I never saw 2-10 coming this season.

[ruready4somefootball]

For whatever reason, I really bought into the summer camp talk about how well conditioned and driven the players and staff were.Sure they could beat Maryland and finish 3-9, but still, I had 5-7 or 6-6 in my mind with little or no blow out losses.This season is far and away a monumental disappointment in what I thought Coach Ash would deliver this season. I'm far from convinced he is or isn't the answer, just sad it will take longer than I had hoped.

 

[SirScarlet]

For whatever reason, I really bought into the summer camp talk about how well conditioned and driven the players and staff were.Sure they could beat Maryland and finish 3-9, but still, I had 5-7 or 6-6 in my mind with little or no blow out losses.This season is far and away a monumental disappointment in what I thought Coach Ash would deliver this season. I'm far from convinced he is or isn't the answer, just sad it will take longer than I had hoped.

I was fired up coming into this season, but i still said if we got to 6 wins, ash deserved a statue

Just doing the old school win loss game (before the season) showed that 6-6 would have been a herculean feat.

And more than 6 wins? bordering on clueless.

Look I'm not very happy at all with how things have played out this year but I just don't understand how anyone could have predicted 6 wins coming into this year. At least anyone who watched this team before and knew anything about our opponents.

Sorry if blunt.

 

[NorthNJRUFan]

I thought 4-5

 

[Rokodesh]

Didn't care about wins and losses, but thought the games would at least be competitive, and fun to watch.

 

[JQRU91]

Didn't care about wins and losses, but thought the games would at least be competitive, and fun to watch.

Sports and games are about competitive balance. Once the balance is tipped, things can get pretty lopsided in a hurry. At times, the defense was decent; the problem was that the offense and special teams were not really competitive in some games, especially after we lost Grant.

 

[Plum Street]

I agree . I figured ash would struggle with some things and learn on the job, but didn't expect this. Some people here say we are bad because the players are flood's duds and they stink. I think it's a combo stink of flood's duds and a coaching staff that's clueless to this point

 

[rufeelinit]

the W/L and level of competitiveness certainly below my expectations. In my opinion this goes beyond the talent issue. Hopefully recruiting finishes strong and a critical self evaluation of the coaching staff performance is undertaken and areas identified for improvement are addressed in some manner. Not calling for changes although I would be surprised if the staff is back intact.

 

[RUsojo]

I was adamant in my preseason outlook (I'm sure you all remember). I figured 3-9 with 2-10 almost as likely and 4-8 as the ceiling.

Next year should be more of the same but from there on we'll be in better shape. Once that dotted line gets filled in February Ash will have succeeded in year one as it stands.

 

[RU#1fan]

I was fired up coming into this season, but i still said if we got to 6 wins, ash deserved a statue

Just doing the old school win loss game (before the season) showed that 6-6 would have been a herculean feat.

And more than 6 wins? bordering on clueless.

Look I'm not very happy at all with how things have played out this year but I just don't understand how anyone could have predicted 6 wins coming into this year. At least anyone who watched this team before and knew anything about our opponents.

Sorry if blunt.

A Statue ?
Please. Beating Illlinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and then Maryland to get to 6 wins does not deserve anyone a statue.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

I thought 2-10 or 3-9, at best 4-8.

No QB and Flood left the team emaciated in talent and depth.

Grant's injury sealed their fate.

 

[RU Golfer]

I thought 4 wins as well...

 

[rubaseball78]

I joined the Build Fund group where you had to pledge 30 per win. I budgeted 420 (14-0). Realistically, I was hoping for 6 and a bowl but expected 2-1 out of conference and 2 big 10 wins so 4-8 was my expectation.

 

[PSU_Nut]

For whatever reason, I really bought into the summer camp talk about how well conditioned and driven the players and staff were.Sure they could beat Maryland and finish 3-9, but still, I had 5-7 or 6-6 in my mind with little or no blow out losses.This season is far and away a monumental disappointment in what I thought Coach Ash would deliver this season. I'm far from convinced he is or isn't the answer, just sad it will take longer than I had hoped.

It happens all the time. People over estimate all the bs that comes out of every new coach. It so easy to do because there no evidence to contradict the claims. If the new coach says they are going to be better fundamentally your going to take him at their word. All the silly gimmicks like knighting etc is all just hype. It like summer camp when players say they are strong faster and never worked harder. Of course they are going to say that. Have you ever heard a player say that camp was easier or they are in worse shape. Fans want to believe so they eat it up.

 

[RUskoolie]

I expected more Ws but also underestimated the lack of talent we have (and I've bashed it a lot for 4 years). If you guys watch replays of games you'd see it. Right now it's 80% a talent problem.

 

[Extra Point]

I expected 5 wins and hoped for 6. We under achieved this year.

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

For whatever reason, I really bought into the summer camp talk about how well conditioned and driven the players and staff were.Sure they could beat Maryland and finish 3-9, but still, I had 5-7 or 6-6 in my mind with little or no blow out losses.This season is far and away a monumental disappointment in what I thought Coach Ash would deliver this season. I'm far from convinced he is or isn't the answer, just sad it will take longer than I had hoped.

I don't think anybody was ready for how bad the coaching staff was going to be. We were all fooled

 

[Extra Point]

Anyone who predicted 2 wins before the season was delusional. To say we would only beat Howard and New Mexico would have been totally irrational.

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

I was fired up coming into this season, but i still said if we got to 6 wins, ash deserved a statue

Just doing the old school win loss game (before the season) showed that 6-6 would have been a herculean feat.

And more than 6 wins? bordering on clueless.

Look I'm not very happy at all with how things have played out this year but I just don't understand how anyone could have predicted 6 wins coming into this year. At least anyone who watched this team before and knew anything about our opponents.

Sorry if blunt.

this is funny

 

[NY AGENTMAN]

For whatever reason, I really bought into the summer camp talk about how well conditioned and driven the players and staff were.Sure they could beat Maryland and finish 3-9, but still, I had 5-7 or 6-6 in my mind with little or no blow out losses.This season is far and away a monumental disappointment in what I thought Coach Ash would deliver this season. I'm far from convinced he is or isn't the answer, just sad it will take longer than I had hoped.

I thought 4-8 with wins over Howard, new Mexico, Ill and Maryland. 5-7 tops. This year is a lost year, next years record may not be better but if the quality of offense is not at least somewhat better, I will start to be alarmed.

 

[RUsince52]

Maybe some people really thought we'd only win 2 games even with all the upbeat talk during the summer. Those same fans should also be hitting the lottery consistently too.
I don't think anyone could have imagined we would play this poorly. It really went south when we hit the real schedule. All these qbs and we have trouble going 10 yards, unbelievable, talent or not. If Feb doesn't help, it's going to be beyond long.
Be interesting to see what happens in the next 3 months and what the fans buy into for next season. Hope Hobbs gets some better answers.

 

[MADHAT1]

I thought RU should be able to beat New Mexico and no trouble with Howard.
Indiana and Illinois should be games RU could win.
Minnesota a possibility and a chance to beat Maryland as well.
I figured between 4 to 6 games with Ash leading the way with his coaching chops and Mehringer being able to adjust his system to the players he has.Along with the staff Ash assembled having more ability to coach the players up, more than Flood and his assistants were able to do.

Seems like I was wrong about that and 3 will be the best RU can do, with 2 the likely outcome.

 

[RUbacker]

For whatever reason, I really bought into the summer camp talk about how well conditioned and driven the players and staff were.Sure they could beat Maryland and finish 3-9, but still, I had 5-7 or 6-6 in my mind with little or no blow out losses.This season is far and away a monumental disappointment in what I thought Coach Ash would deliver this season. I'm far from convinced he is or isn't the answer, just sad it will take longer than I had hoped.

That's part of the problem fans will be fans and too often like this poster are unrealistic as they don't know anything about a football program. Summer practice where players are just running around don't mean anything.

 

[RUbacker]

Anyone who predicted 2 wins before the season was delusional. To say we would only beat Howard and New Mexico would have been totally irrational.

Yeah I guess they were all right along with the college football experts . Some people can look at a team objectively and others just can't.

 

[PaKnight]

We lost the guy we could least afford to lose in Grant.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

I said it before and I'll say it again:

Vegas was on the mark with the 3.5 win "over" coming into this season. Why ANYBODY here thought, with THIS ROSTER, we were winning more than 3 or 4 games, tops, is mind-boggling to me. Now...we may end up 2-10, so that # is going to be a tad off, but we easily could have beaten Iowa had Laviano done his job that day, at least 3 separate times, and Minny was right there for the taking as well, so that # was a good call in my book. Having Grant for the the entire Iowa game and Minny would have won them for us as well.

 

[AshSaturday]

Most thought 4-5 with all healthy. The preseason Vegas line (someone here bet) was 4.5.
I believe we also lost a few key players on D early not including the mess from last year. Grant opened up the offense a lot more than everyone thought. Also maybe it me but I barely heard a peep from our running backs this year. They seemed better last year and the year before.

 

[AshSaturday]

I said it before and I'll say it again:

Vegas was on the mark with the 3.5 win "over" coming into this season. Why ANYBODY here thought, with THIS ROSTER, we were winning more than 3 or 4 games, tops, is mind-boggling to me. Now...we may end up 2-10, so that # is going to be a tad off, but we easily could have beaten Iowa had Laviano done his job that day, at least 3 separate times, and Minny was right there for the taking as well, so that # was a good call in my book. Having Grant for the the entire Iowa game and Minny would have won them for us as well.

Piscataway Mike and brother (pretty astute, smart, forward thinking guys) were in Vegas right before the season. Mike bet the over-under which was 4.5. We needed the 5 wins. probably R hottest topic for most of the season. Mike's made this bet several times before-1st time that I remember he didn't win. Of course the thinking was we'd have Grant.

 

[AshSaturday]

Piscataway Mike and brother (pretty astute, smart, forward thinking guys) were in Vegas right before the season. Mike bet the over-under which was 4.5. We needed the 5 wins. probably R hottest topic for most of the season.

Agreed with the assessment I believe myself and others have also made.

 

[RU-05]

I said it before and I'll say it again:

Vegas was on the mark with the 3.5 win "over" coming into this season. Why ANYBODY here thought, with THIS ROSTER, we were winning more than 3 or 4 games, tops, is mind-boggling to me. Now...we may end up 2-10, so that # is going to be a tad off, but we easily could have beaten Iowa had Laviano done his job that day, at least 3 separate times, and Minny was right there for the taking as well, so that # was a good call in my book. Having Grant for the the entire Iowa game and Minny would have won them for us as well.

So winning 3-4 wins was reasonable while 5 was mind boggling?

 

[Wutevah]

I was hopeful for six wins, but the two things that we needed to happen didn't happen.

1. Laviano didn't step up, he plateaued then dropped off. None of the other quarterbacks on the roster did anything as well (Gio was fine for 2 quarters, but if he can't run with his injury).
2. Grant got hurt really early.

 

[Section124]

I figured 2-4 wins this year, so not bummed about that. I was hoping for no big blowouts based on the new coaching staff and condition of players. The blowouts hurt. Ash needs time and recruits but the switch to the spread made the blow-outs bigger than expected. Sucks to have to defend why we are in the B1G all the time.

 

[czxqa]

It like summer camp when players say they are strong faster and never worked harder. Of course they are going to say that. Have you ever heard a player say that camp was easier.

Yes, actually I have. Players were saying that a lot after Kyle Flood's first training camp.

 

[RUwoz]

I only wanted to see improvement from game one to game twelve.... can't say I have?

 

[newwavedave1]

With Iowa, Illinois, and Minny as winnable games, a victory over Maryland would give us 6 wins. Woulda, shoulda, coulda!

 

[RUSK97]

I thought 4. Shame on me. Instead, we beat 2 teams and were competitive with Minnesota. Yes, we were competitive on the scoreboard with Iowa, but nowhere nearly as competitive on the field. Same with Indiana. Illinois was a joke. We beat them in just about every stat except the one that matters.

Of course, I love the 'we almost beat...'. Nothing better than a virtual victory.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

So winning 3-4 wins was reasonable while 5 was mind boggling?

3-4 was max. Absolutely. People here were calling for 6,7,8 wins this season. WHY?? There was, literally, NO reason to think as such so, yes, "mind boggling" IMHO.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

I thought 4. Shame on me. Instead, we beat 2 teams and were competitive with Minnesota. Yes, we were competitive on the scoreboard with Iowa, but nowhere nearly as competitive on the field. Same with Indiana. Illinois was a joke. We beat them in just about every stat except the one that matters.

Of course, I love the 'we almost beat...'. Nothing better than a virtual victory.

Iowa - We had more total yards (383 to 356). We lost because Laviano failed to make the world's most obvious pitch at the goal line and because he missed Harris, twice, wide-open for TD's. Not sure where this "nowhere nearly as competitive on the field" comes from.

Illinois - Total yards: 385 to 320 RU's favor. Game was lost due to TO's.

...but these type of games were to be expected, IMHO, loss-wise. The hope was that we pulled 1 or 2 of them out and get to 4 wins somehow but, unfortunately, we didn't make the plays at the right time OR force the "breaks" in our favor.

 

[Steveriknight]

I expected the losses. Absolutely did NOT expect us to lose the way we did with all the blow-outs and utter ineptitude on offense. Very disappointing season for me.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

I expected the losses. Absolutely did NOT expect us to lose the way we did with all the blow-outs and utter ineptitude on offense. Very disappointing season for me.

The talent and athleticism deficit of our roster was magnified 10-fold against Wash/PSU/OSU/Mich/MSU. That was the single biggest issue in terms of the blowouts as such, IMHO, and those teams took full advantage. PSU, for instance, poured it on once our D got worn down. Nearly 300 yards of O and 21 points the last 17-minutes of the game (only had 260 yards O prior to that point).

 

[MADHAT1]

Inexperience at the HC and OC positions also hurt RU's chances to win.
Sometimes the breaks might hurt chances of victory but good coaching can overcome that and bring home a win .
Ash and Mehringer might prove to be good ones in the future, but that weren't this season and that can't be blamed all on the players talent level.
Besides that I must question Ash's choice of staff and feel some aren't B1G worthy, but like Flood did Ash went with who he knew and was comfortable around over some who knew more but expected to have more input then Ash was willing to give.
Next season might not be much of an improvement if Ash doesn't work on getting a staff that can help him while he's learning everything he needs to be a good HC.