Question about Graber's 1992 team

[KevH]

I found this but not the 92 PSU game. (This is from '91 the year before the break out year). Man we have to give Schiano a TON of credit for saving the program after the Shea era.

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Hey Bo Melton! You see your pops (#15) in there at the 3:30 mark?

What a nice find Extra Point. This brings back some serious memories. Seems like just yesterday.

 

[KevH]

That VT game was my frosh year. For my brother (Sr), it was a disappointment but for me & my friends in our first month of college, it was an amazing thrill. Fortay was #2 QB recruit in the country but transferred home from Miami after Dennis Erickson took over for Jimmy Jobnson. He made a big stink about it because he thought he should play over Gino Toretta who won the nat'l title one year and the heisman the next. His lawsuit in many ways was a precursor to the amateur/pro debate going on now. Nevertheless, it was a bit of a surprise that Lucas gave him a run for his $ for PT given that whole very public debacle. Ray was a great athlete & competitor- and seemed easier to root for. Fortay seemed like Tom Savage; groomed to be this stud pro-QB but something about him felt too calculated or something.

The history on Graber is on point; the team had enormous talent from NJ but kids constantly flunking out or getting in trouble, etc. Willis leaving for the NFL early was both stupid on his part and very damaging to RU's chances after Graber.

'95 was supposed to be the year it came together. Lucas, Presley, Willis, Battaglia, Funderburk, Harper were all legit weapons but importantly, the OL was stacked w/Srs, 3 or 4 who were pre-season all conference & projected draft picks.

Here's a quite lengthy story of my run-in with the OL & summer of '95

Summer before the season starts, I sublet the apt I had rented for my senior year to three of the OL. I came back in the fall, opened the closet and there was the biggest sneaker I've ever seen in my life sitting there. Just one. The recliner my roommate had gotten from his grandmother looked like it had been sat on by a giant and was flattened- like in a cartoon.

They had skipped on the last month of rent because summer camp started in Aug and so they didn't need the place. I literally called my contact dozens of times through August trying to track him down. It was before cell phones and I had very little info to go on. When I did reach him, he flatly refused.

Finally, I reached his grandmother and told her what was going on but she seemed sweet and I didn't consider it her problem. Decided I had to go to see this guy for myself when I got on campus. I had no idea where he might be, so I went to the weight room one afternoon and started asking around. One of the coaches basically stopped me in my tracks and told me he wasn't there. When I asked if I could go inside, he looked at me like I was crazy. I should mention that I had shoulder length hair at the time and weighed 165 lbs so didn't exactly fit in with the crew. I told the coach I needed to see him because he owed me money. He told me in no uncertain terms that they had work to do and get lost. Terrell Willis gave me the skunk-eye while he flexed at me which I thought was kind of unnecessary, but cool at the same time.

At this point, I was pissed. I decided to go where this guy lived and take a shot at confronting him there. I went to resident services and they said they couldn't disclose the residence of a student. Told them my sob story and the person gave it to me. It was on Cook and I asked one of my roommates to come with me for the trip. Not sure I knew what would happen- I figured he wouldn't be able to reneg on his commitment if he had to look me in the eye or something.

I knock on the apt door and ask for the guy. There are 6 or 7 football players playing a video games and goofing around. All of them look at us like we have two heads apiece.

This is basically the exchange:

"I need the money for the rent".
"I don't have it"
"You need to get it"
"I only needed the apt for 2 months"
"I don't care - the lease was for 3"
"I don't have the money"
"Don't make me have to force you"

Long, very awkward silence....I look back at my friend who looks at me blankly and everyone is leaning in to see if this is about to escalate.

"You- you are gonna force me?"
Another awkward silence
"Yeah, you know...I'll take you to court!"
"I don't have the money. Do what you want, nothing I can do"

I walk out and my friend and I exhale.

Next day I go to student services nearly apoplectic. They say - not our area, go to small claims court. I go into town, file paperwork and get a court date for us to appear and it gets sent to him. Several days (weeks?) go by and nothing. Finally, the night before the court appearance around 11 PM the phone rings.

"Yo. How much do I owe you?"
"$750"
"Ok, I'm coming over".

He comes by and silently places a check in my hand from his grandmother's account. Now I am faced with a question- trust that the check is good and skip the court appearance or wake up early and go to the court appearance in the morning? I decide to go to court and win by default. I ask them what does that mean and they say, basically, nothing. The only thing they could do is put his name on file so if he ever wanted to purchase property in middlesex cty he would have to pay me back first.

That's when I realized the threat of court can often be more effective at achieving justice than the actual court system.

That season, I found a way to put my personal grievance aside and root for the team. It was easy rooting for Battaglia and Lucas and Willis was so electrifying it was hard not to get excited. The OL vastly underachieved that season and I think only one got drafted and made it to the NFL for a brief period. The guy I was working with didn't make it. A few years later I read in the paper he had a heart attack while driving and died. He had ballooned to 440 pounds and 25. Left behind two kids.

Meanwhile, my love-hate relationship with Rutgers Football continued. I bought young alumni tickets. By this time, I had cut my hair short, but was intrigued at the prospect of a west-coast guru. It was the dawn of a new era and....once Terry Shea is done with his vacation and arrives on campus, the sky's the limit!!!!

Damn, Beast. That was a good read.

 

[KevH]

The Brian Sheridan class was an example of no academic support. I believe 21 players came in and within a year like 7 were gone because of academics. Michael Craig was a big recruit and he did not make it in school. When Shea came in we had like 60 plus players.

Yup. Like I mentioned above, player attrition killed what would have been a nice program under Graber.

 

[beaced]

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/11/sports/college-football-rutgers-is-on-road-to-nowhere-in-1993.html

Graber quote" It's going to happen here. PERHAPS." LOVE IT! We are still in that PERHAPS syndrome.

 

[RUboston]

I remember those Graber years. I lived in Hoboken at the time. I still remember listening to the Cincinnati game on the radio and pacing in my apt. I remember Graber recruited a highly touted RB out of Hoboken HS who set all sorts of records, but he never attended RU. I think his name was Dwayne Peterson. Anyone know what happened there?

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

I think that was 1984, when we were 7-3 and in line for the new Cherry Bowl, but they picked Army instead even though we had beaten them and had a better record. The deciding factor was that Army could guarantee 10K seats. What killed us is that our final game was at home against Colgate, with a bowl possibly on the line, and we couldn't fill a 23K seat stadium.

That was what I was thinking of! I was only off by about 11 years.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

That team would be 17.5 favorites over the current squad.

 

[SHUSource]

Wasn't there a OL from Ohio named Lowther who was involved in an accident?

Robert Lowther was killed in the car driven by his teammate, Bob Speidel, who I believe had been Rutgers' leading tackler the previous year ('87?). He was there most of the same time as Tyronne Stowe, who also led the team a few times. It was Speidel's 21st birthday, if I remember correctly, and he was pretty disfigured (facially) by the crash. He also died just a few years ago in another car accident. He was 45.

 

[KevH]

I remember those Graber years. I lived in Hoboken at the time. I still remember listening to the Cincinnati game on the radio and pacing in my apt. I remember Graber recruited a highly touted RB out of Hoboken HS who set all sorts of records, but he never attended RU. I think his name was Dwayne Peterson. Anyone know what happened there?

The biggest RB recruit I remember getting away from Graber was Lamont Jeter (was down to RU and USC), but I think he was from Jersey City. He never made it to the banks due to grades, I believe.

When I think Hoboken RBs at RU, Ravon Anderson comes to mind, but I think he came well after Graber was gone.

 

[SHUSource]

When I think Hoboken RBs at RU, Ravon Anderson comes to mind, but I think he came well after Graber was gone.

That's the name I thought of too. I think he was end-of-Shea era, and also went somewhere else first. Clemson? UNC?

 

[Extra Point]

Robert Lowther was killed in the car driven by his teammate, Bob Speidel, who I believe had been Rutgers' leading tackler the previous year ('87?). He was there most of the same time as Tyronne Stowe, who also led the team a few times. It was Speidel's 21st birthday, if I remember correctly, and he was pretty disfigured (facially) by the crash. He also died just a few years ago in another car accident. He was 45.

Wow. Imagine carrying that load with you every day? Maybe every good thing that happened to him he thought of his team mate that didn't get that chance. Who knows.

http://www.vandermay.com/Obituaries.aspx?from=obtDet&obituaryid=4201

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

As mentioned by Beast... "the arrival of the West Coast Offense guru"... I thought of that when I gave me thoughts earlier.. that this new offense with so much promise might mimic our experience with the WCO guru.

In New Jersey.. and the Big Ten.. you need an offense that can tolerate some poor weather conditions. We'll see if this one cuts it.. if we ever execute it properly.

 

[LC-88]

Hey Bo Melton! You see your pops (#15) in there at the 3:30 mark?

What a nice find Extra Point. This brings back some serious memories. Seems like just yesterday.

Hope Gary saved his goggles/glasses, and Bo wears them. Those things were bad a$$, as was Gary.

 

[RU31trap]

The 1992 team was loaded with talent and should have gone to a bowl game. Coach Graber was a quality HC. The problem for Graber and the program was he received no internal or State support. There was borderline hatred by the professors and Trenton was no help

 

[RUaMoose]

'95 and '89 were similar in the sense expectations were high with all the 4th and 5th year seniors. Both ended in disappointment and new head coaches.
I particularly remember '89 starting 0-0-2 with that infamous home tie versus Ball st

 

[JoeRU0304]

Interesting thread. I have vague memories of the '92 team (I was in 7th grade and still much more of an NFL fan) and remember them going 7-4 but not really recalling individual games. Back then there were only 18 bowls and the BE only had 2-3 bowl slots. Still, that team deserved to go- wins over Pitt, WVU, VT and they were also 6-5 the year before with wins over Michigan State, BC and Northwestern.

I later read (both on here and in articles) that had we beaten Cincy and won our last 2 like we did, we definitely would have been invited to the Independence Bowl at 8-3. However, at 6-4 going into the last game of the year at Temple, the Independence Bowl was 50/50 between us and Oregon and watching attendance. Many people were pushing Grunninger to organize multiple fan buses for the short road trip to Temple to help support the team and make a good showing for the bowl reps, but Grunninger declined. We had a somewhat decent showing at the Vet but it was nothing to write home about as we won the game and got to 7-4. Oregon ended up guaranteeing 5k in ticket sales and had recently been to the I-Bowl as well, which swayed the bid in their favor. From what I recall, they only ended bringing a couple hundred fans and lost pretty handily.

...I also can't help but think us turning our noses up at the first-ever Independence Bowl after the undefeated season in '76 stuck with the game organizers and likely played a factor as well.


Joe P.

 

[BuckRU]

The 1992 team provided RU fans with some great memories - defeating Pitt in the first night game ever played at Rutgers Stadium, and the thrilling 50-49 win over VPI. It was on its way to a likely bowl bid when it went out to Cincinnati late in the season and lost to a terrible Cincy team. IIRC, the game was a night game played before very few fans, possibly in the rain. That game took some of the luster off of the following week's game, the final game to be played in the old Rutgers Stadium. RU defeated WVU that day but it wasn't enough to get us into a bowl. There was some interest from the Independence Bowl but I think that Oregon guaranteed them 5000 tix sold and they went for them instead.

Graber was apparently not much of a disciplinarian and that, coupled with the lack of institutional support for the off-the-field aspects of the program, proved to be a bad combination. The 1993 team played its entire home schedule at GS while the new stadium was being build, but GS didn't provide much of a home field advantage back then, aside for the Homecoming game against BC.

The 1994 team opened the new stadium and defeated WVU in the second game played there. But a one-point loss at the Carrier Dome + a TD erroneously called back because of stepping out of bounds (which replays showed had not happened - an early RU screw by the BE refs?) kept RU from having a 7-5 season and likely bowl game. The senior laden 1995 team began with high expectations but blew a halftime lead against SU and lost two other close games due to interceptions thrown by - I hate to say it - Ray Lucas (at Duke and home against BC in the season's finale). A 6-5 season that year, based upon the BE bowl agreements and the mediocre performance of most of the conference would have put RU in the Liberty Bowl (!). Instead, RU fired Graber and hired Shea, who took an average program and turned it in one of the worst in the country.

I need to hide the sharp objects.