Great, dominating road win to finish 7-5, as expected...

[RU848789]

7-5 was my prediction and that's our final record. Could've easily been 8-9 wins, but I'll take 7 given all the injuries we had, especially in the middle of the season and given what we looked like after 4 straight losses. The Schiano brainfart last week at the end still pisses me off, but he's done an excellent job this season outside of that - especially today - no doubt we were better prepared and motivated today. We dominated an MSU team that has some talent, apart from a poor job on their first drive - after that the D largely played great.

365-253 in total yards, including 129 for Monangai in his last game of the regular season (not sure if he plays in a bowl), meaning the OL again played very well, which also showed up in that we gave up no sacks today, which is fantastic. And AK had a very efficient, smart game going 13-22 for 157 and a TD and no INTs, in the snow and wind, making many very nice throws; he had a couple of nice runs too. And special teams finally played great, including 4-4 for Jai Patel and tackling the punter after a bad snap.

So, 7-5 is another step forward even if some were predicting 8-10 wins. We obviously could've had 8 and maybe at least one of those 4 straight losses (UCLA) if we hadn't been so hobbled by injuries. But 7-5 is still pretty good and we get to go to another bowl, hopefully a better one. Now let's see how we do in the portal and with actual signings of HS seniors, as well as retention of key talent, which we have a fair amount of, especially on offense, now. Hopefully we don't lose much and plug some holes, especially on the D, via the portal (even with limited NIL, unless some fabulously wealthy folks step up) and recruiting. Proud of the team and the coaching staff and hopeful for the future.

 

[newwavedave1]

Great to get the win. Didn't expect a blowout though.

 

[shields]

Good recap and will wonder if Toure had played this year. Want Oregon to win because we will be ahead of Washington.

 

[RU848789]

Good recap and will wonder if Toure had played this year.

Me too - really was a big loss, as he's a difference-maker/disruptor on D.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

Me too - really was a big loss, as he's a difference-maker/disruptor on D.

You guys are completely discounting what #28 did this year. He wasn't the loss.

 

[shields]

Toure had a sack in bowl game, yes he was a loss. UCLa game maybe he gets a key sack. Lindy magazine scout wrote wait to he gets to the combine.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

Toure had a sack in bowl game, yes he was a loss. UCLa game maybe he gets a key sack. Lindy magazine scout wrote wait to he gets to the combine.

Tou're played 13 games and had 93 tackles. Last season. Half solo.
#28 has played in 12 games so far with 103 tackles half solo.

 

[RUGuitarMan]

The players and coaches deserve great credit for the win today. It was terrible conditions and they played an excellent game. I predicted they would lose this game after the demoralizing loss last week, combined with MSU trying to get to a bowl. They showed great resilience. Credit to the HC and coaching staff for getting the team back and ready.

 

[shields]

Not reading what I wrote. Toure was capable of getting maybe 6 or 7 sacks. In UCLA game one sack could have made a difference.

 

[RutgersChow]

7-5 was my prediction and that's our final record. Could've easily been 8-9 wins, but I'll take 7 given all the injuries we had, especially in the middle of the season and given what we looked like after 4 straight losses. The Schiano brainfart last week at the end still pisses me off, but he's done an excellent job this season outside of that - especially today - no doubt we were better prepared and motivated today. We dominated an MSU team that has some talent, apart from a poor job on their first drive - after that the D largely played great.

365-253 in total yards, including 129 for Monangai in his last game of the regular season (not sure if he plays in a bowl), meaning the OL again played very well, which also showed up in that we gave up no sacks today, which is fantastic. And AK had a very efficient, smart game going 13-22 for 157 and a TD and no INTs, in the snow and wind, making many very nice throws; he had a couple of nice runs too. And special teams finally played great, including 4-4 for Jai Patel and tackling the punter after a bad snap.

So, 7-5 is another step forward even if some were predicting 8-10 wins. We obviously could've had 8 and maybe at least one of those 4 straight losses (UCLA) if we hadn't been so hobbled by injuries. But 7-5 is still pretty good and we get to go to another bowl, hopefully a better one. Now let's see how we do in the portal and with actual signings of HS seniors, as well as retention of key talent, which we have a fair amount of, especially on offense, now. Hopefully we don't lose much and plug some holes, especially on the D, via the portal (even with limited NIL, unless some fabulously wealthy folks step up) and recruiting. Proud of the team and the coaching staff and hopeful for the future.

We didn't lose last week because of injuries. We lost because of stupidity.

 

[RU848789]

We didn't lose last week because of injuries. We lost because of stupidity.

Did you even read my post? I never said we lost last week due to injuries and specifically called out GS's brainfart.

 

[jtung230]

Hit the over. Sweet. Double or nothing on the bowl game.

 

[koleszar]

Tou're played 13 games and had 93 tackles. Last season. Half solo.
#28 has played in 12 games so far with 103 tackles half solo.

#28 Djabome would have been coming off the bench or been the 3rd LB when Toure went into rush end on pass plays. Instead, we had the unplayable Walker and Hinspeter who has yet to cover anyone. Toure loss was huge and depleted that unit as it struggled all year.

 

[MulletCork]

Great win and no train horn was an added bonus !

 

[jtung230]

Great win and no train horn was an added bonus !

Were you at the game?

 

[RU848789]

#28 Djabome would have been coming off the bench or been the 3rd LB when Toure went into rush end on pass plays. Instead, we had the unplayable Walker and Hinspeter who has yet to cover anyone. Toure loss was huge and depleted that unit as it struggled all year.

Yep. And while Djabome made a ton of tackles and played really well the 2nd half of the year, there were some plays earlier in the season where he was lost on D, due to his inexperience. Would've been fantastic to have him as our 3rd LB though and he'll keep improving.

 

[MulletCork]

Were you at the game?

Yeah my boss is very old school MSU alum and we did this as a bucket list trip. Very cool atmosphere in general. Fun two days. Glad to do that with him as a friend because not to be TMI but he needed it at his age and stuff occurring.

 

[bac2therac]

Tremendous win today...yes wins matter. People saying it didnt matter if we won today or not were dead wrong. RU absolutely spanked Sparty on their home field in rough weather conditions. Greg had the team winning 3 of their last 4 only done in by his bonehead timeout. This is improvement and success across the board. Sure could have been better but you are what your record says. RU had a "nice" year and its a step up from the previous year. Likely headed to Phoenix its one of the best bowls and opponent in a long while.

The vast improvement in the offense and QB play despite the midseason bumps in the road is notable. 4 Big 10 wins is notable as well. Hats go off to Greg and staff for keeping the program chopping through a rough month and have them closing out strong.

 

[MulletCork]

Great recap. That was a complete win in a great setting. Not to be sentimental but that was just beautiful to watch.

 

[RU848789]

Tremendous win today...yes wins matter. People saying it didnt matter if we won today or not were dead wrong. RU absolutely spanked Sparty on their home field in rough weather conditions. Greg had the team winning 3 of their last 4 only done in by his bonehead timeout. This is improvement and success across the board. Sure could have been better but you are what your record says. RU had a "nice" year and its a step up from the previous year. Likely headed to Phoenix its one of the best bowls and opponent in a long while.

The vast improvement in the offense and QB play despite the midseason bumps in the road is notable. 4 Big 10 wins is notable as well. Hats go off to Greg and staff for keeping the program chopping through a rough month and have them closing out strong.

Well said. A good year, but not a great year - but two good years in a row is light years better than most of the last 10 years

Great recap. That was a complete win in a great setting. Not to be sentimental but that was just beautiful to watch.

Thanks, it really was beautiful to watch. Would love to get to the next level someday, but for now, this is pretty good.

 

[RutgersChow]

Did you even read my post? I never said we lost last week due to injuries and specifically called out GS's brainfart.

Not the whole post, plus I had a few.

 

[cubuffsdoug]

Tou're played 13 games and had 93 tackles. Last season. Half solo.
#28 has played in 12 games so far with 103 tackles half solo.

But Toure was impactful in the pass defense. DJ is not there yet.

 

[RU848789]

Not the whole post, plus I had a few.

Ok, we'll give you a pass, lol.

 

[mdk01]

You guys are completely discounting what #28 did this year. He wasn't the loss.

After a strong start against D3 Howard, #28's inexperience was badly exposed during the rest of the first half of the year and the 4 game losing streak. The good news is he apparently has a high learning curve and finished the year strong. That bodes well for the next two year, but the growing pains were real.

 

[T2Kplus20]

7-5 was my prediction and that's our final record. Could've easily been 8-9 wins, but I'll take 7 given all the injuries we had, especially in the middle of the season and given what we looked like after 4 straight losses. The Schiano brainfart last week at the end still pisses me off, but he's done an excellent job this season outside of that - especially today - no doubt we were better prepared and motivated today. We dominated an MSU team that has some talent, apart from a poor job on their first drive - after that the D largely played great.

365-253 in total yards, including 129 for Monangai in his last game of the regular season (not sure if he plays in a bowl), meaning the OL again played very well, which also showed up in that we gave up no sacks today, which is fantastic. And AK had a very efficient, smart game going 13-22 for 157 and a TD and no INTs, in the snow and wind, making many very nice throws; he had a couple of nice runs too. And special teams finally played great, including 4-4 for Jai Patel and tackling the punter after a bad snap.

So, 7-5 is another step forward even if some were predicting 8-10 wins. We obviously could've had 8 and maybe at least one of those 4 straight losses (UCLA) if we hadn't been so hobbled by injuries. But 7-5 is still pretty good and we get to go to another bowl, hopefully a better one. Now let's see how we do in the portal and with actual signings of HS seniors, as well as retention of key talent, which we have a fair amount of, especially on offense, now. Hopefully we don't lose much and plug some holes, especially on the D, via the portal (even with limited NIL, unless some fabulously wealthy folks step up) and recruiting. Proud of the team and the coaching staff and hopeful for the future.

This was a 9-3 team without Schiano gameday f'ups. Missed opportunity and typical Rutgers.

 

[RU-Kidding]

This was a 9-3 team without Schiano gameday f'ups. Missed opportunity and typical Rutgers.

So you're saying that Schiano created a program out of post Ash shit-show that could have won 9 games?

 

[RUSK97]

So you're saying that Schiano created a program out of post Ash shit-show that could have won 9 games?

Pffftt. I like that.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

Progress was made this year. RU has a legit Big Ten program. I won’t take that for granted.

 

[RUfromNJ]

This was a 9-3 team without Schiano gameday f'ups. Missed opportunity and typical Rutgers.

True. Im also glad that we’re rightfully annoyed that we’re not 9-3. We’re not where we want to be, but things have improved.

 

[T2Kplus20]

So you're saying that Schiano created a program out of post Ash shit-show that could have won 9 games?

Yes, and his dumbass gameday coaching caused that 9-win team to only win 7 games. Both things can be true. GS is an amazing program builder and one of the shittiest gameday coaches in D1.

Such is the life of an RU fan.

 

[Doctor Worm]

True. Im also glad that we’re rightfully annoyed that we’re not 9-3. We’re not where we want to be, but things have improved.

I think 7-5 is a very fair reflection of our season.

We shoulda beaten Illinois, but we shoulda lost to Washington.

We coulda beaten Nebraska, but we coulda lost to Virginia Tech.

The outcomes of the other games fairly reflected their flow.

 

[RU-Kidding]

So you're saying that Schiano created a program that could have won 9 games?

Yes, and his dumbass gameday coaching caused that 9-win team to only win 7 games. Both things can be true. GS is an amazing program builder and one of the shittiest gameday coaches in D1.

Such is the life of an RU fan.

Illinois game aside, please be specfic in how Schiano's game day coaching cost Rutgers each of the other 4 losses this season. Maybe we can have Ritchie forward a copy to him as a learning exercise for next year.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

Yes, and his dumbass gameday coaching caused that 9-win team to only win 7 games. Both things can be true. GS is an amazing program builder and one of the shittiest gameday coaches in D1.

Such is the life of an RU fan.

He was pretty damn good in the Washington game.

 

[read option]

Tremendous win today...yes wins matter. People saying it didnt matter if we won today or not were dead wrong. RU absolutely spanked Sparty on their home field in rough weather conditions. Greg had the team winning 3 of their last 4 only done in by his bonehead timeout. This is improvement and success across the board. Sure could have been better but you are what your record says. RU had a "nice" year and its a step up from the previous year. Likely headed to Phoenix its one of the best bowls and opponent in a long while.

The vast improvement in the offense and QB play despite the midseason bumps in the road is notable. 4 Big 10 wins is notable as well. Hats go off to Greg and staff for keeping the program chopping through a rough month and have them closing out strong.

Alongside a one win improvement in overall record was the resiliency shown through 12 games. This wasn’t a 6-2 start and 6-6 finish (although the last four games in 2023 were tougher matchups than 2024). To win 3
out of 4 (and could’ve been 4 out of 4) November games says something, especially considering the injuries and attrition. We looked better at the end of the season than we did at the beginning. Excited for the Bowl game and our 2025 offense.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I think 7-5 is a very fair reflection of our season.

We shoulda beaten Illinois, but we shoulda lost to Washington.

We coulda beaten Nebraska, but we coulda lost to Virginia Tech.

The outcomes of the other games fairly reflected their flow.

I think saying we “coulda” lost to VTech is a reach. We controlled that game and then they made it interesting at the end. I think the obscure weather conditions at Nebraska had a major impact on that game. FGs were unkickable and their kicker couldn’t buy one anyway. Huge advantage for them. Passing game severely limited by wind gusts favored them too on that day as that was the game where AK’s knee brace appeared - our QB was completely immobile in that game which played a huge role in us getting stuffed in the red zones multiple times (FGs basically out of the cards so we had to go for those).

Your also forgetting the UCLA game. Look - injuries impact every team, but the timing, and combined collection of injuries we had for that particular game was historic. We were missing half our starters and AK clearly still nursing the knee issues. And we still lost a close one,

 

[NiTeKnight]

Congratulations to the team on a great win!
Very proud of the way the team responded after that crushing loss last week.
Now get a good bowl game and win it.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

#28 Djabome would have been coming off the bench or been the 3rd LB when Toure went into rush end on pass plays. Instead, we had the unplayable Walker and Hinspeter who has yet to cover anyone. Toure loss was huge and depleted that unit as it struggled all year.

I'm not saying it wasn't significant I'm saying we got a guy that came in and did a damn good job at filling the whole. Same thing with Brown. We had others step in . Losing Fletcher who was a very significant part of our offense who was replaced with NOTHING as far as pass catching..That to me is a real loss but the OC did a great job of adjusting the plan.

I do concede that not having him as that edge rusher and his sack ability wasn't totally replaced. he had 4.5 last yr (Djabome has 3) and Bailey 4 that was just about half the team total . But you know how many sacks we had all of last year? 21. You know how many we have this year with a game to play? 20.

 

[cubuffsdoug]

I'm not saying it wasn't significant I'm saying we got a guy that came in and did a damn good job at filling the whole. Same thing with Brown. We had others step in . Losing Fletcher who was a very significant part of our offense who was replaced with NOTHING as far as pass catching..That to me is a real loss but the OC did a great job of adjusting the plan.

I do concede that not having him as that edge rusher and his sack ability wasn't totally replaced. he had 4.5 last yr (Djabome has 3) and Bailey 4 that was just about half the team total . But you know how many sacks we had all of last year? 21. You know how many we have this year with a game to play? 20.

Sack totals is one thing, but don't forget pressures and TFL are something people overlook in judging how effective a player is.

 

[RU#1fan]

Toure had a sack in bowl game, yes he was a loss. UCLa game maybe he gets a key sack. Lindy magazine scout wrote wait to he gets to the combine.

Let’s hope he puts off the Combine for another year. Love to see him back next year as our star LB.

 

[ashokan]

Tremendous win today...yes wins matter. People saying it didnt matter if we won today or not were dead wrong. RU absolutely spanked Sparty on their home field in rough weather conditions. Greg had the team winning 3 of their last 4 only done in by his bonehead timeout. This is improvement and success across the board. Sure could have been better but you are what your record says. RU had a "nice" year and its a step up from the previous year. Likely headed to Phoenix its one of the best bowls and opponent in a long while.

The vast improvement in the offense and QB play despite the midseason bumps in the road is notable. 4 Big 10 wins is notable as well. Hats go off to Greg and staff for keeping the program chopping through a rough month and have them closing out strong.

"Improvement" that was only realized because of KM's injury and the acute need to change the offense (using larger rotating WR sets/personnel). RU's offensive explosiveness confirmed what offensive critics had been saying for years (safety first and playing not to lose with a 2 page playbook etc)