Yeah, I know it was NW, who are in disarray, but sometimes teams with an us-against-the-world mentality rally and play well and despite their 1-11 record last year, they have some talent, plus this is a team we might not have beaten, much less stomped on, like we did today. Was it perfect? No, but it was pretty damn good, with fantastic defense (that last score almost doesn't count as they likely don't get the ball back w/o the dumb fumble by Rochelle - they only had 156 total yards until that point, due to our dominant defense) and pretty good offense that would've been better with Brown and Young playing.
But probably the most important thing to me was that Gavin Wimsatt played very well, as he was 17-29 and didn't throw bad passes - in fact he probably threw 4-5 away, when there was nothing there, rather than forcing them, so his stats were more like 17-25 (68% vs the 59% of 17-29), and he threw several gorgeous passes, plus ran judiciously and effectively - and how about that awesome TD catch by Strong? Great start to the season. Oh and who didn't love the "We want Dylan" chants after RHJ was introduced?
Liked Politi's article (paywall), especially this part:
That early drive was the best start possible. Really, the entire game was the best start possible for Schiano, whose program needs to start showing results in his fourth season. Yes, Northwestern is headed straight to the Big Ten basement, and no one should book flights to Pasadena just yet. Still, Rutgers absolutely, positively had to win this game to have any hope of a better season in 2023, and it did so convincingly in front of a packed stadium and a national CBS audience. You couldn’t have scripted a better opener.
https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/...n-gives-fans-hope-politis-5-observations.html
But probably the most important thing to me was that Gavin Wimsatt played very well, as he was 17-29 and didn't throw bad passes - in fact he probably threw 4-5 away, when there was nothing there, rather than forcing them, so his stats were more like 17-25 (68% vs the 59% of 17-29), and he threw several gorgeous passes, plus ran judiciously and effectively - and how about that awesome TD catch by Strong? Great start to the season. Oh and who didn't love the "We want Dylan" chants after RHJ was introduced?
Liked Politi's article (paywall), especially this part:
That early drive was the best start possible. Really, the entire game was the best start possible for Schiano, whose program needs to start showing results in his fourth season. Yes, Northwestern is headed straight to the Big Ten basement, and no one should book flights to Pasadena just yet. Still, Rutgers absolutely, positively had to win this game to have any hope of a better season in 2023, and it did so convincingly in front of a packed stadium and a national CBS audience. You couldn’t have scripted a better opener.
https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/...n-gives-fans-hope-politis-5-observations.html
