Like it or not - Rutgers is moving in the right direction

[RCBeta79]

Like it or not - Rutgers is moving in the right direction

Consider the following:

• Upgraded Staff -
  • Jerry Kill knows how to win and is making positive adjustments
  • Staff came from big time winning programs...give them a little time
• Better Recruits
  • 17 Freshman are seeing action - good enough to play BIG football now; they'll get better with each game
  • 2018 Class is shaping up - probably more Freshman that are ready to play
  • Quality Graduate Transfers from big time football programs want to play at Rutgers are filling our short term needs (Coaches get credit?) and more will come next year
  • Top national JUCO players want to play at Rutgers
  • Rutgers is a top academic institution that emphasizes Student - then - Athlete which differentiates Rutgers from Football factories
• Offensive and Defensive Line is much improved over last year -
  • Both kept us competitive in both games - giving us a chance to win
  • There are always going to be learning curves (i.e. Pro set, Spread, Stunts, adjusting to the speed of college players), during each game when some of the new players (i.e. Freshman) see new wrinkles and need to make adjustments
  • OL and DL looked good against Washington and inconsistent against Easter Michigan
  • Bigger players and greater depth at most positions this year
  • • QB, Running Back, OL/DL (never have enough), DB
• Less Injuries so far - better conditioning
• Rutgers Players are playing hard and don't give up (Eastern Michigan blocked punt)

There are a lot of new players with experience (i.e. Graduate transfers) starting this year and need a few games to get in synch with their teammates play.

I am confident that Rutgers coaches and players will make the adjustments given a few more games experience.

As a season ticket holder since 1980, I have seen the good and bad.

My Advice: Be positive and keep cheering loud for your team - the players hear you and will respond accordingly.

 

[Knight Shift]

RU needs more fans like you. While Saturday's loss was exasperating, the constant drumbeat of negativity and the we are doomed mentality is over the top--yeah I get it, RU fans are special snowflakes that have suffered to long and have every right to be bitter. The team needs fan support. The season is far from over. Shake off the last game and cheer loud. Thank you for posting.

 

[zappaa]

Coaching needs to improve greatly

 

[Knight Shift]

Coaching needs to improve greatly

There seems to be a good reason for the offensive coaching on Saturday given what happened to Coach Kill early in the game.

While the defensive secondary got picked apart, we did hold them to 16 points. They had a solid QB. The lack of pressure on the QB was concerning, however. They had Turay boxed out pretty well.

 

[letitrip2]

Great post OP!

 

[zappaa]

There seems to be a good reason for the offensive coaching on Saturday given what happened to Coach Kill early in the game.

While the defensive secondary got picked apart, we did hold them to 16 points. They had a solid QB. The lack of pressure on the QB was concerning, however. They had Turay boxed out pretty well.

Let's all hope a discombobulated, fuzzy OC wasn't calling the plays.

 

[urbanecane]

I shouldn't have to think of an excuse for losing to eastern Michigan.

 

[kupuna133]

Coaching needs to improve greatly

Defensive coaching needs to change. I cannot see how Nieman has a role next year. I know he is D coordinator in title only but his position group is the weakest on that side of the ball. LB's always seem lost and out of position.

 

[Knight Shift]

Defensive coaching needs to change. I cannot see how Nieman has a role next year. I know he is D coordinator in title only but his position group is the weakest on that side of the ball. LB's always seem lost and out of position.

Dial it back a notch.
We held UW to 84 rushing yards and their star QB to 17/30. One bad game and you want to run the DC out of town. Our LBs are very green and we are thin on depth. There is only so much a coach can do with inexperienced players.

 

[rutgersal]

Defensive coaching needs to change. I cannot see how Nieman has a role next year. I know he is D coordinator in title only but his position group is the weakest on that side of the ball. LB's always seem lost and out of position.

There's not enough talent and the frosh just aren't ready in the LB corp. This group will be much better next year.

 

[Abro1975]

A couple more bad losses and RU should be right where they want to be.

 

[gef21]

An old rule we always said in coaching was every freshmen you need to count on is a L in the books.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

it all looks good on paper.

We just have nothing to show for it... yet. Hopefully this season isn't lost and they can surprise everyone, including me. That is what I am hoping for.

 

[Saint Puppy]

I don't know what direction this team is moving in - I still like the hire of Ash whether he is right or not still remains to be seen. At the end of the day this is a VERY tough school to turn around for a variety of reasons. Gotta imagine this is a hell for coaches because of all the extra obstacles and general lack of support for B1G time football like others seem to have.

 

[RUfubar]

On retrospect, it is indeed likely the offense was especially discombobulated for the first half based on the unfortunate clinical status of the OC. Not an excuse but a reality. It does help explain the extreme lag in making adjustments.

 

[kupuna133]

There's not enough talent and the frosh just aren't ready in the LB corp. This group will be much better next year.

Agreed. But the mistakes I see are not coming from the younger LB's

 

[kupuna133]

Dial it back a notch.
We held UW to 84 rushing yards and their star QB to 17/30. One bad game and you want to run the DC out of town. Our LBs are very green and we are thin on depth. There is only so much a coach can do with inexperienced players.

Was not calling for anyone's job. Was more calling for a procedural change. Game plan seemed way too plain vanilla and allowed Eastern Michigan to dictate momentum rather than Rutgers. Game was played too passively.

May not have worded it properly.

 

[RUMBA-JK]

Pass the Dramamine ....
The final score was nauseating & how it got to that final score. Of course if there had been a lucky break completion for a TD by RU in the last minutes the final score would have been exactly as the odds makers would have predicted. That would not have erased the multiple miscues - but they could have been more easily relegated to the 'things not to repeat' box.
The news about Coach Kill was - on an entirely different level - nauseating - we all hope for the best & while bumps in the road may be an inevitable part of life - there is anguish when somebody you are rooting for - hits one of those bumps.

The season is not over - the final chapter on this coaching staff has, by no means, been written - there are two data points in the record for this season - and ten more to go. There will be more toes stubbed, more 'things not to repeat' - but the team will be moving in the right direction.

One of the things that I hope that Coach Ash is doing with the team is - taking a block of time and having a brief Info & Q&A session on Epilepsy & Seizures (actually hope this is would be a further update on an existing foundation of understanding) - education can conquer fear, and ignorance Basically " Guys, Epilepsy is part of life for many people - as you go on in life you will know people - friends, co-workers, maybe even family who live with it - and I want everyone on this team to know & understand that people can live highly successful full lives with it - and I want you to know the best ways to be supportive - emotionally and in emergency situations"
Take this experience and use it to make these player better informed.

 

[miketd1]

Was not calling for anyone's job. Was more calling for a procedural change. Game plan seemed way too plain vanilla and allowed Eastern Michigan to dictate momentum rather than Rutgers. Game was played too passively.

May not have worded it properly.

Agree and disagree.

I think we stuck to our vanilla coverage too long. EMU took advantage of our brand of cover-4 and went play-action max-protect fade. The play-action sucked in the safeties who had dual run/pass responsibilities. Then it's just a 50/50 ball with major yardage (if not a TD) hanging in the balance. If you're EMU, that's a risk/reward you're going to want to exploit, and they did.

If I'm the D coordinator, I actually switch things up this game and practice my zone blitz calls and play soft coverage behind it. In other words, I would have gotten more passive, at least on defense. Why? Well I'd rather force them to try and sustain a drive against my superior (supposedly) forces rather than risk them get lucky with a preferable match-up (which is what a 50/50 ball DB vs WR really is...).

 

[yesrutgers01]

LB's had a rough game and it showed up elsewhere. Turay was more often asked to help them out rather then rush the QB. We also got hit with a number of injuries on the DL. There was a reason we had to have Nash play both ways.

OP - was a very good post. One of the things not talked about enough, because we lost the game, is that our team, even after all the sloppy play, did not give up. It would have been very easy to watch that kid return the INT for a TD but Harris, yes, the Harris that everyone feels is not 100% focused on football, chased him down and stopped him before he scored. OK, normal fan say, yes, but they will get a TD on us anyway. Or at least a FG...but our D did not see it that way or play it that way. They stonewalled these guys and pushed them back. ST's, yeah- we have heard how much they suck- but no, S. Joseph, who is playing at a very high level, gets the block. We then procede to move the ball down the field. If not for the penalty, we have a great shot at the FG...These kids did not give up at all. Yes, it still would have been a sloppy win but it would have been a very good win because of the heart they showed. And if anyone didn't see this type of team during the Washington game, well, you are only looking for negatives then.

We lack depth and injuries and EW leaving the team are not going to help, but these kids are playing hard and it will pay off. Cheer these kids on, let's hope for a speedy recovery for J. Kill and let's see Ash continue to improve. We will be ok but there will be bumps along the way.

 

[rutgersal]

Agreed. But the mistakes I see are not coming from the younger LB's

I know but till the frosh are ready, we just have to live with them. Overall I thought defense was decent. Holding a mac opponent to fewer than 20 points should have been good enough to win.

 

[kupuna133]

Agree and disagree.

I think we stuck to our vanilla coverage too long. EMU took advantage of our brand of cover-4 and went play-action max-protect fade. The play-action sucked in the safeties who had dual run/pass responsibilities. Then it's just a 50/50 ball with major yardage (if not a TD) hanging in the balance. If you're EMU, that's a risk/reward you're going to want to exploit, and they did.

If I'm the D coordinator, I actually switch things up this game and practice my zone blitz calls and play soft coverage behind it. In other words, I would have gotten more passive, at least on defense. Why? Well I'd rather force them to try and sustain a drive against my superior (supposedly) forces rather than risk them get lucky with a preferable match-up (which is what a 50/50 ball DB vs WR really is...).

Agreed. The perceived strength of RU is the DB and DL (too an extent). We should have been able to disrupt EMU with a plain vanilla game plan. When it showed that it was not working and a momentum change was needed, pressure needed to be dialed up.

 

[BlockR]

moving in right direction means losing to a mid level Mac team that hasnt beaten a b10 school in 38 straight game?
11 straight Losses?
No B10 wins under current HC.?
Schools with new head coaches moving in the right direction:
Maryland.
Purdue.
Minny.
Indiana.

 

[ChasRC69]

LB's had a rough game and it showed up elsewhere. Turay was more often asked to help them out rather then rush the QB. We also got hit with a number of injuries on the DL. There was a reason we had to have Nash play both ways.

OP - was a very good post. One of the things not talked about enough, because we lost the game, is that our team, even after all the sloppy play, did not give up. It would have been very easy to watch that kid return the INT for a TD but Harris, yes, the Harris that everyone feels is not 100% focused on football, chased him down and stopped him before he scored. OK, normal fan say, yes, but they will get a TD on us anyway. Or at least a FG...but our D did not see it that way or play it that way. They stonewalled these guys and pushed them back. ST's, yeah- we have heard how much they suck- but no, S. Joseph, who is playing at a very high level, gets the block. We then procede to move the ball down the field. If not for the penalty, we have a great shot at the FG...These kids did not give up at all. Yes, it still would have been a sloppy win but it would have been a very good win because of the heart they showed. And if anyone didn't see this type of team during the Washington game, well, you are only looking for negatives then.

We lack depth and injuries and EW leaving the team are not going to help, but these kids are playing hard and it will pay off. Cheer these kids on, let's hope for a speedy recovery for J. Kill and let's see Ash continue to improve. We will be ok but there will be bumps along the way.

I'll support all RU's teams until I'm either put in a home or in an urn on one of my daughters' mantels. However, there's one thing about Ash's teams that I don't like. IMO, our defense is a reactive, not proactive defense. We let the other team do what they want and react to it. The Eastern Michigan game was a perfect example. Much of the game, they threw quick passes that negated any pass rush that we may have had. In that situation, we should have at least occasionally hit their receivers at the line of scrimmage instead of letting them get off untouched and then chasing them all over the field. Initially, I thought perhaps my thinking was wrong and there might be a good reason for not impeding their receivers, but then I read a blurb from the New England Patriots' web site. It explained that the reason the Kansas City Chiefs were so successful in stopping the NE offense was the small amount of space (2-3 yards) that the Chiefs' defenders were giving the Patriots' receivers at the line of scrimmage. That lack of space prevented Brady from throwing the short passes that he likes so much. Apparently, our coaching staff didn't watch the Patriots-Chiefs game.

 

[Knight Shift]

moving in right direction means losing to a mid level Mac team that hasnt beaten a b10 school in 38 straight game?
11 straight Losses?
No B10 wins under current HC.?
Schools with new head coaches moving in the right direction:
Maryland.
Purdue.
Minny.
Indiana.

 

[BlockR]

 

[RUBand]

There seems to be a good reason for the offensive coaching on Saturday given what happened to Coach Kill early in the game.

While the defensive secondary got picked apart, we did hold them to 16 points. They had a solid QB. The lack of pressure on the QB was concerning, however. They had Turay boxed out pretty well.

Why didn't we blitz more?

 

[Plum Street]

I would like it if it were true. Not sure it's true . Hope it is true

 

[RUBand]

Pass the Dramamine ....
The final score was nauseating & how it got to that final score. Of course if there had been a lucky break completion for a TD by RU in the last minutes the final score would have been exactly as the odds makers would have predicted. That would not have erased the multiple miscues - but they could have been more easily relegated to the 'things not to repeat' box.
The news about Coach Kill was - on an entirely different level - nauseating - we all hope for the best & while bumps in the road may be an inevitable part of life - there is anguish when somebody you are rooting for - hits one of those bumps.

The season is not over - the final chapter on this coaching staff has, by no means, been written - there are two data points in the record for this season - and ten more to go. There will be more toes stubbed, more 'things not to repeat' - but the team will be moving in the right direction.

One of the things that I hope that Coach Ash is doing with the team is - taking a block of time and having a brief Info & Q&A session on Epilepsy & Seizures (actually hope this is would be a further update on an existing foundation of understanding) - education can conquer fear, and ignorance Basically " Guys, Epilepsy is part of life for many people - as you go on in life you will know people - friends, co-workers, maybe even family who live with it - and I want everyone on this team to know & understand that people can live highly successful full lives with it - and I want you to know the best ways to be supportive - emotionally and in emergency situations"
Take this experience and use it to make these player better informed.

You know what was nauseating? That interception thrown by a grad transfer qb late in the game, and the hands to the face penalty by a team captain veteran that took us out of possible field goal range to possibly send the game into OT.

 

[BlockR]

You know what was nauseating? That interception thrown by a grad transfer qb late in the game, and the hands to the face penalty by a team captain veteran that took us out of possible field goal range to possibly send the game into OT.

RU shoulldnt have have been in that postion late in the game.
The inability of line to dominate on run block against a MAC team left the RU offense trying to throw passes with limited experienced WR's.

 

[mdh2003]

Like it or not - Rutgers is moving in the right direction

I don't like it that RU is moving in the right direction. Make it stop. It hurts.

 

[miketd1]

I'll support all RU's teams until I'm either put in a home or in an urn on one of my daughters' mantels. However, there's one thing about Ash's teams that I don't like. IMO, our defense is a reactive, not proactive defense. We let the other team do what they want and react to it. The Eastern Michigan game was a perfect example. Much of the game, they threw quick passes that negated any pass rush that we may have had. In that situation, we should have at least occasionally hit their receivers at the line of scrimmage instead of letting them get off untouched and then chasing them all over the field. Initially, I thought perhaps my thinking was wrong and there might be a good reason for not impeding their receivers, but then I read a blurb from the New England Patriots' web site. It explained that the reason the Kansas City Chiefs were so successful in stopping the NE offense was the small amount of space (2-3 yards) that the Chiefs' defenders were giving the Patriots' receivers at the line of scrimmage. That lack of space prevented Brady from throwing the short passes that he likes so much. Apparently, our coaching staff didn't watch the Patriots-Chiefs game.

Playing "off" coverage allows you to disguise your deep coverage better. Let's say we're in a 2-high shell and the CBs are playing off coverage. One of those CBs might have a deep 1/3. Maybe both drop back and it's cover-4 zone. Maybe both drop back and both safeties fly up in short zones ("robber") for an inverted cover-2 (a VTech favorite -- here's their playbook!):

Or everyone can drop and you've got some form of prevent. Or maybe mixed coverage where some are in zone or some are in man such as cover-6 (a Flood/Rossi favorite, I might add):

When you're in press or press-bail technique, in general it's harder to disguise, especially if the other team likes to go tempo. It's difficult to pretend to be in man coverage or short zone and then at the last second drop deep. Much easier to start deep and work short because in the few seconds you're moving up, you have a better view of how the routes in front of you are are going to develop. As always, there are exceptions ("sight" technique at Michigan, for instance), but I'm just speaking generally here.

As I mentioned earlier, I would have played more off coverage and played zone blitz and mixed coverage games with the QB.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

You know what was nauseating? That interception thrown by a grad transfer qb late in the game, and the hands to the face penalty by a team captain veteran that took us out of possible field goal range to possibly send the game into OT.

There are dead people who saw that pass coming. Just awful.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

I see the hope springs eternal fountain is flowing again. Rutgers is always #1 in the country at doing / having everything right except executing and winning.

Go ahead and call me out but I've seen way more RU football than 95% of you and have lived the life of hope and dreams. (not saying I know more about football..but that I've seen this all many many many times before)

It remains the coaching. Seen way too many lower paid, lower level, less talented teams come in a out play us big boys. You know, like we used to do when we were them and Burns was the guy.