Yesterday's game was great, a true RU 60 minute chop by the team. We should have absolutely beat Illinois but as we all know, this is why the games are played.
Having been a fan for 25+ years now, I would take a 7-5 season any day over the rough days of the Shea era (yes the years that the alumni team beat the actual team in the spring game), the tough early transition years at the start of Greg's first stint, and the struggles at times during the Flood years and most certainly the head scratching Ash years. If this stint by Greg is like his last one, we know that he is just getting started on the ascent up. A missed FG, a lot of unfortunate injuries, a missed pass, a INT etc were what made the difference this year. Athan was a great pick up for the offense, while we will loose Kyle Monangai to the draft, we know he has good underclassman stepping up and learning behind him! (Maybe RU is the next RBU). Jai Patel absolutely crushed it yesterday (we as RU have for some reason have had good luck with some great kickers over the years). Our defense will reload for next year once our players heal up in the off season.
The best thing about a bowl game, is our knights will get a few more practice weeks and get some experience for our underclassman preparing for next year. When you really think about it, this year was a step up compared to past years noted below. I truly do believe RU is on the up and up. While some may see NIL as something we will struggle with, I disagree, we live in the biggest media, business and industry metropolis in the country and over time, if we keep staying competitive and steady, our NIL will grow and our success on the field will grow as well!
To finish in the upper half of the BIG, in a year where there are many great teams thriving, we certainly were competitive and do belong in this conference, without that FG blunder we would have been .500 in conference for the first time.
In the years prior to 1999, to remember and keep in perspective our only bowl game was Frank Burns 1978 in the Garden State Bowl and there were only 7 winning seasons between then and Schiano becoming our HC the first go around.
In 2004, a drunk driver injuring 3 of our players likely costed us a 6-6 season and in 2006 a blown call at WVU cost us a BCS game, both altering the trajectory of our team.
Last 25 years in RU History:
1999 Terry Shea 1–10 1–6 8th
2000 Terry Shea 3–8 0–7 8th
Greg Schiano (Big East Conference) (2001–2011)
2001 Greg Schiano 2–9 0–7 8th
2002 Greg Schiano 1–11 0–7 8th
2003 Greg Schiano 5–7 2–5 7th
2004 Greg Schiano 4–7 1–5 6th
2005 Greg Schiano 7–5 4–3 3rd L Insight
2006 Greg Schiano 11–2 5–2 T–2nd W Texas 12 12
2007 Greg Schiano 8–5 3–4 T–5th W International
2008 Greg Schiano 8–5 5–2 T–2nd W Papajohns.com
2009 Greg Schiano 9–4 3–4 T–4th W St. Petersburg
2010 Greg Schiano 4–8 1–6 8th
2011 Greg Schiano 9–4 4–3 T–4th W Pinstripe
2012 Kyle Flood 9–4 5–2 T–1st L Russell Athletic (Was a Schiano roster team)
2013 Kyle Flood 6–7 3–5 T–6th L Pinstripe
2014 Kyle Flood 8–5 3–5 T–4th (East) W Quick Lane
2015 Kyle Flood[n 2] 4–8[n 2] 1–7[n 2] T–6th (East)
2016 Chris Ash 2–10 0–9 7th (East)
2017 Chris Ash 4–8 3–6 5th (East)
2018 Chris Ash 1–11 0–9 7th (East)
2019 Chris Ash[n 3] 2–10[n 3] 0–9[n 3] 7th (East)
2020 Greg Schiano 3–6 3–6 5th (East)
2021 Greg Schiano 5–8 2–7 6th (East) L Gator
2022 Greg Schiano 4–8 1–8 7th (East)
2023 Greg Schiano 7–6 3–6 5th (East) W Pinstripe
2024 Greg Schiano 7-5 4-5 (9th in a 18 team conference) Bowl Game Pending
Having been a fan for 25+ years now, I would take a 7-5 season any day over the rough days of the Shea era (yes the years that the alumni team beat the actual team in the spring game), the tough early transition years at the start of Greg's first stint, and the struggles at times during the Flood years and most certainly the head scratching Ash years. If this stint by Greg is like his last one, we know that he is just getting started on the ascent up. A missed FG, a lot of unfortunate injuries, a missed pass, a INT etc were what made the difference this year. Athan was a great pick up for the offense, while we will loose Kyle Monangai to the draft, we know he has good underclassman stepping up and learning behind him! (Maybe RU is the next RBU). Jai Patel absolutely crushed it yesterday (we as RU have for some reason have had good luck with some great kickers over the years). Our defense will reload for next year once our players heal up in the off season.
The best thing about a bowl game, is our knights will get a few more practice weeks and get some experience for our underclassman preparing for next year. When you really think about it, this year was a step up compared to past years noted below. I truly do believe RU is on the up and up. While some may see NIL as something we will struggle with, I disagree, we live in the biggest media, business and industry metropolis in the country and over time, if we keep staying competitive and steady, our NIL will grow and our success on the field will grow as well!
To finish in the upper half of the BIG, in a year where there are many great teams thriving, we certainly were competitive and do belong in this conference, without that FG blunder we would have been .500 in conference for the first time.
In the years prior to 1999, to remember and keep in perspective our only bowl game was Frank Burns 1978 in the Garden State Bowl and there were only 7 winning seasons between then and Schiano becoming our HC the first go around.
In 2004, a drunk driver injuring 3 of our players likely costed us a 6-6 season and in 2006 a blown call at WVU cost us a BCS game, both altering the trajectory of our team.
Last 25 years in RU History:
1999 Terry Shea 1–10 1–6 8th
2000 Terry Shea 3–8 0–7 8th
Greg Schiano (Big East Conference) (2001–2011)
2001 Greg Schiano 2–9 0–7 8th
2002 Greg Schiano 1–11 0–7 8th
2003 Greg Schiano 5–7 2–5 7th
2004 Greg Schiano 4–7 1–5 6th
2005 Greg Schiano 7–5 4–3 3rd L Insight
2006 Greg Schiano 11–2 5–2 T–2nd W Texas 12 12
2007 Greg Schiano 8–5 3–4 T–5th W International
2008 Greg Schiano 8–5 5–2 T–2nd W Papajohns.com
2009 Greg Schiano 9–4 3–4 T–4th W St. Petersburg
2010 Greg Schiano 4–8 1–6 8th
2011 Greg Schiano 9–4 4–3 T–4th W Pinstripe
2012 Kyle Flood 9–4 5–2 T–1st L Russell Athletic (Was a Schiano roster team)
2013 Kyle Flood 6–7 3–5 T–6th L Pinstripe
2014 Kyle Flood 8–5 3–5 T–4th (East) W Quick Lane
2015 Kyle Flood[n 2] 4–8[n 2] 1–7[n 2] T–6th (East)
2016 Chris Ash 2–10 0–9 7th (East)
2017 Chris Ash 4–8 3–6 5th (East)
2018 Chris Ash 1–11 0–9 7th (East)
2019 Chris Ash[n 3] 2–10[n 3] 0–9[n 3] 7th (East)
2020 Greg Schiano 3–6 3–6 5th (East)
2021 Greg Schiano 5–8 2–7 6th (East) L Gator
2022 Greg Schiano 4–8 1–8 7th (East)
2023 Greg Schiano 7–6 3–6 5th (East) W Pinstripe
2024 Greg Schiano 7-5 4-5 (9th in a 18 team conference) Bowl Game Pending
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