It was a Good Year

[rutgersal]

Once we got to 6 Wins, the outcome of the rest of the games didn’t matter, though of course, we wanted to win them. We’re bowling. That’s the only thing that matters. We set out to win at least 6 games and won 6 games, a 50% increase over the previous year. The seasonal objective has been achieved, and the program will work to move forward.

In all of our losses, we never had a chance, which points to a significant talent and support gap with opposing programs.

In yesterday’s game, Taulia Tagovailoa completed 24 of 31 passes, a 77.4% Completion Rate, for 361 yards. Their leading receiver, Tai Felton, caught 5 balls for 140 receiving yards. That’s roughly 30% of our leading receivers production for the SEASON.

Kyle Monangai rushed for 118 yards, and ended up with 1,099 yards for the season. He is my Offensive MVP. Tyreem Powell was our leading tackler till he got injured, and he is my Defensive MVP. Jai Patel is my Special Teams MVP, notching 14 field goals on 17 attempts.
Gavin Wimsatt threw for 1,651 passing yards and rushed for 488 rushing yards, putting his total productivity at well over 2K total yards. He also added 9 passing TDs and 9 rushing TDs, for a total of 18 TDS. This was the best season for a Rutgers QB since 2014. He was a key factor in 5 of our 6 victories, especially our comeback victory over MSU, where he was clutch.

Defense played lights out for most of the year, till fatigue crept in, in November. The offense, especially our offensive line, played especially well in our victories.

Schiano will get his extension based on Hobbs comments on the podcast, and we will continue to work on the Fieldhouse Designs, per Hobbs.

We will see the impact of our results in our ‘25 Class and I can’t wait, because this class has a number of impact receivers, and we could really use a few of them. With the results from our ‘23, ‘24, and ‘25 Classes, our WR talent issues will finally be fixed.

Now we look forward to the @AreYouNUTS pregame bowl party. Can’t wait!

 

[mikemarc1]

Saying the last 4 games didn’t matter is absolutely ridiculous, Al.

I stopped reading after that

 

[RUBOB72]

Thank You rutgersaL for the team analysis and yes despite our last 4 games it was a successful season. Disappointed but happy we have shown definite progress. Oline, Defense until injuries hit and running game definitely was our strengths. QB is taking too much flack in the sense he needs to work on improving . Our WR core including TE’s is the biggest problem and everyone knows that. Very easy to bash the QB as is the custom at Rutgers and has been since forever. Remember these names : Brian Fortay, Mike Teel , Gary Nova and several others all fell into disfavor with our seat sitters. Keep the faith as this is not an never was going to be an easy fix.

 

[RUforlife]

I am surprised it took so long for Al to post his hard hitting and frank assessment of our season. But I can't say I am surprised by his conclusions since this is the same poster who has continuously posted that Greg had two more free years before he should be held accountable for the results on the field, and he started a post renaming our QB "Winsatt" during this past off season.

 

[bitnez]

Rutgers, Minnesota and Maryland all faded second half of the year. Locksley managed to get it turned around.

 

[rutgersal]

Saying the last 4 games didn’t matter is absolutely ridiculous, Al.

I stopped reading after that

We were completely out-classed and out-talented in our last four games.

If you didn’t see that, there’s nothing I can do for you. We need Big Checks, not Big Mouths on the messageboard to fix this.

 

[OldManRiver]

Thank You rutgersaL for the team analysis and yes despite our last 4 games it was a successful season. Disappointed but happy we have shown definite progress. Oline, Defense until injuries hit and running game definitely was our strengths. QB is taking too much flack in the sense he needs to work on improving . Our WR core including TE’s is the biggest problem and everyone knows that. Very easy to bash the QB as is the custom at Rutgers and has been since forever. Remember these names : Brian Fortay, Mike Teel , Gary Nova and several others all fell into disfavor with our seat sitters. Keep the faith as this is not a never was going to be an easy fix.

I have an inkling that before GW is done here at RU …he will join that group of QBs you listed

 

[rutgersal]

I have an inkling that before GW is done here at RU …he will join that group of QBs you listed

Wimsatt is going to work hard in the offseason to get better. People miss the impact he has running the ball, and it’s huge, and makes up for his less than stellar passing.

 

[mikemarc1]

We were completely out-classed and out-talented in our last four games.

If you didn’t see that, there’s nothing I can do for you. We need Big Checks, not Big Mouths on the messageboard to fix this.

I never said otherwise.

To say a quarter of the season didn’t matter is ridiculous

 

[OldManRiver]

Wimsatt is going to work hard in the offseason to get better. People miss the impact he has running the ball, and it’s huge, and makes up for his less than stellar passing.

I watched game tape this morning and I listened to Matt Millen say that KC told him that it takes a QB 2-3 years to fully get his system…this was GW first year…let’s hope he continues to hang out with KC in the off season

 

[RUref]

Coach Schiano's post game presser was legit. We've improved. Unfortunately, we ran out of gas. Sure, every team is banged up, but good, at this time of the year. With added depth, going forward, we will be able to overcome that obstacle. Let's go win our bowl game, and call it another successful step in the process.

Yes , the coach was selling his take, in the presser. But, to this fan, it holds water. This is a brutally difficult, competitive business. We have the correct leadership in place. Chop!

 

[RuSnp]

I watched game tape this morning and I listened to Matt Millen say that KC told him that it takes a QB 2-3 years to fully get his system…this was GW first year…let’s hope he continues to hang out with KC in the off season

The issue with GW is accuracy. More time in the system will help no doubt. But he's got to take major leaps forward just to get to average P5 starting qb level.

 

[Yeah Baby]

Overall a pretty good year. Iowa and Wisconsin were the tougher losses because we matched up decently with them. I was hoping for a better outcome yesterday but I did see some of our better players not making big hits which told me they’re not 100%. Our schedule is a grind and this is how we have finished the last few years and before that we started and finished much worse.

I think Gavin with some help can be a solid QB, especially when we play a much easier
Schedule starting next year. But he has work to do and so do the guys around him. He and Kyle at least gave us a run game.

The Iowa and OSU games are telling about us as a program and a fan base. Iowa fans show up and help their teams win even though they haven’t had an Offense in years. We can get better there as a fan base. The OSU game was a mix for me. Our fans who showed up were incredible and helped the team a lot. But at the end of the game I saw way too many OSU fans. We have too many people buying season tickets and selling for profit. That’s on our fan base but also on RU for allowing this. It needs to stop. Fake fans need to be penalized while real fans need to be rewarded. It matters a lot.

 

[MORRISCOUNTY]

When Schiano got to his 6 wins I thought he was going to open up the offense.

What did he have to lose. He got to 6 wins which justified his salary and Rutgers was going to some kind of bowl.

I would have put in the second string QB, the 3rd string QB and the Water Boy if I had to.

He got his 6 wins what did he have to lose. And Rutgers loses it's last 4 games.

If they had beat Maryland I would have said it was a successful season.

Losing the last four games was a horrible way to end the season.

 

[RUBOB72]

The season is still not over and the journey continues for this team…win or lose…it is how life generally is.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

 

[rutgersal]

The issue with GW is accuracy. More time in the system will help no doubt. But he's got to take major leaps forward just to get to average P5 starting qb level.

When Gavin demonstrates excellent mechanics, he throws an NFL ball. Unfortunately, when he is pressured or when he doesn’t set his feet properly, he is inaccurate. He will work hard in the offseason to get better.

 

[rutgersal]

When Schiano got to his 6 wins I thought he was going to open up the offense.

What did he have to lose. He got to 6 wins which justified his salary and Rutgers was going to some kind of bowl.

I would have put in the second string QB, the 3rd string QB and the Water Boy if I had to.

He got his 6 wins what did he have to lose. And Rutgers loses it's last 4 games.

If they had beat Maryland I would have said it was a successful season.

Losing the last four games was a horrible way to end the season.

Opening the offense would not have made a difference because our wide receivers lack the ball skills to win 50/50 balls, imo. We need an Alpha Male WR1 who can catch at least 50 balls a year. Our leading receiver had around 32 catches.

There were a number of instances yesterday, where the DB broke up the passing play. Our last four opponents had DBs with the ability to do the same.

 

[NewJerseyGuy]

Opening the offense would not have made a difference because our wide receivers lack the ball skills to win 50/50 balls, imo. We need an Alpha Male WR1 who can catch at least 50 balls a year. Our leading receiver had around 32 catches.

There were a number of instances yesterday, where the DB broke up the passing play. Our last four opponents had DBs with the ability to do the same.

So no point in worrying about all those inaccurate passes because our WRs can’t catch 50/50 balls?

What happened to all our Rose Bowl receivers?

 

[rutgersal]

So no point in worrying about all those inaccurate passes because our WRs can’t catch 50/50 balls?

What happened to all our Rose Bowl receivers?

The inaccurate passes are partially offset by his rushing productivity. He will work hard in the offseason to get better.

Our Rose Bowl Wide Receivers are still in high school.

 

[kupuna133]

Overall season was a success. Didn’t like the way the season ended but hopeful for seasons to come.

 

[kupuna133]

So no point in worrying about all those inaccurate passes because our WRs can’t catch 50/50 balls?

What happened to all our Rose Bowl receivers?

The inefficiency is less due to WR’s and more to route construction and QB not seeing the field. Once again yesterday GW throwing to wrong receiver(usually the more difficult throw).

Many times yesterday and previous games receivers specifically Dremel over the middle on a shallow route and Washington on the second level were wide open only for GW to lock into another receiver.

 

[jaydogsmooth1]

This isn't 5th grade gym class
The outcome of every game matters
That's why they keep track of wins and losses

 

[NotInRHouse]

Only this board could you have the negatoid trolls insist we'd have 4 wins and then cry that 6 wins was bad and we should have beaten Iowa.

 

[Knight Shift]

The inefficiency is less due to WR’s and more to route construction and QB not seeing the field. Once again yesterday GW throwing to wrong receiver(usually the more difficult throw).

Many times yesterday and previous games receivers specifically Dremel over the middle on a shallow route and Washington on the second level were wide open only for GW to lock into another receiver.

Felt really bad for Washington yesterday. So many times there were bad passes or no passes to him.

 

[yessir321]

Only this board could you have the negatoid trolls insist we'd have 4 wins and then cry that 6 wins was bad and we should have beaten Iowa.

you see you had a good point until you used 7 year old vocabulary with "Negatoid".

It sounds like the newest transformers character... "Introducing.... NEGATOID!"

 

[RCBeta79]

When Gavin demonstrates excellent mechanics, he throws an NFL ball. Unfortunately, when he is pressured or when he doesn’t set his feet properly, he is inaccurate. He will work hard in the offseason to get better.

Agreed GW can get better, but he needs hours of drills to correct his deficiencies:

My observations in yesterday's game:
- GW still stares down the receiver and this helps the defensive back to break up the play/limit after catch yards/intercept the pass.
- GW needs to improve on his "reads" to find a receiver on pass plays.
- GW threw multiple passes at the feet of the receiver on a blitz.
- GW sailed a few passes to receivers that were wide open (bad mechanics)
- Pass protection has been good this season, but his bad passing mechanics and staring down receivers needs to be fixed for him to improve.

 

[MADHAT1]

It was a pretty good year that rained hope but ended the regular season in a disappointing fashion
Win the bowl game and then it will be a good year.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

-GW rarely alludes pressure
-GW rarely runs for first downs when his receivers are covered

 

[RU848789]

Once we got to 6 Wins, the outcome of the rest of the games didn’t matter, though of course, we wanted to win them. We’re bowling. That’s the only thing that matters. We set out to win at least 6 games and won 6 games, a 50% increase over the previous year. The seasonal objective has been achieved, and the program will work to move forward.

In all of our losses, we never had a chance, which points to a significant talent and support gap with opposing programs.

In yesterday’s game, Taulia Tagovailoa completed 24 of 31 passes, a 77.4% Completion Rate, for 361 yards. Their leading receiver, Tai Felton, caught 5 balls for 140 receiving yards. That’s roughly 30% of our leading receivers production for the SEASON.

Kyle Monangai rushed for 118 yards, and ended up with 1,099 yards for the season. He is my Offensive MVP. Tyreem Powell was our leading tackler till he got injured, and he is my Defensive MVP. Jai Patel is my Special Teams MVP, notching 14 field goals on 17 attempts.
Gavin Wimsatt threw for 1,651 passing yards and rushed for 488 rushing yards, putting his total productivity at well over 2K total yards. He also added 9 passing TDs and 9 rushing TDs, for a total of 18 TDS. This was the best season for a Rutgers QB since 2014. He was a key factor in 5 of our 6 victories, especially our comeback victory over MSU, where he was clutch.

Defense played lights out for most of the year, till fatigue crept in, in November. The offense, especially our offensive line, played especially well in our victories.

Schiano will get his extension based on Hobbs comments on the podcast, and we will continue to work on the Fieldhouse Designs, per Hobbs.

We will see the impact of our results in our ‘25 Class and I can’t wait, because this class has a number of impact receivers, and we could really use a few of them. With the results from our ‘23, ‘24, and ‘25 Classes, our WR talent issues will finally be fixed.

Now we look forward to the @AreYouNUTS pregame bowl party. Can’t wait!

Nice summary. Agree with most of it, except your comment that we "never had a chance" to win in any of our losses, which means I'm saying you're assessment was too negative, which is not something I thought I'd ever say, lol. While the final scores in those games were generally 11-24 point margins, none of them were blowouts and several of them were one score games into the 4Q, including OSU, Iowa, and PSU, all ranked, 10+ win teams. I didn't expect to win those games at those points, but there was certainly a chance if we had made a few plays or gotten a few breaks (or one friggin' whistle).

The biggest question mark for me, for next season, is whether Gavin can make significant strides in his throwing consistency under pressure and his reads, especially quickly going beyond his first read and feeling the pressure and scrambling more, either to buy more time to throw or to run when the room is there to run. If he could significantly improve on those areas (and he did make some great throws - just not enough of them), I'd say we could win more than 6 games, but if he can't, I think 5-6 wins is our ceiling as strong defense and a good running game (his running game was a key to the whole running game) can only get us so far. QB is just so important and while I'm not a "GW hater" I do acknowledge his strengths and weaknesses so far. Some better WRs/TE would help, too.

 

[Extra Point]

If Rutgers played Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State first, and we were 0-3, and then went on to win 6 games, we would be pleased. Unfortunately losing the last 4 in a row at the end and being out of gas for Maryland leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and probably every RU fan's mouth. Getting to 6 was very good though.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

If Rutgers played Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State first, and we were 0-3, and then went on to win 6 games, we would be pleased. Unfortunately losing the last 4 in a row at the end and being out of gas for Maryland leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and probably every RU fan's mouth. Getting to 6 was very good though.

The piss poor performances against Iowa and Maryland are what leaves a bad taste in fans mouths

 

[Skull83]

-GW rarely alludes pressure
-GW rarely runs for first downs when his receivers are covered

I think you meant "eludes," but I don't want to troll you or suggest an improper way of thinking 🙂

 

[Yeah Baby]

Only this board could you have the negatoid trolls insist we'd have 4 wins and then cry that 6 wins was bad and we should have beaten Iowa.

Yup the.whiny babies were quiet when we got to 6-2 but all are back to their crying like babies on a public forum again. Sad lot.

The good news is the men will get back to work today and keep grinding to get better. I’ll root for the men.

 

[mikemarc1]

Only this board could you have the negatoid trolls insist we'd have 4 wins and then cry that 6 wins was bad and we should have beaten Iowa.

6 wins isn’t bad. Going 0-4 in the final 4 weeks is, though. That’s what I’m most mad about.

I don’t know who thinks we SHOULD HAVE beaten Iowa. I think everyone should agree we COULD HAVE beaten them…and the fact we didn’t even show up for the game should be maddening

 

[Joey Bacala]

Al, thanks for reading us the box score. I feel like your "analysis/analytics" is like 1st grade math class. Wimsatt ran for 9 td's and passed for 9 td's, how many td's did Gavin score children? Yes that's 18 td's!

A couple gems:

• Once we got to six games no other outcomes mattered. Are you serious???? And the reasoning: we only set out to win 6, so mission accomplished. Glad you don't coach. This may be the craziest comment in many years of crazy RutgersAl comments.
• We won 6 games which is a 50% improvement. Maybe a graph of that would have been good to help us understand that.
• Our offense was good in the games we won. Stop, I can't even......
• Fatigue crept in during November. Maybe OSU, Iowa and PSU crept in too.
• Monangai is the offensive MVP
• ....and last but not least, there is a talent gap between us and the top schools.

How have these cutting edge observations eluded the rest of us nimrods?

On the bright side at least I didn't have to watch you do it on video.

 

[Shelby65]

We were completely out-classed and out-talented in our last four games.

If you didn’t see that, there’s nothing I can do for you. We need Big Checks, not Big Mouths on the messageboard to fix this.

And don’t forget we need a glorious Fieldhouse with the Schiano’s Shrine and platinum statue in the Penthouse, one floor above Sycophant Al Video Studios where weekly ass-licking commentary is filmed.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

I think you meant "eludes," but I don't want to troll you or suggest an improper way of thinking 🙂

Write a letter to the spellcheck software company if it’s that important to you.

 

[Shelby65]

What to lose ? The most important thing of all. He risked losing all credibility were a backup to play well. Same reason he took Simon out after just a few plays ending with a TD against Wisconsin despite Wimsatt being ineffective before that.

 

[NotInRHouse]

you see you had a good point until you used 7 year old vocabulary with "Negatoid".

It sounds like the newest transformers character... "Introducing.... NEGATOID!"

Sorry...is "negative Americans" or "Negatively abled individuals" preferred?