My Thoughts

[gef21]

I am not going to do a full breakdown of the game. I honestly was doing film work for a high school team I help with, I was watching field hockey, and also had the RU game on.

But my thoughts are as follows;

1. The season was about removing error (controlled or uncontrolled) because we have zero room for it. On defense we have generally avoided error (except being down our best LB) and have done some really good things.

1a. Offense has not avoided error. We are missing 2-3 of our best WRs, we do not have a TE, our RB stable is not healthy, and we do things at times to help the other team. The false starts in the beginning of the game completely changed the game in my opinion.

Everyone wants to blame GW, play calling, etc. The honest truth is we are there on defense, and we might have been there on offense without injuries. This is where we are right now. We have to play error free football, and overcome some serious shortcomings.

This season reminds me of 2005. We are close, we have potential, but we are not there yet.

 

[rutgersal]

The bottomline is we don’t have enough talent on offense because we prioritized building the defense in our first four recruiting classes.

The offensive cavalry arrives next year with Surace, Duff, Winowich, Black, Crumpler, and others. Plus we have kids like Braithwaite, Johnson, Ofurie, and Nakkoun redshirting.

Just get through this season with Wimsatt still standing. Would be nice to get an additional victory or two, but it’s not the end of the world if we don’t.

That’s where things stand, as I see them.

 

[DJ Spanky]

I'm sorry, but if you're not going to say that Wimsatt has accuracy issues, Schiano meddles too much in the offense or that KC is too conservative, then your thoughts are meaningless.

 

[Kbee3]

After Saturday I gotta admit I'm losing patience with Gavin.
With all of the talent projected to be returning next season, Rutgers needs to have a passing game.
GW doesn't look like the answer.

 

[mildone]

I am not going to do a full breakdown of the game. I honestly was doing film work for a high school team I help with, I was watching field hockey, and also had the RU game on.

But my thoughts are as follows;

1. The season was about removing error (controlled or uncontrolled) because we have zero room for it. On defense we have generally avoided error (except being down our best LB) and have done some really good things.

1a. Offense has not avoided error. We are missing 2-3 of our best WRs, we do not have a TE, our RB stable is not healthy, and we do things at times to help the other team. The false starts in the beginning of the game completely changed the game in my opinion.

Everyone wants to blame GW, play calling, etc. The honest truth is we are there on defense, and we might have been there on offense without injuries. This is where we are right now. We have to play error free football, and overcome some serious shortcomings.

This season reminds me of 2005. We are close, we have potential, but we are not there yet.

Good post.

There's undeniable improvement over last season, even on O (the OL is playing way better this season, for example). But we're still not at the point where we can overcome several key injuries. And to win, we still need to have fewer mistakes than the opponent (for contrast, OSU can have a bunch of injuries and make several mistakes and still win).

That basically comports with what GS has been saying pretty consistently all season - we're better but not quite there yet. For me, this season means there's still reason to hope that RUFB is still getting closer to being "there".

I'm not unhappy with the coaching. It can always be better (GS would agree, I bet). But to my non-coaching-experienced eyes, it seems pretty good in terms of player development, recruiting, schemes and game day decisions.

Can still sneak at least one more win this season. And next season will be pretty interesting. Not sure how things will go in terms of wins, but I feel confident predicting LOTS of heated arguments here on the RU forum all season long. 😀

 

[T2Kplus20]

I'm sorry, but if you're not going to say that Wimsatt has accuracy issues, Schiano meddles too much in the offense or that KC is too conservative, then your thoughts are meaningless.

+1
To summarize the OP:

 

[Eagleton96]

I agree that the false starts were the key to the game...that and KC moving away from the run too quickly once we were down two scores. But the false start penalties had something to do with that.

The loss was not on GW. He had one or two bad throws. The rest of the seeming bad throws were mostly throwing the ball away with nobody open downfield.

 

[cicero grimes]

No one will ever confuse Gavin with Caleb Williams but I do believe Gavin has improved over last season and has the potential to improve further. I also believe the game plan on Saturday was a by product of the osu game and Greg was afraid to open it up due to that pick six in the second half against the buckeyes. Greg tried to out Iowa Iowa. Not an easy thing to do when you can't control the ball. Our defense wore down as the game went on. I think this week will be just as painful but I do believe gw can win against maryland. Not giving up on gw yet and we do need to get more playmaker into the fold.

 

[RobertG]

+1
To summarize the OP:

Silly post

 

[Kbee3]

No one will ever confuse Gavin with Caleb Williams but I do believe Gavin has improved over last season and has the potential to improve further. I also believe the game plan on Saturday was a by product of the osu game and Greg was afraid to open it up due to that pick six in the second half against the buckeyes. Greg tried to out Iowa Iowa. Not an easy thing to do when you can't control the ball. Our defense wore down as the game went on. I think this week will be just as painful but I do believe gw can win against maryland. Not giving up on gw yet and we do need to get more playmaker into the fold.

I don't think we can beat either opponent left on the schedule. Our offense was Monangai...and he seems to be hurt. Sam Brown doesn't look like the Sam Brown pre-injury. And there is absolutely no reason to have any confidence in our quarterback or our receivers.

 

[mildone]

Silly post

I think you're being too kind. Silly would be a pretty big step up from his post.

For those of us paying attention, the OP has forgotten more about football in the past week than T will ever know in his lifetime.

 

[OldManRiver]

I agree that the false starts were the key to the game...that and KC moving away from the run too quickly once we were down two scores. But the false start penalties had something to do with that.

The loss was not on GW. He had one or two bad throws. The rest of the seeming bad throws were mostly throwing the ball away with nobody open downfield.

I might add that Iowa's Defense took away things from us.
Maybe their D won the game for them...I sure as hell know our D didn't in the 2nd half...maybe they got tired I don't know...that Offense should not have beaten us

 

[mildone]

I don't think we can beat either opponent left on the schedule. Our offense was Monangai...and he seems to be hurt. Sam Brown doesn't look like the Sam Brown pre-injury. And there is absolutely no reason to have any confidence in our quarterback or our receivers.

I think GW improved a lot over last season and is improving pretty steadily throughout this season. The WRs are slightly improved over last season, and not showing quite as much improvement game to game. But, IIRC, they're also getting pretty banged up.

It was always going to be tough to win any of our remaining games. But it's not impossible. Last season, it felt pretty impossible most of the time.

 

[T2Kplus20]

Silly post

And now we have:

 

[mdk01]

I might add that Iowa's Defense took away things from us.
Maybe their D won the game for them...I sure as hell know our D didn't in the 2nd half...maybe they got tired I don't know...that Offense should not have beaten us

IIRC the time of possession was something 36-24 in favor of Iowa. If that's accurate they did get tired.

 

[mdk01]

I am not going to do a full breakdown of the game. I honestly was doing film work for a high school team I help with, I was watching field hockey, and also had the RU game on.

But my thoughts are as follows;

1. The season was about removing error (controlled or uncontrolled) because we have zero room for it. On defense we have generally avoided error (except being down our best LB) and have done some really good things.

1a. Offense has not avoided error. We are missing 2-3 of our best WRs, we do not have a TE, our RB stable is not healthy, and we do things at times to help the other team. The false starts in the beginning of the game completely changed the game in my opinion.

Everyone wants to blame GW, play calling, etc. The honest truth is we are there on defense, and we might have been there on offense without injuries. This is where we are right now. We have to play error free football, and overcome some serious shortcomings.

This season reminds me of 2005. We are close, we have potential, but we are not there yet.

Spot on with the false starts. And some are forgetting that Iowa is the 3rd best team faced this season.

 

[gef21]

I'm sorry, but if you're not going to say that Wimsatt has accuracy issues, Schiano meddles too much in the offense or that KC is too conservative, then your thoughts are meaningless.

I think he has some issues, but has also made some great throws.

Football is a team sport. If we had elite WRs, and an elite TE and GW could not complete passes I would call that out. We have no TE, a C WR room, and what I consider a C+ QB. No one is pulling up anyone else. I think our OL is a B/B+ and our best RB, when healthy is an A-.

In other leagues that offense can makes some noise. We play in the A division in an A conference. We just are not there to make up for any shortcomings.

 

[cicero grimes]

I don't think we can beat either opponent left on the schedule. Our offense was Monangai...and he seems to be hurt. Sam Brown doesn't look like the Sam Brown pre-injury. And there is absolutely no reason to have any confidence in our quarterback or our receivers.

Fair point. Although I do think if we can keep the ball away from Maryland we can squeeze out a win. Not sure if how much of our lack of a ground attack was on KM and how much was Iowa putting what seemed to be their entire D in the box daring us to run it. If KM is hurt I would sit him this week and try to get him healthy for MD.

 

[robjknight]

Benjamin made a nice play on a poor pass in the OSU game. Seems like he can be a weapon on the outlet pass. Seems like we never go back to plays that were successful.
Maryland is not playing well. We should be able to get that home win especially if we behave like Iowa fans and turn up the noise. They were more responsible for false starts than anyone.

 

[mildone]

Benjamin made a nice play on a poor pass in the OSU game. Seems like he can be a weapon on the outlet pass. Seems like we never go back to plays that were successful.
Maryland is not playing well. We should be able to get that home win especially if we behave like Iowa fans and turn up the noise. They were more responsible for false starts than anyone.

Seemed that the Iowa fans were a pretty big factor in the game. Good job by them.

 

[Shelby65]

The bottomline is we don’t have enough talent on offense because we prioritized building the defense in our first four recruiting classes.

The offensive cavalry arrives next year with Surace, Duff, Winowich, Black, Crumpler, and others. Plus we have kids like Braithwaite, Johnson, Ofurie, and Nakkoun redshirting.

Just get through this season with Wimsatt still standing. Would be nice to get an additional victory or two, but it’s not the end of the world if we don’t.

That’s where things stand, as I see them.

Fieldhouse Al….how do you know what was prioritized ? Did the HC tell you ? One could also argue talented skill position players wanted no part in this offense.

 

[Shelby65]

Fair point. Although I do think if we can keep the ball away from Maryland we can squeeze out a win. Not sure if how much of our lack of a ground attack was on KM and how much was Iowa putting what seemed to be their entire D in the box daring us to run it. If KM is hurt I would sit him this week and try to get him healthy for MD.

I would be very surprised if KM is cleared to play but doesn’t. Coaches try to get top players accolades and if KM has still has a chance to be Big10 leading rusher he will try, especially against an opponent that couldn’t stop the run last week. UM only passed about 8 times last week on PSU.

 

[LETSGORU91]

Football is a team sport. If we had elite WRs, and an elite TE and GW could not complete passes I would call that out. We have no TE, a C WR room, and what I consider a C+ QB. No one is pulling up anyone else. I think our OL is a B/B+ and our best RB, when healthy is an A-.

Wimsatt ranks 105 out of 108 ranked QBs in passing efficiency. The #108 QB just beat us last weekend. He ranks 107 out of 108 in completion percentage at 0.482. He's hardly throwing anything long and completes only 48% of his throws. Number 108 in completion percentage? The same guy from Iowa who beat us. How does Wimsatt, with those statistics, earn a C+ from you?

 

[yesrutgers01]

This past game is a hard one to get a feel on...my biggest fear did happen- that home field in Iowa is worth so much more than 3 points. But, that many false starts is crazy. And, it seemed it was almost all starting with our Center. But it killed at least two early drives. Non called PI was also brutal early on. We may have been able to get a score and then not be playing from behind. But from the start of the 2nd quarter on- it seemed lie 3 would have been enough for Iowa.
Now- the game plan- Everyone is looking at the offensive gameplan when we are questioning it- but Ferentz schooled Greg as he came out with Hill throwing downfield and we were not ready for it and it never seemed like we adjusted.
Our offensive GP was strange too. We had an early keeper for a couple of yards but after that- it seemed like someone told KC that their D hits too hard- no more GW runs.

I was very disappointed in the game. A lot of what I saw as great gains through this year, even in our losses, seemed to stall out all in one single game.
After OSU- it seemed we were much better than Maryland and could almost count it as a very good chance to win. But this game, now gives you such a punch to the stomach that you really wonder.

I am not going to kill GW. There really is a problem when your 2 top WR's are out all season and you lose Jackson early on.

 

[Shelby65]

This past game is a hard one to get a feel on...my biggest fear did happen- that home field in Iowa is worth so much more than 3 points. But, that many false starts is crazy. And, it seemed it was almost all starting with our Center. But it killed at least two early drives. Non called PI was also brutal early on. We may have been able to get a score and then not be playing from behind. But from the start of the 2nd quarter on- it seemed lie 3 would have been enough for Iowa.
Now- the game plan- Everyone is looking at the offensive gameplan when we are questioning it- but Ferentz schooled Greg as he came out with Hill throwing downfield and we were not ready for it and it never seemed like we adjusted.
Our offensive GP was strange too. We had an early keeper for a couple of yards but after that- it seemed like someone told KC that their D hits too hard- no more GW runs.

I was very disappointed in the game. A lot of what I saw as great gains through this year, even in our losses, seemed to stall out all in one single game.
After OSU- it seemed we were much better than Maryland and could almost count it as a very good chance to win. But this game, now gives you such a punch to the stomach that you really wonder.

I am not going to kill GW. There really is a problem when your 2 top WR's are out all season and you lose Jackson early on.

Which explains why so many of his throws are nowhere near his open targets…oh, wait.

 

[RUChoppin]

Wimsatt ranks 105 out of 108 ranked QBs in passing efficiency. The #108 QB just beat us last weekend. He ranks 107 out of 108 in completion percentage at 0.482. He's hardly throwing anything long and completes only 48% of his throws. Number 108 in completion percentage? The same guy from Iowa who beat us. How does Wimsatt, with those statistics, earn a C+ from you?

First off, gef21 looks at more than the stat sheet, if he's even looking at the stat sheet at all.

Your question goes back to everything else involved in having a good pass efficiency and completion percentage. We don't have WRs that can consistently get separation or catch imperfect balls, and we don't have a pass receiving TE. Our RB room is banged up. That doesn't forgive GW entirely - but he seems to be an average QB without above average guys at the skill positions to take up the gap.

Couple that with going against some of the best defenses in college football. The national leaders in pass efficiency defense are #1 Ohio St, #2 Michigan, and #4 Iowa. Our other loss, Wisconsin, comes in at 27th - and Penn State this weekend clocks in at #10. Northwestern is #39, and VTech is #41. It's not like we're going up against average defenses each week.

 

[gef21]

Wimsatt ranks 105 out of 108 ranked QBs in passing efficiency. The #108 QB just beat us last weekend. He ranks 107 out of 108 in completion percentage at 0.482. He's hardly throwing anything long and completes only 48% of his throws. Number 108 in completion percentage? The same guy from Iowa who beat us. How does Wimsatt, with those statistics, earn a C+ from you?

I am taking into account what he has done on the ground, and he has made some nice throws. If we are grading on a sliding scale of all NCAA QBs then he is an F for completion percentages. There are many, many more stats to consider besides just completion percentage.

 

[MADHAT1]

I'm sorry, but if you're not going to say that Wimsatt has accuracy issues, Schiano meddles too much in the offense or that KC is too conservative, then your thoughts are meaningless.

I think you have the accuracy issues right, Gavin has shown he doesn't have the type of accuracy that would help beat the B1G's good programs.
He might be improving, but as of now he hasn't improved enough to be considered a good P-5 QB .

As for Greg meddling in the offense, I wouldn't be surprised if he gave KC free reign to call the plays, but restricts the play-calling so it's more of a not to lose and keep the QB from making mistakes than letting the O play all out and gambling on the QB being good enough to make a difference in the way KC has the O play..

Schiano seems to want the game-plan to be: the D will stop them and the O will play just good enough to score more points without having to do more than the minimum effort when it comes to a passing attack.

 

[gef21]

I think you have the accuracy issues right, Gavin has shown he doesn't have the type of accuracy that would help beat the B1G's good programs.
He might be improving, but as of now he hasn't improved enough to be considered a good P-5 QB .

As for Greg meddling in the offense, I wouldn't be surprised if he gave KC free reign to call the plays, but restricts the play-calling so it's more of a not to lose and keep the QB from making mistakes than letting the O play all out and gambling on the QB being good enough to make a difference in the way KC has the O play..

Schiano seems to want the game-plan to be: the D will stop them and the O will play just good enough to score more points without having to do more than the minimum effort when it comes to a passing attack.

I think Schiano sees what the team can, and more importantly cant do. The game plan is do not make our offense reliant on having to throw the ball, because we do not have the playmakers (ether at QB, WR, or TE) to make the play.

Look if we had a stud QB he could overcome bad TEs and bad WRs, or if we had good WRs and a bad QB they could overcome it, but we do not have anyone who can make plays in the passing game consistently right now.

 

[T2Kplus20]

There are many, many more stats to consider besides just completion percentage.

Not against good defenses/programs that can easily stop the run.

 

[RUChoppin]

I think you have the accuracy issues right, Gavin has shown he doesn't have the type of accuracy that would help beat the B1G's good programs.
He might be improving, but as of now he hasn't improved enough to be considered a good P-5 QB .

As for Greg meddling in the offense, I wouldn't be surprised if he gave KC free reign to call the plays, but restricts the play-calling so it's more of a not to lose and keep the QB from making mistakes than letting the O play all out and gambling on the QB being good enough to make a difference in the way KC has the O play..

Schiano seems to want the game-plan to be: the D will stop them and the O will play just good enough to score more points without having to do more than the minimum effort when it comes to a passing attack.

Schiano's always been a "chew the clock" guy on offense, because he sees it as helping the defense. He once said something like the other team's offense can't hurt you if they're on the sideline. That leads to a very run-heavy offense that keeps the clock running, and ideally the chains moving - and limits the number of passing attempts, because every incompletion stops the clock, which gives the opposing offense more possessions and time on the field.

I don't see him suddenly going to a 50/50 run/pass approach unless he has a truly elite defense that he's not trying to protect as much.

 

[gef21]

Not against good defenses/programs that can easily stop the run.

YPC, YPT, running yards, etc. etc. etc.

Beyond that film evaluation for drops, correct routes run, separation made by route runners etc. etc. etc.

The offense beyond the LOS has some serious serious issues. We are mediocre. But there is so much more to look at than just how GW plays. It is just the easiest for people to see and complain about for the average fan.

 

[yesrutgers01]

GW was actually dead on for most of his first 10 passes and then he started to press and make/force bad throws. But at that point, we were so past our normal gameplan as the defense was on the field all day long and we do not have an answer if we are not controlling the closk

 

[DJ Spanky]

I think ....

I was being facetious as those are arguments certain posters hammer over and over and over and over ad nauseum.

 

[T2Kplus20]

YPC, YPT, running yards, etc. etc. etc.

Beyond that film evaluation for drops, correct routes run, separation made by route runners etc. etc. etc.

The offense beyond the LOS has some serious serious issues. We are mediocre. But there is so much more to look at than just how GW plays. It is just the easiest for people to see and complain about for the average fan.

It's not complicated. He is a fine QB when the running game is working and he can pass enough to keep everyone honest. This is the case with average to mediocre defenses/programs. However, he lacks the ability to pass when he is forced to (i.e., the defense is good enough to stop our run). In these situations, he has proven to be completely non-functional and overwhelmed.

 

[DJ Spanky]

I think you have the accuracy issues right, Gavin has shown he doesn't have the type of accuracy that would help beat the B1G's good programs.
He might be improving, but as of now he hasn't improved enough to be considered a good P-5 QB .

As for Greg meddling in the offense, I wouldn't be surprised if he gave KC free reign to call the plays, but restricts the play-calling so it's more of a not to lose and keep the QB from making mistakes than letting the O play all out and gambling on the QB being good enough to make a difference in the way KC has the O play..

Schiano seems to want the game-plan to be: the D will stop them and the O will play just good enough to score more points without having to do more than the minimum effort when it comes to a passing attack.

I was being facetious.

 

[gef21]

It's not complicated. He is a fine QB when the running game is working and he can pass enough to keep everyone honest. This is the case with average to mediocre defenses/programs. However, he lacks the ability to pass when he is forced to (i.e., the defense is good enough to stop our run). In these situations, he has proven to be completely non-functional and overwhelmed.

I go beyond just putting that on the QB entirely. WRs not getting off jams, TEs getting no separation, having to leave H/RBs in for pass protection etc. All of that changes what a QB can and not can not do.

Now GW does not make all the throws he should, but I can not think of a RU QB who ever has in my time as a fan. What would Nova have been without LC? What would Teel have been without KB or TU? GW does not have that guy that Teel or Nova had.

 

[tomatocan]

It's not complicated. He is a fine QB when the running game is working and he can pass enough to keep everyone honest. This is the case with average to mediocre defenses/programs. However, he lacks the ability to pass when he is forced to (i.e., the defense is good enough to stop our run). In these situations, he has proven to be completely non-functional and overwhelmed.

So, he is not a C+ qb.

 

[T2Kplus20]

So, he is not a C+ qb.

No, he is not, especially for the B1G.

 

[RU848789]

I am taking into account what he has done on the ground, and he has made some nice throws. If we are grading on a sliding scale of all NCAA QBs then he is an F for completion percentages. There are many, many more stats to consider besides just completion percentage.

Exactly. He has improved the running game significantly with his running and, of course, his threat of running, which makes the ends stay home and forces the defense to account for all 6 skill guys and allows the OL to be more effective in opening up holes for KM. It's astounding that people who claim to watch/know football don't get that.

I'd give Gavin a D in the passing game (not an F, because of the dearth of WR separation and the lack of a good TE) and a B in the running game for an overall C, which along with an A- defense and B special teams gets us to 6-4. That's why his QBR rating which assesses overall passing and running is an 84 out of 134 QBs. Solid C. But he's going to have to improve for us to do better than 6 wins next year (or this year).

https://www.espn.com/college-football/qbr

That Iowa game was there for the taking if we could have run the ball (Gavin was actually passing well early) and not had so many stupid penalties, especially the crusher on the first drive of the 2nd half, when we were only down 3-0 - and it was still only 6-0 after 3Q, meaning if we had any offense we could have won that game. KM simply didn't look 100% to me nor did Brown (although I'm sure Iowa's defense also had something to do with that). Going to be a tough day in Happy Valley if the same offense shows up.