPN. Includes the full votes and trend for the top 25 NCAAF teams.

www.espn.com

Super to see Navy and Army in the rankings. Of course people will quibble about strength of schedule. Remember these schools are at a tremendous recruiting disadvantages versus the FBS competition.

Best is they both play #12 Notre Dame in South Bend in a few weeks. Army's last national championship was in 1946 and it was shared with Notre Dame.

 

[rutgersguy1]

Super to see Navy and Army in the rankings. Of course people will quibble about strength of schedule. Remember these schools are at a tremendous recruiting disadvantages versus the FBS competition.

Best is they both play #12 Notre Dame in South Bend in a few weeks. Army's last national championship was in 1946 and it was shared with Notre Dame.

They also stopped allowing cut blocking a couple years ago so they had to adapt again. Credit to Monken and others for changing style a bit. I think they run out of the shotgun more now.

They still don’t throw much but more of a threat than previously.

 

[Brisket and Bourbon]

Go Army…beat notre dame and navy!

 

[NickRU714]

They count as two losses the same as Nebraska and Wisconsin do.

But this year it was supposed to potentially be 2 wins (because we've improved as a program).
It's just a little weird that now it seems the schedule isn't actually easier at all and Nebraska/Wisconsin were at the same level as OSU/PSU.

 

[RexMantlepiece]

Until we get a QB that can be a difference maker…that is the upside. The good news is Surace and the kid from Pennsy that committed are those kind of upgrades.

Come don’t you know not to actually point up the young qb talent in the program. Only overly negative tones and absolute statements are allowed today.

 

[RUtrumpet92]

Vegas says RU -6.5 this week. Circle the wagons, figure it out, get to win #5. Then we will have five games to get #6. Yesterday sucked, turn the page and beat the Bruins.

 

[beaced]

After that 4 win start, it is hard to look ahead and really feel confident about getting 2 more wins.
We really have no significant offense other that KM, and teams are doing a great job of taking that away. Our passing game looks like last season.
Now, with the loss of so many players, we are seeing just how thin our talent is.
So much for the early enthusiasm.

Permit me to complete your headline Getting bowl eligible "Is not going to be easy"

 

[NickRU714]

I think most people said 7-9 wins. We are on track for that. Am I missing the reasonable people that were saying otherwise?

Ofc as we know injuries have been an issue. It's a lot more than zero.

Right now our recruiting is very solid. To me you want progress to go in a line. So, if last year was 6, the floor this year 7, next 8 and so on, barring some kind of good/bad outside circumstance.

If we were playing OSU, PSU and Oregon this year and backtracked to 5 wins - 100% people would say “But the schedule! You have to account for schedule! Can’t just compare 6 wins to 5 wins. Context matters”.

Similarly, saying “well 7 wins this year is better than 6 wins last year” ignores the schedule in the other direction.

 

[MADHAT1]

Permit me to complete your headline Getting bowl eligible "Is not going to be easy"

With 6 games left and only 2 wins needed, Rutgers stands a real good chance to be bowl eligible.
But if Rutgers barely squeaks by with a 2-4 rerecord in it's last 6 games, the pride of accomplishment will be missing from many RU fans and it will be a disappointing season even with a bowl bid

 

[koleszar]

But this year it was supposed to potentially be 2 wins (because we've improved as a program).
It's just a little weird that now it seems the schedule isn't actually easier at all and Nebraska/Wisconsin were at the same level as OSU/PSU.

No one said they were at the same level. Just they all count the same. As far as improved, that was contingent or at least I thought it was, on us staying relatively healthy. If I told you before the season, we would be without Toure, Powell, Longerbeam, Lewis and a hobbled Rodgers(only played 30 of 66 snaps) would we all be so enthusiastic? Of course not that's almost half your starters.

Now on offense no doubt Wisconsin was a huge cluncker not arguing that. Nebraska was more, not taking advantage of the opportunities. You simply can't get inside the opponents' territory 9 times and come away with 7 pts..

 

[Knight Shift]

But this year it was supposed to potentially be 2 wins (because we've improved as a program).
It's just a little weird that now it seems the schedule isn't actually easier at all and Nebraska/Wisconsin were at the same level as OSU/PSU.

Think I addressed this above. It was a delusional fantasy in the heads of our front runner fans, who are quick to jump off the train. Who ever said Nebraska would be easy? Up until last week before Purdue game it was reasonable to think RU could or would beat Wisconsin. But they have improved each game. Rutgers started regressing against Washington.

 

[Knight Shift]

Permit me to complete your headline Getting bowl eligible "Is not going to be easy"

You seem to be more measured and in the acceptance phase of fandom when the team hits the wall.

 

[mdk01]

You seem to be more measured and in the acceptance phase of fandom when the team hits the wall.

The wisdom that comes with age and experience.

 

[LETSGORU91]

After that 4 win start, it is hard to look ahead and really feel confident about getting 2 more wins.
We really have no significant offense other that KM, and teams are doing a great job of taking that away. Our passing game looks like last season.
Now, with the loss of so many players, we are seeing just how thin our talent is.
So much for the early enthusiasm.

Get UCLA this weekend and find at least one more win. I am befuddled on what I see on the field from RU. But I gotta believe.

Agree. Maryland is awful

Maryland has been our kryptonite. Hopefully we win against them but I'd like to get another from someone else after we beat UCLA.

 

[robjknight]

Almost hard to believe after the Wisconsin game, but we open as 8 1/2 point favorite vs. UCLA!

 

[RUich]

Almost hard to believe after the Wisconsin game, but we open as 8 1/2 point favorite vs. UCLA!

For sure. I thought UCLA played a lot better in their loss this week. But, my guess is that the bettors are thinking our display of ineptitude was an anomaly. Hope their right.

 

[RUich]

Just saw on my phone that the latest projections of the entire league have us finishing 17th! Yikes!!!!

 

[RU#1fan]

Greg is making $6.25 this season, not including performance bonuses and perks. And he isn't here for 4 more years - his contract expires in 2030 when he will be earning $7.75 base salary and over $8 if he does a decent job on the field and selling season tickets.

Greg’s teams continue to get mauled at the line of scrimmage with both the OL and DL. They are far from B1G lines and are soft compared to the teams in the league. Get a real S&C coach and fix it now.

 

[NotInRHouse]

If we were playing OSU, PSU and Oregon this year and backtracked to 5 wins - 100% people would say “But the schedule! You have to account for schedule! Can’t just compare 6 wins to 5 wins. Context matters”.

Similarly, saying “well 7 wins this year is better than 6 wins last year” ignores the schedule in the other direction.

IDK which people those are, but I am not worried about the schedule so much as I am about progress. The schedule ie easier but not a cakewalk. Nebraska ranked and Wisconsin probably will be soon.

People remember the record, not you missed this team and played that one instead.

 

[NickRU714]

IDK which people those are, but I am not worried about the schedule so much as I am about progress. The schedule ie easier but not a cakewalk. Nebraska ranked and Wisconsin probably will be soon.

People remember the record, not you missed this team and played that one instead.

I mean every season this board is littered with "sure we went 5-7 or 6-6 but we played 3 Top 10 teams. Have to consider we have the hardest schedule in the country and 3 automatic losses" as a justification (excuse?) for not being further along.

Look at all the Syracuse/ACC threads about schedule strength impacting your record.

It would seem to make sense that an easier schedule plus improvement from the team would combine for higher expectations.
Appears not.
Even the same team but an easier schedule should.

However it seems Nebraska/Wisconsin are just as "likely unwinnable" as when OSU/PSU were on the schedule.

God forbid we get all 4 on the schedule......

 

[LotusAggressor]

Until we get a QB that can be a difference maker…that is the upside. The good news is Surace and the kid from Pennsy that committed are those kind of upgrades.

Who's going to coach them? Or create an offense where a QB can be a difference maker?

 

[NotInRHouse]

I mean every season this board is littered with "sure we went 5-7 or 6-6 but we played 3 Top 10 teams. Have to consider we have the hardest schedule in the country and 3 automatic losses" as a justification (excuse?) for not being further along.

Look at all the Syracuse/ACC threads about schedule strength impacting your record.

It would seem to make sense that an easier schedule plus improvement from the team would combine for higher expectations.
Appears not.
Even the same team but an easier schedule should.

However it seems Nebraska/Wisconsin are just as "likely unwinnable" as when OSU/PSU were on the schedule.

God forbid we get all 4 on the schedule......

It's definitely fair to discuss the schedule. But, again, I'd still be looking for an upward line. There's going to be variation here and there. But overall you should be able to see a line. In GS 1.0 we had 06 at the culmination from 01. After those players graduated we were consistent but not at 06 level, but still 8-9 wins. Then you have 4 in 10 with the horrific outside circumstance with EL. 11 there's a rebound, and 12 had GS been here you get 10+ wins.

In this go around, 20 is a bowl season but for again the outside circumstances of the pandemic. 22 def had a slight regression but 23 rebounded. So to me, you pick up a win each year.

What other people say- going nuts after 4-0 and now doom and gloom- that I can't speak to. I can only speak for myself, but I do feel like 7-9 wins was absolutely the majority take preseason. And should be now.

 

[beaced]

Super to see Navy and Army in the rankings. Of course people will quibble about strength of schedule. Remember these schools are at a tremendous recruiting disadvantages versus the FBS competition.

Best is they both play #12 Notre Dame in South Bend in a few weeks. Army's last national championship was in 1946 and it was shared with Notre Dame.

Blanchard and Davis ?

 

[yessir321]

UCLA is essential for bowl eligibility. I hate saying it this way but it's the truth, if we can't beat a 1-5 program traveling 2500 miles across the country at home we don't deserve to go bowling

 

[RUGuitarMan]

UCLA is essential for bowl eligibility. I hate saying it this way but it's the truth, if we can't beat a 1-5 program traveling 2500 miles across the country at home we don't deserve to go bowling

That’s probably true, however, I don’t think the UCLA game will be easy. I’ve seen portions of several of their games this year. They are tough to run the ball on. They have some good athletes on offense and a QB that can get the ball there. Despite their record they are playing hard. They played PSU and Minn tough. Were very close to beating Minn at home.

 

[mdk01]

Blanchard and Davis ?

Yes.