Reviewing a decade of RU Quarterbacks (LONG)
- Thread starter Doctor Worm
- Start date
Most of those quarter backs on the list weren't second hand or tainted. They were just 2/3 star recruits that nobody was excited about. I'm specifically referencing the OP where he made a point to indicate which of those QBs was perceived as a savior...and also noting that they didn't pan out. I pointed out Wimsatt is different.
Sorry for the ramble but ...
It just goes to show how integral a good OC (/QB Coach) is to the success of a team. Our two previous HC's were complete idiots in this regard and - I guess - did their best to recruit QBs with some modicum of talent who would actually agree to come here (along with transfers) and play for them. For the most part, those coaching staffs weren't very good at judging talent nor developing it.
It's been a decade without a quality passing game and our current staff needs to take some responsibility here too. Frankly, I don't know how many more games I can watch with a stat line like: "8 of 17 for 62 yards, 0 TD's and 1 INT". You can't say "We're old-timey (Big Ten) football, and we're going to run it 40 times a game!" without a balanced offense. You're going to have to throw it 30-40 times a game in order to be successful. Look at every successful program in the B1G (and beyond). Focus on making the passing game successful .. whatever that takes. And, it's more than just a QB. It's the WR's. It's the OL. It's the coaching staff. It's everyone.
Sitkowski?! My goodness. In his first game - against an FCS opponent - he threw 3 INTs.
It just goes to show how integral a good OC (/QB Coach) is to the success of a team. Our two previous HC's were complete idiots in this regard and - I guess - did their best to recruit QBs with some modicum of talent who would actually agree to come here (along with transfers) and play for them. For the most part, those coaching staffs weren't very good at judging talent nor developing it.
It's been a decade without a quality passing game and our current staff needs to take some responsibility here too. Frankly, I don't know how many more games I can watch with a stat line like: "8 of 17 for 62 yards, 0 TD's and 1 INT". You can't say "We're old-timey (Big Ten) football, and we're going to run it 40 times a game!" without a balanced offense. You're going to have to throw it 30-40 times a game in order to be successful. Look at every successful program in the B1G (and beyond). Focus on making the passing game successful .. whatever that takes. And, it's more than just a QB. It's the WR's. It's the OL. It's the coaching staff. It's everyone.
Sitkowski?! My goodness. In his first game - against an FCS opponent - he threw 3 INTs.
I honestly would have taken Vedral over Nova. I hate the clutch time INTs. I would rather get beat than choke-up. I never worried about Vedral. I mean PSU's DC promised his DB 4 INTs and they got 5 lol. I haven't seen anything like since thank-god
I am not going to go back and forth with you since you are fixated on the INT ‘s. I already spoke about that earlier and admit most were not happy about this part in his game. Now what was Nova’s 4 year record? That is the deciding factor. I have stuck by Noah but as a P -5 he is much farther back in value. If Nova had had as Noah Vedral has an OC who stayed for more than a year he would have been so much better. Last how soon was Nova rushed into the position as starter? Funny he’s # 2 on the list of statistical leaders all time at RU. We have had several decent one’s can you name them? I am not a stats only guy but Nova was by his won -lost record pretty decent. If you are being analytic know exactly what you are talking about.
this is a ridiculous take.
sure, Nova had a number of bad or horrible games (e.g., how many interceptions against Kent State?) but he also had an equal (or greater) number of great games.
at least with Nova you went in thinking that the QB position gave us a chance to win. sometimes you got "bad Nova" sometimes you got "good Nova". when Nova was clicking we put up POINTS!!!
Vedral? I am sorry. I dont like bashing individual kids but, really, does he inspire any hope? The answer is obvious.
This is just a silly. Nova > Vedral 10-fold.
Nova in his last year was light years better than anything Noah ever accomplished at any point of his collegiate career.
If Nova had Fridge for more than one season he would've put up even better numbers.
If Nova had Fridge for more than one season he would've put up even better numbers.
Yeah, like the 4th and 10 TD to carroo to beat Temple at the last second, and his comeback performances 2 years in a row against Arkansas.
Give it a rest dude. By far the best QB on that list, and one of the best in our history whether that's a great thing or not.
Laviano man. Decent QB. Not great. Not enough to make us competitive in the BIG. Got a terrible shake from fans. Glad he got his degree and is doing well.
Those who booed him claim either they didnt, or that they didnt like him because he was a jerk or whatever.
The truth is, fans HATED him the minute he beat out Rettig in the spring game. They were accusing Flood of purposefully setting Laviano up to look good and purposefully setting Rettig up to look bad and they were F'n SEETHING. If that spring game thread still exists, someone should find it and put an end to the excuses about why they disliked the kid. Not because of anything rational, but because they had convinced themselves that Rettig was some type of superstar. It was insane.
Rettig wasn't that good, and their respective careers aftwr leaving RU show that Laviano was the superior QB.
People are interesting creatures. The booing of our starting QB coming back onto the field after injury was classless and despicable. Worse, because it was based on complete fantasy.
Those who booed him claim either they didnt, or that they didnt like him because he was a jerk or whatever.
The truth is, fans HATED him the minute he beat out Rettig in the spring game. They were accusing Flood of purposefully setting Laviano up to look good and purposefully setting Rettig up to look bad and they were F'n SEETHING. If that spring game thread still exists, someone should find it and put an end to the excuses about why they disliked the kid. Not because of anything rational, but because they had convinced themselves that Rettig was some type of superstar. It was insane.
Rettig wasn't that good, and their respective careers aftwr leaving RU show that Laviano was the superior QB.
People are interesting creatures. The booing of our starting QB coming back onto the field after injury was classless and despicable. Worse, because it was based on complete fantasy.
He also had a problem with consistency. Only QB I remember with 2 nicknames. Was Gary "Super"-Nova going to show up, or Gary "Tur-"Nova!
Interestingly we had some decent QB’s in the previous 20+ years. In no particular order: Teel, Lucas, Fortay, McMahon, Hart,Savage, Hochberg, Erney.
The consistency was a part of his maturation early in his career at Rutgers. Nova was thrust into the job a year too soon. He had had talent and yes he had a gun slinger mindset.People that knock him from Rutgers aren ‘t being very objective.There was talent with Nova and his final year was indicative of the potential. Not here to convince anyone of what also could have been, Chase was another who had some talent.
Loved Teel, Tom Savage, Dodd, Gio Resigno and Johnny "Football" Lagan
Hated Nova (the person not the skill set) Always seemed pretentious.
Disliked Art Sitkowski, Vedral (their skill set not the people).
Rest were meh
Hated Nova (the person not the skill set) Always seemed pretentious.
Disliked Art Sitkowski, Vedral (their skill set not the people).
Rest were meh
Gary Nova was a highly regarded recruit out of DPB who was a Pitt verbal originally.You have to love all the QB gurus on a Rutgers board where 99% never played above high school level. Never had any insight into the program’s lack of coaching or failure at other positions which did a player like Nova no good. At most D1 programs Nova would have probably sat for 1 1/2 to 2 years . We aren’t Alabama, Ohio State, etc. level where they recruit 5* players like chocolate chip cookies.Nova had his warts but he was a player who could win even if it was ugly. His 73 TD’s to 51 Int’s is what most refuse to recognize. Gary Nova was certainly not perfect but he also played a lot of good football in his time at Rutgers.I recall many games during Mike Teel’s years where the vitriol from fans was way over the top.
I am not sure if I would put Lucas and fortay on that list . Neither were as good as the other guys here.
Ironically, we had some good quarterbacks on very bad teams.
Yep, that was a kid that definitely needed a redshirt . He finally started to put it all together in year 4. It would have been nice to see him in a year 5.
As is often said the most popular player on the team is always the 2nd string QB, and it sure is true at Rutgers.
There were more than a few on the board who predicted Nova would get more appreciated as time passes. He did get a lot of flack and we haven't really had a solid QB since, but that flack goes with the job.
But those Stan Parrish offenses — they were generally good.
The answers to RU's QB problems have either been on the bench, are in high school, have transferred to RU, have already transferred from RU, or have been converted to TEs. The last competent QB at RU (Nova) got to that level when they finally hired an OC to actually teach him the position.
I would have to go back and look at the numbers . But I don’t remember either of those guys being good. Nobody could really hold down the QB job those years and there was always a QB controversy because no one was good enough to be the guy
Interesting that someone went and dug this thread up. Still a good thread, be interesting to update after this season.
A comment on Nova: I talked with someone knowledgeable about the position a few years ago. He mentioned that he saw footwork issues with Nova up until Fridge got here We also saw Nova make the same mistakes in his first 3 years: intentional grounding and illegal forward pass (i.e, passing the ball after crossing the line of scrimmage). What was head scratching was that his 2nd and 3rd year they had a dedicated QB coach (Spence?) who apparently couldn't correct any of these issues.
I had to look up the stats for this: Dodd was 18 for 29, 322 yards, 2 TD's, 0 INT's. In the highlights above, that last pass to Deering was perfectly placed, just a beauty of a throw. Haven't seen anything like that in years from our QB's.
Here's the box score for that game
Connecticut vs. Rutgers - Box Score - October 8, 2010 - ESPN
For some reason on scarletknights.com all of the links are broken for stats on the early seasons. I can't believe they allow that level of sloppiness.
A comment on Nova: I talked with someone knowledgeable about the position a few years ago. He mentioned that he saw footwork issues with Nova up until Fridge got here We also saw Nova make the same mistakes in his first 3 years: intentional grounding and illegal forward pass (i.e, passing the ball after crossing the line of scrimmage). What was head scratching was that his 2nd and 3rd year they had a dedicated QB coach (Spence?) who apparently couldn't correct any of these issues.
I had to look up the stats for this: Dodd was 18 for 29, 322 yards, 2 TD's, 0 INT's. In the highlights above, that last pass to Deering was perfectly placed, just a beauty of a throw. Haven't seen anything like that in years from our QB's.
Here's the box score for that game
Connecticut vs. Rutgers - Box Score - October 8, 2010 - ESPN
For some reason on scarletknights.com all of the links are broken for stats on the early seasons. I can't believe they allow that level of sloppiness.
Mike McMahon was as athletic and talented as there was at Rutgers. Howitzer for an arm, unafraid to throw, could run and was extremely gifted . Ray Lucas, Scott Erney, Fortay all lacked the other pieces at the time. Dodd will always be a favorite of mine and one of the most polite persons my wife and I had the pleasure of speaking to. Face it we did this entire thing wrong back in the 1970’s. It has finally begun to be turned around. We are grateful and yes LUCKY. How’s that go… sometimes better to be lucky. No we have to still fight to catch up but we will…someday.
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This isn’t about Vedral vs. Nova… I’m not going to debate who will be or was a better QB at Rutgers. This is solely about Nova’s ability to throw the ball vs.Noah. Like others have noted here had Nova been give proper QB coaching in years 1-2 you would probably have seen even better numbers and wins in Nova’s resume. I’m sure Schiano regretted pushing Gary Nova into the limelight too soon. In the 4 year career of Gary Nova Rutgers won 32 and lost 22. The majority of those games were with Gary Nova starting over Chase Dodd . Sorry but some would do themselves a favor by at least reviewing the 4 seasons ( no redshirt) Nova lead RU.
If I recall correctly, you were a big Flacco fan and thought he should be our starter as no other quarterback shined as much as him in practice. I guess the young brash Ash thought he knew better than the established seasoned vet Kill. No one should feel sorry for Ash, he lost due to sheer incompetence.Damn good summary. Thanks. Not as good as the 2019 Head Coach summary, but I may be biased!
I remember asking Ash about Mike Dare at a donor event right after he was hired, and he seemed peeved at the question. The way he answered it showed me he did not have good people skills.
And McClane Carter's girlfriend:
Maybe he was nursed back to health before going to play in the German Football League. Seems he may have been benched later in the season.
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I forget how much I was a fan of Flacco, but thought he should have been given a better shot than he got.
I am also a big fan of Cole Snyder and will be watching how he does at Buffalo. But just because Flacco shined at his next stop or some other QB (e.g., Snyder) shines somewhere else does not mean the same thing would happen for that QB at Rutgers. But it is fun message board fodder and stuff to discuss/argue over.
