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I’m placing Iowa on Upset Alert!!!!

rutgersal

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Feel good about Rutgers chances to defeat Iowa for the following reasons:
  • Rutgers has similar talent
I was surprised to see this myself, but if you look at team recruiting rankings, Rutgers recruits roughly in the same ballpark as Iowa, excluding the 2016 class, which was abbreviated for Rutgers due to a coaching change. They’re not Michigan, They’re not Penn State, but what what they are is a solid blue collar team that develops under rated recruits into top notch performers who generally don’t make mistakes, and execute at a high level, for the most part.
  • Rutgers players are more explosive
What Iowa is lacking is the number of explosive players that Rutgers has, because New Jersey produces better athletes than Iowa. While Iowa has 1 Ihmir Marsette, Rutgers is filled with Marsettes. Rutgers has three players capable of taking the ball to the house on any given play:
  • Raheem Blackshear
  • Isaiah Pacheco
  • Bo Melton
Pacheco had 142 yards rushing last year vs Michigan, and Blackshear had 102 yards rushing vs Penn State last year. Both will have a decent shot at topping the century mark vs Iowa, simply because Iowa doesn’t have the talent of the aforementioned teams.
  • Rutgers has competitive QB play
If this were last year, Rutgers would likely be blown out. But with his 340 yard passing performance, ability to evade the rush, and penchant for buying time and finding open receivers vs UMass, McClain Carter has served notice that Rutgers is going to be competitive this year. Had Carter played for Rutgers last year, we would’ve had a decent chance of beating Penn State and Michigan State last year. This year, Carter gives us a decent chance of defeating everyone on the schedule, save Ohio State and Michigan, whose talent is leagues better than ours.

I noted that Iowa had 1 Sack vs Miami last week. As long as Rutgers can hold Iowa to a similar total, literally and figuratively, Carter should have a career day vs Iowa.

  • Rutgers has size in the WR Corp
A key difference from last year, some of Rutgers receivers tower over their Iowa counterparts.
6-3 Daevon Robinson, 6-3 Isaiah Washington, 6-4 Stanley King, and 6-5 Jalon Jordan each could get their opportunity to shine vs Iowa.

  • Rutgers Corners have NFL futures
Avery Young and Damon Hayes could be the best cover corner combo in the Big Ten. Hayes should be playing Sundays next year, and Young will get his shot the year after, should he choose to take it.
Both held their Umass counterparts to minimal productivity last week, and I see no reason why they can’t do the same to Iowa.

Here are the keys to a Rutgers Victory

  • Avoid Turnovers- if we turn the ball over, it’s going to be blowout city, in favor of Iowa
  • Match Iowa’s level of execution
  • Run the ball and stop the run- Rutgers LBers must maintain gap integrity. Huge issue for us in Q1 last week, but the. Things settled down. I think we should be fine this week.
That said, I’m expecting a heck of a game with Rutgers barely prevailing. The first major upset of the ChriscAsh era:

  • Rutgers 27
  • Iowa 24
 
raw
 
These are great cliff notes for Ash’s pregame pep talk to the team.

What could go wrong for us?
 
Early season, they have major holes in their secondary, not beyond the realm of possibility.
 
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1. Bo Melton literally got his first TD last week. To say he can “take it to the house on any given play” is an extreme overstatement.

2. If the offensive game play is “run the ball” then Rutgers has no chance and might as well get rid of Ash/McN now.
Another season of “run the ball, kill the clock, keep it close and let the defense win the game” would be a disaster.
We need more UMass and less 2018/2019.
 
Feel good about Rutgers chances to defeat Iowa for the following reasons:
  • Rutgers has similar talent
I was surprised to see this myself, but if you look at team recruiting rankings, Rutgers recruits roughly in the same ballpark as Iowa, excluding the 2016 class, which was abbreviated for Rutgers due to a coaching change. They’re not Michigan, They’re not Penn State, but what what they are is a solid blue collar team that develops under rated recruits into top notch performers who generally don’t make mistakes, and execute at a high level, for the most part.
  • Rutgers players are more explosive
What Iowa is lacking is the number of explosive players that Rutgers has, because New Jersey produces better athletes than Iowa. While Iowa has 1 Ihmir Marsette, Rutgers is filled with Marsettes. Rutgers has three players capable of taking the ball to the house on any given play:
  • Raheem Blackshear
  • Isaiah Pacheco
  • Bo Melton
Pacheco had 142 yards rushing last year vs Michigan, and Blackshear had 102 yards rushing vs Penn State last year. Both will have a decent shot at topping the century mark vs Iowa, simply because Iowa doesn’t have the talent of the aforementioned teams.
  • Rutgers has competitive QB play
If this were last year, Rutgers would likely be blown out. But with his 340 yard passing performance, ability to evade the rush, and penchant for buying time and finding open receivers vs UMass, McClain Carter has served notice that Rutgers is going to be competitive this year. Had Carter played for Rutgers last year, we would’ve had a decent chance of beating Penn State and Michigan State last year. This year, Carter gives us a decent chance of defeating everyone on the schedule, save Ohio State and Michigan, whose talent is leagues better than ours.

I noted that Iowa had 1 Sack vs Miami last week. As long as Rutgers can hold Iowa to a similar total, literally and figuratively, Carter should have a career day vs Iowa.

  • Rutgers has size in the WR Corp
A key difference from last year, some of Rutgers receivers tower over their Iowa counterparts.
6-3 Daevon Robinson, 6-3 Isaiah Washington, 6-4 Stanley King, and 6-5 Jalon Jordan each could get their opportunity to shine vs Iowa.

  • Rutgers Corners have NFL futures
Avery Young and Damon Hayes could be the best cover corner combo in the Big Ten. Hayes should be playing Sundays next year, and Young will get his shot the year after, should he choose to take it.
Both held their Umass counterparts to minimal productivity last week, and I see no reason why they can’t do the same to Iowa.

Here are the keys to a Rutgers Victory

  • Avoid Turnovers- if we turn the ball over, it’s going to be blowout city, in favor of Iowa
  • Match Iowa’s level of execution
  • Run the ball and stop the run- Rutgers LBers must maintain gap integrity. Huge issue for us in Q1 last week, but the. Things settled down. I think we should be fine this week.
That said, I’m expecting a heck of a game with Rutgers barely prevailing. The first major upset of the ChriscAsh era:

  • Rutgers 27
  • Iowa 24
make_it_stop_boy_meets_world.gif
 
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“Had Carter player last year we would of had a decent chance to beat Penn State and Michigan”.

Dude for the past year you argued against the whole board who said even with a decent QB play last year we could of had 3-4 total win.

Now you post this...

Way to completely change your take!
 
...........and he posts this on the Iowa board. And TOS.

Come on dude.
I was wondering if it made it to the Iowa board but didn't have the nerve to look. I haven't checked yet, but it's probably on the Mainboard, too. I like it. Spices things up as only Al can spice 'em up.
 
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You lost on your first bullet point
  • Rutgers has similar talent

Is it really an upset alert when you post the same dribble before every game and your team goes 1-11? Even a broken clock is right 2x a day, he can't even get that.
Drivel.
On star ratings alone, Al is not incorrect
 
Iowa’s O-Line???

1-Center is a freshman
2-Star left tackle out
3-Right guard is non-playing, smaller, walk-on
4-Starting left tackle has moved over from right side.
 
I was wondering if it made it to the Iowa board but didn't have the nerve to look. I haven't checked yet, but it's probably on the Mainboard, too. I like it. Spices things up as only Al can spice 'em up.
It is in fact on the main board, that one will be golden
 
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Iowa’s O-Line???

1-Center is a freshman
2-Star left tackle out
3-Right guard is non-playing, smaller, walk-on
4-Starting left tackle has moved over from right side.

1 - redshirt freshman, who played less 4 or less games as a DT in 2018. Typical, Iowa OL prospect. Two Iowa DL from 2018 are in NFL camps as an OT and the other as a TE. They both were starters last year. The new center pancaked his guy one Jackson's leg, leading to the knee injury

2 - Iowa's best LT is actually the previous starting RT (Wirfs). Wirfs started at LT as a true freshman in 2017 in 27-20 win over Boston College at Yankee Stadium. He moved over, after 15 plays vs. Miami-OH. Iowa scored 38 points, lead by QB Nate Stanley.

3 - Iowa has a new RG. He was #6 man in fall camp, as redshirt sophomore. Yes, walk-on, which is pretty common at Wisconsin and Iowa. He was a high school wrestler and uses cross-over skills.

4 - New RT was starter against BC in 2017 Pinstripe Bowl, fwiw. As mentioned, he moved from G to T, when injury occurred.

Iowa goes back to starting five Iowa preps in starting lineup. Next Man in on the OL has been Iowa football, since a third string C had to step in during 1981 road trip to Michigan.

Hawkeyes beat Michigan and Bo that day, 9-7. Kirk Ferentz was a first year assistant in the Big Ten coaching the OL. Iowa has three coaches on staff that have coached the O-Line at one point or now at Iowa.
 
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“Had Carter player last year we would of had a decent chance to beat Penn State and Michigan”.

Dude for the past year you argued against the whole board who said even with a decent QB play last year we could of had 3-4 total win.

Now you post this...

Way to completely change your take!

@rutgersal needs to address this hypocrisy
 
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