Quick thoughts

[bac2therac]

Disappointed but not surprised. I thought there were a lot of question marks headed into this season. I consider this a wait and see year to see if the improvements Flood made in coaching last year particularly the last 10 quarters would carry over. So in the first real game, we see a few red flags already....discipline problem with huge amount of penalties, not being ready to play from the get go, a DC who does not make adjustments, a qb situation that understandably is struggling, and the mind boggling nagging timeout management issue.

I think MANY positive people felt the last 10 quarters were all they need to see to judge Flood and his staff. Its safe to say that's wrong. The verdict is still out with Flood....his defensive coordinator is his biggest problem. This isn't Schianos defense. Even without the suspended players the scheme is a mess. The inablitity to adjust and place any pressure on the qb is failure. The inability to get your defense ready to play from the first snap is failure. The inability to get your team to step up and make a play to secure the win is failure. Rossi is not a good DC nor is he qualified. The arguments of growing into the job are wishful thinking. A bad defense is a bad defense....and this is a bad defense....and this is the third year in a row...that's not on Schiano..its on Flood so hes going to have to deal with this situation and while its early what I saw from the D tonight was pretty deplorable. Like last year in a chance to win the game with only two minutes the D let the opponents march down the field 90 yards with virtualy no resistance. Personally I have seen enough with Rossi to know he isn't the answer.

As for the QB situation. Look Laviano didn't have a great game but who knows if Rettig did. I am willing to give Flood a pass on this situation because its not easy breaking in a new QB. Some railing against Laviano and Flood don't get that. Its going to take time to work it out. I saw too many people overlooking this huge question mark.

So what do we know...we know this isn't a good football team currently. Its got some nice things about it but its messy in multiple areas and the schedule looks daunting down the road. Last year Flood was able to pull out the swing games but already now RU lost one and many had penciled this win in. It means its not mandatory to pull out a win vs either Michigan or Penn State to go bowling. At this point getting to 6-6 will be tough, I never understood why some were so high on this team this year but at least now there is somewhat of a reality check.....way too many posters overconfident with this game thinking we would blow the doors off of WSU...reality check reality check. Next week we get an even bigger test and learn more. A win shows something about this teams resiliency but a loss could be the beginning of the end of the season even as early as a game 3. Bottom line is this game left us with more doubt than answers.

 

[BleedinRutgersRed]

Norfolk State's first drive against us last week - their offense looked better than our offense has in the past two years. Not sure if that is more a reflection of our defense or our offense - probably a combination of both.

 

[rucoe89]

5-7 is BEST case for this team. Not sold on Laviano. Throws off if back foot, is inaccurate and no velocity. The trifecta for a disaster.

 

[ImBadRU]

Ex

5-7 is BEST case for this team. Not sold on Laviano. Throws off if back foot, is inaccurate and no velocity. The trifecta for a disaster.

Exactly

 

[Blitz8RUCrazy]

I think we get to 6 wins but somethings need to break our way for us to do so. Lots of close games against the dregs on our schedule. Be sure to pack your tums.

 

[JPhoboken]

Can't disagree with this assessment. Its a shame this team wasted the performance of Grant, he was spectacular.

THe offense could have won this game even with the bad defense if they just kept the ball. Penalties taking points off board are a coaching and discipline problem. Laviano's 2 turnovers were inexplicable. Their Defense was terrible too, and we should have scored 50 points against them.

A win would really not change what this team is, but would have given us a chance for 6 or 7 wins. Somehow Rossi and FLood need to fix the defense and makes some adjustments when they are continually torching you.

The only saving grace is Mich, Penn St. and Maryland are beatable, and pretty much only 3-0 against them at this point will save a chance for a winning season.

 

[RUReady76]

We missed Hamilton... alot. If healthy, he would have certainly helped our front line. And we were gassed towards the end of the 4rth quarter, which was the difference in the game.

Given 3 turnovers, 2 touchdowns called back and 100 yards in penalties, the team played hard. There's obvious room for improvement, but no bitchin from my corner.

 

[miket007]

I think we get to 6 wins but somethings need to break our way for us to do so. Lots of close games against the dregs on our schedule. Be sure to pack your tums.

Last year we caught breaks as a program we've seldom have got & i don't expect them to happen this year unless some things change but back to your OP the verdict is not out on Flood we know what we have in all phases of being a HC

 

[saran]

The verdict is still out with Flood....

No it isn't lol

Was Flood a good OL recruiter? No - it was a wasteland that led to NCAA sack allowed record
Was Flood a good co-coordinator? No - one of worst offenses ever seen. Ran the "look at me" like a Pop Warner team,
Has Flood been a good recruiter since becoming HC? Only the Patriot League sees him as competition
Has Flood been a good HC? Yes if you like beating cupcakes while getting walloped by good teams.

I know coach Flood is a "nice" guy who everyone wants at their picnic. He's just not a HC. RU is going nowhere but backwards. In football, the losing coaches are the ones everyone says is nice, classy, great guy etc etc

"Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you," Luke 6:26

 

[bac2therac]

this team needed to score more in the first half. Laviano did hurt us. I don't think Flood needed to change qbs but I think there were some awful penalties that stalled drives. We need one of those fgs to be a td

 

[mikefla]

Despite all the inherent problems this team has we STILL had many opportunities to win this game.
When we were good we looked pretty damn good and when we were bad,well..we looked pretty inept. With any luck we can fix some of the inept stuff.(maybe)

We can still win vs PSU, Kansas, Mich, Indiana, Army and what looks to be a pretty woeful Md
The operative word here is COULD.......as we COULD just as easily lose the above games.

 

[Veiox]

this team needed to score more in the first half. Laviano did hurt us. I don't think Flood needed to change qbs but I think there were some awful penalties that stalled drives. We need one of those fgs to be a td

Laviano hurt us the whole game with the inability to go deep and soften the defense. We just played one of the worst defenses in CFB and we only scored 20 points on offense. CL had poor accuracy all game. A lot of his throws were poor and caused no chance for YAC. He was 23-29 on a bunch of 5 yard throws. His stats are very deceiving. His yards per completion would be outside the top 100 in CFB. He was a part of the problem despite what HCKF said after the game.

 

[JoeRU0304]

Well-said Bac; agree with everything except Laviano. I've seen enough. I don't think he should be starting. The only reason it may even appear as if he had an ok game was because of Grant. I don't see him getting any better and he reminds me of a more athletic version of Dom Natale, who got hooked after a half and he actually lead a TD drive in that 1st half he played against D1A comp, something Laviano did not do. If I'm in charge Rettig would have been told he starts next week.

I'm not ready to ride Flood out of town, but the goodwill from our last 3 games is gone, dead, and buried. I don't envy him because this team looks like the 2013 squad only this time we're in the B1G. Our o-line has been underwheling and our D-line? Wow, words don't begin to describe their terrible play. They look like magnets sticking to whoever blocks them. They look like they're running in peanut butter and glue while being dipped in cement. I feel like I was sold a bill of goods with all the people talking them up...and you can wipe your *** with any draft projection that has ANY of our d-linemen in it right now.

I think out chances at the postseason are already on life support. A win next week totally changes the dynamic, but I wouldnt bet fake money on us beating PSU next week, nevermind anything of actual value...and as far as our games against the really good B1G squads, I think they're going to be everything our critics and detractors say they will be.


Joe P.

 

[DJ Spanky]

I'll say this: I'm glad we're not playing in the AAC/BE this year - those spread offenses would kill us.

 

[kupuna133]

Disappointed but not surprised. I thought there were a lot of question marks headed into this season. I consider this a wait and see year to see if the improvements Flood made in coaching last year particularly the last 10 quarters would carry over. So in the first real game, we see a few red flags already....discipline problem with huge amount of penalties, not being ready to play from the get go, a DC who does not make adjustments, a qb situation that understandably is struggling, and the mind boggling nagging timeout management issue.

I think MANY positive people felt the last 10 quarters were all they need to see to judge Flood and his staff. Its safe to say that's wrong. The verdict is still out with Flood....his defensive coordinator is his biggest problem. This isn't Schianos defense. Even without the suspended players the scheme is a mess. The inablitity to adjust and place any pressure on the qb is failure. The inability to get your defense ready to play from the first snap is failure. The inability to get your team to step up and make a play to secure the win is failure. Rossi is not a good DC nor is he qualified. The arguments of growing into the job are wishful thinking. A bad defense is a bad defense....and this is a bad defense....and this is the third year in a row...that's not on Schiano..its on Flood so hes going to have to deal with this situation and while its early what I saw from the D tonight was pretty deplorable. Like last year in a chance to win the game with only two minutes the D let the opponents march down the field 90 yards with virtualy no resistance. Personally I have seen enough with Rossi to know he isn't the answer.

As for the QB situation. Look Laviano didn't have a great game but who knows if Rettig did. I am willing to give Flood a pass on this situation because its not easy breaking in a new QB. Some railing against Laviano and Flood don't get that. Its going to take time to work it out. I saw too many people overlooking this huge question mark.

So what do we know...we know this isn't a good football team currently. Its got some nice things about it but its messy in multiple areas and the schedule looks daunting down the road. Last year Flood was able to pull out the swing games but already now RU lost one and many had penciled this win in. It means its not mandatory to pull out a win vs either Michigan or Penn State to go bowling. At this point getting to 6-6 will be tough, I never understood why some were so high on this team this year but at least now there is somewhat of a reality check.....way too many posters overconfident with this game thinking we would blow the doors off of WSU...reality check reality check. Next week we get an even bigger test and learn more. A win shows something about this teams resiliency but a loss could be the beginning of the end of the season even as early as a game 3. Bottom line is this game left us with more doubt than answers.

I would love for someone to tell me. When was the last time anyone can remember stopping someone on the opening drive. It just always seems we are spotting the opposing team 7 because we can't stop the opening drive. Haven't come out of he tunnel with any spark in a couple of years.

 

[JPhoboken]

We missed Hamilton... alot. If healthy, he would have certainly helped our front line. And we were gassed towards the end of the 4rth quarter, which was the difference in the game.

Given 3 turnovers, 2 touchdowns called back and 100 yards in penalties, the team played hard. There's obvious room for improvement, but no bitchin from my corner.

Ah, go ahead, bitch a little, its an internet message board!!!!!!!!!!! LoL

 

[ag67]

I thought you said "quick thoughts"? "A leopard never changes its spots".

 

[Veiox]

Well-said Bac; agree with everything except Laviano. I've seem enough. I don't think he should be starting. The only reason it may even appear as if he had an ok game was because of Grant. I don't see him getting any better and he reminds me of a more athletic version of Dom Natale, who got hooked after a half. If I'm in charge Rettig would have been told he starts next week.

I'm not ready to ride Flood out of town, but the goodwill from our last 3 games is gone, dead, and buried. I don't envy him because this team looks like the 2013 squad only this time we're in the B1G. Our o-line has been underwheling and our D-line? Wow, words don't begin to describe their terrible play. They look like magnets sticking to whoever blocks them. They look like they're running in peanut butter and glue while being dipped in cement. I feel like I was sold a bill of goods with all the people talking them up...and you can wipe your *** with any draft projection that has ANY of our d-linemen in it right now.

I think out chances at the postseason are already on life support. A win next week totally changes the dynamic, but I wouldnt bet fake money on us beating PSU next week, nevermind anything of actual value...and as far as our games against the really good B1G squads, I think they're going to be everything our critics and detractors say they will be.


Joe P.

I have been a very vocal supporter of Flood the last few years. That ended tonight. It reminded me way too much of 2013. Very disappointed in Flood's decisions this year including QB, email professors when told not going to help, re-instating criminals that have smeared our schools name. Especially disappointed in our defense plan/strategy today. Where was the nickel and dime defense against the spread? Ray Lucas was going nuts. I could find a bum from the NYC subways that could have better prepared us and called a better game than Rossi did tonight. He was disgusting.

 

[bitnez]

WSU was dead team 7 days ago. Then they had travel 3500 miles to play at early (for them) and we came out flat. Leach is a clown but they were ready to play. We weren't. That coaching.

 

[rutgersdave]

The original projection for us to be next to last in the Big Ten East is accurate.

 

[rufeelinit]

Awful loss in so many ways. We were our own worst enemy. We looked like a poorly coached team. Line play on both sides of the ball in passing situations was bad. Not impressed with Laviano either. Significant improvement is requires to have a shot in State College next week.

 

[Joey Bacala]

5-7 is BEST case for this team. Not sold on Laviano. Throws off if back foot, is inaccurate and no velocity. The trifecta for a disaster.

Sounds like you are describing Nova v2.0. Latvians has a noodle of an arm, can't even throw out of bounds on purpose and it's a minor miracle those longs throws across the field with little velocity weren't pick 6'd or got his receivers killed since he threw them all high.

 

[JoeRU0304]

Veiox, it sounded like Flood will be sticking with Laviano. I wouldn't be surprised if that's one of the calls that eventually costs him his job. Believe me Id much rather see him pull it together, but to say my faith is shaken is a monumental understatement. Take away the events of the past few weeks and I can tolerate today slightly more, but you can't unring the bell. This is just unacceptable for year 4 of this staff. Flat-out poor and unacceptable. Coulda woulda shoulda doesn't mean **** in the B1G, and no one cares about all of your extenuating circumstances.


Joe P.

 

[Joey Bacala]

5-7 is BEST case for this team. Not sold on Laviano. Throws off if back foot, is inaccurate and no velocity. The trifecta for a disaster.

Sounds like you are describing Nova v2.0. Latvians has a noodle of an arm, can't even throw out of bounds on purpose and it's a minor miracle those longs throws across the field with little velocity weren't pick 6'd or got his receivers killed since he threw them all high.

 

[Veiox]

Veiox, it sounded like Flood will be sticking with Laviano. I wouldn't be surprised if that's one of the calls that eventually costs him his job. Believe me Id much rather see him pull it together, but to say my faith is shaken is a monumental understatement. Take away the events of the past few weeks and I can tolerate today slightly more, but you can't un

I am right there with you Joe!

 

[RU-ROCS]

Disappointed but not surprised. I thought there were a lot of question marks headed into this season. I consider this a wait and see year to see if the improvements Flood made in coaching last year particularly the last 10 quarters would carry over. So in the first real game, we see a few red flags already....discipline problem with huge amount of penalties, not being ready to play from the get go, a DC who does not make adjustments, a qb situation that understandably is struggling, and the mind boggling nagging timeout management issue.

I think MANY positive people felt the last 10 quarters were all they need to see to judge Flood and his staff. Its safe to say that's wrong. The verdict is still out with Flood....his defensive coordinator is his biggest problem. This isn't Schianos defense. Even without the suspended players the scheme is a mess. The inablitity to adjust and place any pressure on the qb is failure. The inability to get your defense ready to play from the first snap is failure. The inability to get your team to step up and make a play to secure the win is failure. Rossi is not a good DC nor is he qualified. The arguments of growing into the job are wishful thinking. A bad defense is a bad defense....and this is a bad defense....and this is the third year in a row...that's not on Schiano..its on Flood so hes going to have to deal with this situation and while its early what I saw from the D tonight was pretty deplorable. Like last year in a chance to win the game with only two minutes the D let the opponents march down the field 90 yards with virtualy no resistance. Personally I have seen enough with Rossi to know he isn't the answer.

As for the QB situation. Look Laviano didn't have a great game but who knows if Rettig did. I am willing to give Flood a pass on this situation because its not easy breaking in a new QB. Some railing against Laviano and Flood don't get that. Its going to take time to work it out. I saw too many people overlooking this huge question mark.

So what do we know...we know this isn't a good football team currently. Its got some nice things about it but its messy in multiple areas and the schedule looks daunting down the road. Last year Flood was able to pull out the swing games but already now RU lost one and many had penciled this win in. It means its not mandatory to pull out a win vs either Michigan or Penn State to go bowling. At this point getting to 6-6 will be tough, I never understood why some were so high on this team this year but at least now there is somewhat of a reality check.....way too many posters overconfident with this game thinking we would blow the doors off of WSU...reality check reality check. Next week we get an even bigger test and learn more. A win shows something about this teams resiliency but a loss could be the beginning of the end of the season even as early as a game 3. Bottom line is this game left us with more doubt than answers.

A lot of good points. But you can't judge Rossi on this game against a pass happy spread offense. To say this isn't Schiano's defense misses the point. Rossi's scheme is similar and Schiano's D absolutely sucked against spread, pass happy offense. Do you forget what Cincy and New Hampshire did you is?? Let's see what Rossi does next week and then we can begin to judge. But, even then, not many D coordinators would succeed starting so many freshmen in the defensive backfield with zero depth.

 

[RU31trap]

Guys at the end of the day you play the game with the athletes you have on the sideline, end of story. To blame Laviano for the loss is not fair. The number one reason we lost is because our defense was not able to get any penetration and the secondary left receivers wide open all day. The game quickly became a shoutout and WSU was better equipped for that type of game. Laviano on his own is not to blame for this loss.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

We missed Hamilton... alot. If healthy, he would have certainly helped our front line. And we were gassed towards the end of the 4rth quarter, which was the difference in the game.

Given 3 turnovers, 2 touchdowns called back and 100 yards in penalties, the team played hard. There's obvious room for improvement, but no bitchin from my corner.

Best post of this entire day. Thanks.

 

[vkj91]

All the people who wrote off a mike leach O were crazy. I've said from day 1, this team needs to win 6 plus games and if it doesn't a change at the top is easy to justify. Next week could very well define Flood's future. As for tonight, I know everyone wants to blame the scheme but the idea was not to get beat deep and keep everything in front. In theory, it worked and if we make some tackles(Longa missed many), don't jump on 4th and 10, or pull down an easy pick we are 2-0. Sadly, those are just "ifs" now.....need to clean up the penalties and win on the road.

 

[Caliknight]

I don't blame Laviano for the loss, but he didn't help the team at all. I do question Flood. If you have one QB who clearly has better physical skills, are willing to let both grow into the position, how do you not go to the guy who is more gifted?

Enough of the playbook nonsense too. Lavianos arm is very average. That shrinks the playbook.

 

[RUMBA-JK]

could be worse - could have lost to Toledo

 

[brookdale-soda]

Question....anyone know why Dare was suited up? If I recall, most of our redshirt Qbs in the past were in sweats. Could this be a good sign or is it just because we're taking a different approach?

 

[bac2therac]

A lot of good points. But you can't judge Rossi on this game against a pass happy spread offense. To say this isn't Schiano's defense misses the point. Rossi's scheme is similar and Schiano's D absolutely sucked against spread, pass happy offense. Do you forget what Cincy and New Hampshire did you is?? Let's see what Rossi does next week and then we can begin to judge. But, even then, not many D coordinators would succeed starting so many freshmen in the defensive backfield with zero depth.

those were the same excuses for Rossi last year..we have seen what he has to offer

I thought you said "quick thoughts"? "A leopard never changes its spots".

Brilliant. .do you have anything new to add to tge discussion but lecturing and saying Flood is a nice man who I dont mind going 3-9 with because he is honorable

 

[bac2therac]

All the people who wrote off a mike leach O were crazy. I've said from day 1, this team needs to win 6 plus games and if it doesn't a change at the top is easy to justify. Next week could very well define Flood's future. As for tonight, I know everyone wants to blame the scheme but the idea was not to get beat deep and keep everything in front. In theory, it worked and if we make some tackles(Longa missed many), don't jump on 4th and 10, or pull down an easy pick we are 2-0. Sadly, those are just "ifs" now.....need to clean up the penalties and win on the road.

interesting take....next week is huge for Kyles future I agree with you. There is a lot of mess to clean up this week. I found it disappointing that the team was not sharp out of the gate today and the penalties indicated a lack of focus...we have downplayed it but the off field stuff maybe seeping into the players minds

 

[T2Kplus10]

No it isn't lol

Was Flood a good OL recruiter? No - it was a wasteland that led to NCAA sack allowed record
Was Flood a good co-coordinator? No - one of worst offenses ever seen. Ran the "look at me" like a Pop Warner team,
Has Flood been a good recruiter since becoming HC? Only the Patriot League sees him as competition
Has Flood been a good HC? Yes if you like beating cupcakes while getting walloped by good teams.

I know coach Flood is a "nice" guy who everyone wants at their picnic. He's just not a HC. RU is going nowhere but backwards. In football, the losing coaches are the ones everyone says is nice, classy, great guy etc etc

"Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you," Luke 6:26

Hard to argue with most of this.

 

[Veiox]

I don't blame Laviano for the loss, but he didn't help the team at all. I do question Flood. If you have one QB who clearly has better physical skills, are willing to let both grow into the position, how do you not go to the guy who is more gifted?

Enough of the playbook nonsense too. Lavianos arm is very average. That shrinks the playbook.

This question is why I am disappointed in Flood tonight. Duggan predicted this very thing, that Rutgers would not be able to beat WSU in a shootout with CL as QB. He almost got the score exactly correct. These media guys each independently came to the conclusion that we went with the wrong guy. I agree with VKJ if we do not win 6 this season, we have an easy solution to cut bait after the season assuming we have someone lined up.

 

[RU-ROCS]

Guys at the end of the day you play the game with the athletes you have on the sideline, end of story. To blame Laviano for the loss is not fair. The number one reason we lost is because our defense was not able to get any penetration and the secondary left receivers wide open all day. The game quickly became a shoutout and WSU was better equipped for that type of game. Laviano on his own is not to blame for this loss.

I totally disagree. The offense lost this game. We knew this was a terrible matchup for the D with a decimated secondary against the Airraid offense. The offense needed to carry the burden, but they failed miserably against a bad WSU defense. 3 turnovers, a boatload of penalties and only 21 points scored by the offense. That's why we lost!!!

 

[Caliknight]

We don't have anyone lined up. It's Rutgers, cmon. If it isn't Flood, it will be some other coordinator type or lower level coach. Rutgers doesn't have the ability to do what it takes to bring in a real player. It's GS types and hope for the best.

 

[G- RUnit]

Can't sugarcoat it. Turnovers absolutely killed us. No pass rush against a Qb who was knocked out last week? Ridiculous. Undisciplined! Awful clock management. Missed xp? Pooch kickoff? Dumb! Not giving Retig a shot? Inexcusable. Penalties? Bad coaching all the way around!

 

[vkj91]

interesting take....next week is huge for Kyles future I agree with you. There is a lot of mess to clean up this week. I found it disappointing that the team was not sharp out of the gate today and the penalties indicated a lack of focus...we have downplayed it but the off field stuff maybe seeping into the players minds

I don't think it's off the field stuff. I also wasn't surprised we came out flat as the young DB's had a lot to absorb. I was annoyed that guys who have played a lot(Longa and Lewis) missed so many tackles. One thing I will say about a Flood team, they don't quit. His guys never seem to fold and always seem to get back off the mat. People can hate on flood all they want but that's a sign of kids who believe in their coach.