Politi's Report Card on Rutgers

[Knight Shift]

Passing Offense: B+ Gio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rushing Offense: B
Passing Defense: A --DBs have been getting much better. Kudos to Damon Hayes
Rushing Defense: D
Special Teams: F - You don't say?
Coaching: B
Effort: A
Improvement: B
Overall: B-

Pretty fair assessment by our beloved beat writer.

 

[Plum Street]

B- when you lose a game at the end on the road as a 18 point underdog ?
Journalistic ability , Steve Politi : F

 

[RU#1fan]

Fair Assessment .
Passing game looked terrific ..thank you Gio.
Goodwin is a stud.

Get a Special Teams Coach who knows what he is doing and we win this game.
Very surprised at our Defense against the Run, absolutley putrid.
Not wrapping up ...especially on that 9 yard run at the end of the game.

 

[RUBlackout]

I would agree

 

[RUChoppin]

Get a Special Teams Coach who knows what he is doing and we win this game.
Very surprised at our Defense against the Run, absolutley putrid.
Not wrapping up ...especially on that 9 yard run at the end of the game.

A lot of the run defense issues go back to the linebackers. Roberts was pulled in the 2nd quarter after being absent/ineffectual on a few big plays. Marquez came in and helped settle things down.

We spent the second half with: a true freshman low 3* (Maddox-Williams), a true sophomore 2* (Morris), and a 5th year former walk-on special teams player (and DE and FB) in just his second year at LB (Marquez). Honestly, they exceeded my expectations in the second half, limiting the big plays and keeping Minnesota out of the endzone.

Next year we get Manning (3* 5.6), Lumor (3* 5.6) and Battle (3* 5.5) off their redshirt year, and Fogg (4* 5.8), Fatukasi (3* 5.6), and Onyechi (3* 5.5) coming in as freshmen. Hopefully the increased competition will see an improvement at the position.

As far as the special teams... that can be a symptom of a lack of depth. When guys who would ordinarily be backups are starting... there is less in the cupboard for kickoff and punt coverage teams. We're using some starters on those teams, too, but with the lack of depth we have, you have to try to limit the risk of losing guys to injury, too. I'm expecting this to improve in the coming years.

 

[CNJKnight]

A lot of the run defense issues go back to the linebackers. Roberts was pulled in the 2nd quarter after being absent/ineffectual on a few big plays. Marquez came in and helped settle things down.

We spent the second half with: a true freshman low 3* (Maddox-Williams), a true sophomore 2* (Morris), and a 5th year former walk-on special teams player (and DE and FB) in just his second year at LB (Marquez). Honestly, they exceeded my expectations in the second half, limiting the big plays and keeping Minnesota out of the endzone.

Next year we get Manning (3* 5.6), Lumor (3* 5.6) and Battle (3* 5.5) off their redshirt year, and Fogg (4* 5.8), Fatukasi (3* 5.6), and Onyechi (3* 5.5) coming in as freshmen. Hopefully the increased competition will see an improvement at the position.

As far as the special teams... that can be a symptom of a lack of depth. When guys who would ordinarily be backups are starting... there is less in the cupboard for kickoff and punt coverage teams. We're using some starters on those teams, too, but with the lack of depth we have, you have to try to limit the risk of losing guys to injury, too. I'm expecting this to improve in the coming years.

I like your train of thought but I'll clean it up a bit.

Lumor is now a DE. Starting LB corps next year will be Fogg, Roberts and whoever wins out between Battle, Manning and Morris.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Fair Assessment .
Passing game looked terrific ..thank you Gio.
Goodwin is a stud.

Get a Special Teams Coach who knows what he is doing and we win this game.
Very surprised at our Defense against the Run, absolutley putrid.
Not wrapping up ...especially on that 9 yard run at the end of the game.

We lost this game in EVERY facet: on D (couldn't stop the run game when it counted), on O(TO's), and on ST's.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

A lot of the run defense issues go back to the linebackers. Roberts was pulled in the 2nd quarter after being absent/ineffectual on a few big plays. Marquez came in and helped settle things down.

We spent the second half with: a true freshman low 3* (Maddox-Williams), a true sophomore 2* (Morris), and a 5th year former walk-on special teams player (and DE and FB) in just his second year at LB (Marquez). Honestly, they exceeded my expectations in the second half, limiting the big plays and keeping Minnesota out of the endzone.

Next year we get Manning (3* 5.6), Lumor (3* 5.6) and Battle (3* 5.5) off their redshirt year, and Fogg (4* 5.8), Fatukasi (3* 5.6), and Onyechi (3* 5.5) coming in as freshmen. Hopefully the increased competition will see an improvement at the position.

As far as the special teams... that can be a symptom of a lack of depth. When guys who would ordinarily be backups are starting... there is less in the cupboard for kickoff and punt coverage teams. We're using some starters on those teams, too, but with the lack of depth we have, you have to try to limit the risk of losing guys to injury, too. I'm expecting this to improve in the coming years.

Excellent post.

 

[MikeR0102]

I like your train of thought but I'll clean it up a bit.

Lumor is now a DE. Starting LB corps next year will be Fogg, Roberts and whoever wins out between Battle, Manning and Morris.

Thought I heard Battle and Manning are working in at DE. Would put Maddox-Williams in the mix for playing time as well.

 

[SJScarlet]

I like your train of thought but I'll clean it up a bit.

Lumor is now a DE. Starting LB corps next year will be Fogg, Roberts and whoever wins out between Battle, Manning and Morris.

You are forgetting Maddox Williams

 

[RUChoppin]

I like your train of thought but I'll clean it up a bit.

Lumor is now a DE. Starting LB corps next year will be Fogg, Roberts and whoever wins out between Battle, Manning and Morris.

Didn't realize Lumor was now a DE.

Roberts needs to improve *a lot* to be a starting LB next year. He's looked lost the last two games, and finally got yanked against Minnesota in the first half.

I'm assuming Fogg starts next year, but the other two spots will almost certainly be up for grabs.

 

[RU#1fan]

A lot of the run defense issues go back to the linebackers. Roberts was pulled in the 2nd quarter after being absent/ineffectual on a few big plays. Marquez came in and helped settle things down.

We spent the second half with: a true freshman low 3* (Maddox-Williams), a true sophomore 2* (Morris), and a 5th year former walk-on special teams player (and DE and FB) in just his second year at LB (Marquez). Honestly, they exceeded my expectations in the second half, limiting the big plays and keeping Minnesota out of the endzone.

Next year we get Manning (3* 5.6), Lumor (3* 5.6) and Battle (3* 5.5) off their redshirt year, and Fogg (4* 5.8), Fatukasi (3* 5.6), and Onyechi (3* 5.5) coming in as freshmen. Hopefully the increased competition will see an improvement at the position.

As far as the special teams... that can be a symptom of a lack of depth. When guys who would ordinarily be backups are starting... there is less in the cupboard for kickoff and punt coverage teams. We're using some starters on those teams, too, but with the lack of depth we have, you have to try to limit the risk of losing guys to injury, too. I'm expecting this to improve in the coming years.

Actually LBs Morris and Maddox -Williams had an amazing 25 tackles between them yesterday . Real shocked at the play of Roberts however. The DL was basically MIA yesterday . Not their normal play WTF . Poor tackling and Zero sacks . Meanwhile Minnesota had 4 sacks.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Actually LBs Morris and Maddox -Williams had an amazing 25 tackles between them yesterday . Real shocked at the play of Roberts however. The DL was basically MIA yesterday . Not their normal play WTF . Poor tackling and Zero sacks . Meanwhile Minnesota had 4 sacks.

Glad you realzied WHY the LB's had to make so many plays. Our DL was getting abused most of the game. What did they say their OL outweighed our DL by? 37 lbs per man? Maybe it was 27. Regardless they were freakin' huge and The Gophers had no issue running it up the gut.

 

[RU#1fan]

Glad you realzied WHY the LB's had to make so many plays. Our DL was getting abused most of the game. What did they say their OL outweighed our DL by? 37 lbs per man? Maybe it was 27. Regardless they were freakin' huge and The Gophers had no issue running it up the gut.

Yes, OL was huge for Minny.
Still the DL for RU has played much better than this. Could have really used MLB Longa yesterday if had returned for his senior year.

 

[retired711]

In his press conference, Ash said that the defense was winded after running back the pick-six, and that's why he wanted a high short kick. That gives me the impression that a lot of defensive players on the 1-2 are playing special teams.

 

[drewbagel423]

In his press conference, Ash said that the defense was winded after running back the pick-six, and that's why he wanted a high short kick. That gives me the impression that a lot of defensive players on the 1-2 are playing special teams.

Well he outsmarted himself. Would have been better to just kick it out of bounds.

 

[RU#1fan]

Well he outsmarted himself. Would have been better to just kick it out of bounds.

Yes, I read this morning the KR Rodney Smith said the TD return was easy pickins.
Read in the Minneapolis newspaper that he said the entire RU Kickoff coverage team ran down the Left side of the field boundary leaving only 2 players on the right side. He ran for an easy TD.
We need a new ST Coach here real fast.

 

[82RU]

I think they said the Minn. OL out weighed our Dl by 45 lbs. / man!

 

[tico brown]

Glad you realzied WHY the LB's had to make so many plays. Our DL was getting abused most of the game. What did they say their OL outweighed our DL by? 37 lbs per man? Maybe it was 27. Regardless they were freakin' huge and The Gophers had no issue running it up the gut.

Undersized DLmen has always been an issue since Schiano brought the Miami Defensive sceme up north. He got away with it with faster type players up front and multiple blitzing. I know this was discussed before but anyone know if Ash is going to get the bigger players, the same speed type players, etc?

 

[zazoo2002]

Very fair assessment!

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

Glad you realzied WHY the LB's had to make so many plays. Our DL was getting abused most of the game. What did they say their OL outweighed our DL by? 37 lbs per man? Maybe it was 27. Regardless they were freakin' huge and The Gophers had no issue running it up the gut.

45lbs according to ESPN.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

45lbs according to ESPN.

That's obscene!

 

[MikeR0102]

I think they said the Minn. OL out weighed our Dl by 45 lbs. / man!

OLine is always going to outweight DLine by at least 20 pounds if not more.

 

[MikeR0102]

Follow up, Minnesota's starting DL is 240, 285, 300, 240. Their backups are 245, 290, 295, 275. That's an average of 266.25 for the starters or 271.25 for the entire 2 deep. Our OL starters average 305.8. Our OL 2 deep averages 301.7.

Weight's don't mean anything. It's talent.

 

[ddsmugs]

Saw the same on all kickoff coverage.....Gotta get that fixed....easy fix right?

 

[vkj91]

Yes, I read this morning the KR Rodney Smith said the TD return was easy pickins.
Read in the Minneapolis newspaper that he said the entire RU Kickoff coverage team ran down the Left side of the field boundary leaving only 2 players on the right side. He ran for an easy TD.
We need a new ST Coach here real fast.

Because the kicker can't follow simple directions? They ran down clumped that way BC that was the coverage called. The kicker was supposed to kick short, high, and right. He kicked low, deep, and left.

 

[billhilf]

B- when you lose a game at the end on the road as a 18 point underdog ?
Journalistic ability , Steve Politi : F

I think it's fair. You really can't give a team more than a B- for a loss, unless it's within a td to a top 10 team on the road or something comparable to that.

 

[RUBand]

B- when you lose a game at the end on the road as a 18 point underdog ?
Journalistic ability , Steve Politi : F

When the qb plays more than half of the game with an injured leg!

 

[Blitz Pakage]

I think they said the Minn. OL out weighed our Dl by 45 lbs. / man!

I just re-watched the game and you are right. It was 45 lbs a man. But even with them imposing their running game on us, they did not score an Offensive touchdown after the first quarter. So the D did alright. We did not lose in every phase of this game (see stats below)! We lost this game on Special teams and on 2 of the 3 Gio turnovers. The fumble on our own 17 in the 1st quarter, gave them 7 easy ones and the pick in the end zone just before the half cost us at least 3. There's you game right there. Yeah, if you stop their last drive, we win it anyway. The missed extra point and the Kick off return did not help either, but 8 turnovers is what really cost us these last 2 games.

(1st downs)
Ru-22 Minn-19
(3rd down efficiency)
RU- 10/19 Minn- 6/14
(4th downs)
Ru- 0/0 Minn-0/2
(Net Yards)
RU- 372 Minn-399
(Rush Yards)
RU-150 Minn-243
(Pass Yards)
RU- 222 Minn-156

 

[Andy117]

B- when you lose a game at the end on the road as a 18 point underdog ?
Journalistic ability , Steve Politi : F

They still lost. B- is a high grade for a loss.

 

[SirScarlet]

I like your train of thought but I'll clean it up a bit.

Lumor is now a DE. Starting LB corps next year will be Fogg, Roberts and whoever wins out between Battle, Manning and Morris.

Manning has been working with the DEs. Pretty sure Battle has as well.

 

[RUChoppin]

They still lost. B- is a high grade for a loss.

Terry Shea won Big East Coach of the Year witha 5-6 record. lol

 

[BoogieKnight]

DL is more about strength, leverage and technique. Now it's tough to play DT in this league at 260 like Darius did 2 years ago, I'm not suggesting otherwise. However, you can have a 310lb DT get moved off the ball pretty easily. For instance, Joseph is 300lbs and strong as an ox but he gets moved easily because he plays too high way too often. He's inconsistent. You can get away with that in high school and in the AAC but not against good B1G OL's like Minnesota. Not to pick on Joseph because IMO he's gotten much better this year. However I think Wilkins plays with better bend and as he continues to develop his hands he's going to become a force.

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

Follow up, Minnesota's starting DL is 240, 285, 300, 240. Their backups are 245, 290, 295, 275. That's an average of 266.25 for the starters or 271.25 for the entire 2 deep. Our OL starters average 305.8. Our OL 2 deep averages 301.7.

Weight's don't mean anything. It's talent.

it's talent AND coaching

Don't think Minnie has outrecurited us

you guys that think it's a fair assessment have scarlet glasses on. Very happy about yesterday's progress but more concerned with the guys with the clipboards than they kids between the hashmarks

 

[DHajekRC84]

Because the kicker can't follow simple directions? They ran down clumped that way BC that was the coverage called. The kicker was supposed to kick short, high, and right. He kicked low, deep, and left.

I am not sure what reply you watched because he did kick it short and to the right..and the entire team all bunched that way. I know they are told to do that BUT they over did it and he just ran around them. They showed the reply from the back and it was obvious. (it may not have been very high though..not sure). I hate those kick calls. Too cute. Just stick with one plan and execute it well.

 

[mildone]

Follow up, Minnesota's starting DL is 240, 285, 300, 240. Their backups are 245, 290, 295, 275. That's an average of 266.25 for the starters or 271.25 for the entire 2 deep. Our OL starters average 305.8. Our OL 2 deep averages 301.7.

Weight's don't mean anything. It's talent.

I partially disagree w/that. If talent, training and fitness are roughly equivalent, then the weight differences and length differences can be meaningful, particularly as the game wears on.

 

[beaced]

A lot of the run defense issues go back to the linebackers. Roberts was pulled in the 2nd quarter after being absent/ineffectual on a few big plays. Marquez came in and helped settle things down.

We spent the second half with: a true freshman low 3* (Maddox-Williams), a true sophomore 2* (Morris), and a 5th year former walk-on special teams player (and DE and FB) in just his second year at LB (Marquez). Honestly, they exceeded my expectations in the second half, limiting the big plays and keeping Minnesota out of the endzone.

Next year we get Manning (3* 5.6), Lumor (3* 5.6) and Battle (3* 5.5) off their redshirt year, and Fogg (4* 5.8), Fatukasi (3* 5.6), and Onyechi (3* 5.5) coming in as freshmen. Hopefully the increased competition will see an improvement at the position.

As far as the special teams... that can be a symptom of a lack of depth. When guys who would ordinarily be backups are starting... there is less in the cupboard for kickoff and punt coverage teams. We're using some starters on those teams, too, but with the lack of depth we have, you have to try to limit the risk of losing guys to injury, too. I'm expecting this to improve in the coming years.

Good observations.

 

[CNJKnight]

You are forgetting Maddox Williams

I did. My bad. He would also be in the mix. Probably the lead there for that.

 

[MikeR0102]

I partially disagree w/that. If talent, training and fitness are roughly equivalent, then the weight differences and length differences can be meaningful, particularly as the game wears on.

Maybe, but why don't you look up what the weights for Ohio State or Michigan or any really good team that uses a 4 man front are. They are all going to give up a 30 plus pound average, just because of the average size of DEs is a lot lower than that of tackles and guards.

I do agree that an OL can wear out a DL as the game wears on, but almost every team is gonna have a size discrepancy.

 

[vkj91]

I am not sure what reply you watched because he did kick it short and to the right..and the entire team all bunched that way. I know they are told to do that BUT they over did it and he just ran around them. They showed the reply from the back and it was obvious. (it may not have been very high though..not sure). I hate those kick calls. Too cute. Just stick with one plan and execute it well.

I didn't watch the play BC I went to Piss after the TD. I listened to what the coach said in the presser( I could have my left and right mixed up). He specifically said the kid did the exact opposite of what he was told to do. Between what Ash said and the likes I received, from people I know understand football, I am gonna stand by my post.