We couldn’t get a yard

[Randal7]

The most striking takeaway from today was the knowledge gained that, with a heisman candidate caliber running back and a seasoned team on a sun soaked pristine day in October we couldn’t gain 1 yard on Wisconsin.

And not only could we not gain one yard, our coaching staff KNEW we couldn’t gain the one yard. We had two fourth and inches early in the first quarter and we punted both. No interest in going for it.

Then, in the 2nd quarter, deep in opponent territory, we finally work up the nerve. We go big formation, give it to our rb, who got maybe 2 feet? Completely stuffed and it was obvious the moment the play happened.

It’s year 5 and it’s Groundhog Day, again. We still can’t get a yard against Wisconsin bc their guys eat glass and just come into our Place and do whatever the hell they want. Over. And over. And over again.

The final insult — when Wisconsin needed a yard they had no issue getting it

 

[Kbee3]

The most striking takeaway from today was the knowledge gained that, with a heisman candidate caliber running back and a seasoned team on a sun soaked pristine day in October we couldn’t gain 1 yard on Wisconsin.

And not only could we not gain one yard, our coaching staff KNEW we couldn’t gain the one yard. We had two fourth and inches early in the first quarter and we punted both. No interest in going for it.

Then, in the 2nd quarter, deep in opponent territory, we finally work up the nerve. We go big formation, give it to our rb, who got maybe 2 feet? Completely stuffed and it was obvious the moment the play happened.

It’s year 5 and it’s Groundhog Day, again. We still can’t get a yard against Wisconsin bc their guys eat glass and just come into our Place and do whatever the hell they want. Over. And over. And over again.

The final insult — when Wisconsin needed a yard they had no issue getting it

That was really irritating.

 

[RUforJERSEY]

Maybe try something different than exactly what they were expecting. Maybe try to run from a power formation with a lead blocker for once.

 

[ScarletKid2008]

We couldn’t get that yard at Nebraska either. And had many chances at it.

 

[newell138]

We couldn’t get that yard at Nebraska either. And had many chances at it.

6 chances to be exact

 

[shields]

Really think when we had those 7 lineman come in 3 years ago and 3 had to medically retire. Really hurt RU. And one kid was Allen considered best recruit in NJ. And Mike Teel mentioned Wisconsin has 2 tackles considered early draft picks. Chris Snee was there looking at Wisconsin left tackle.

 

[Rutgers25]

Seems like our whiff rate in recruiting is very high. Not sure how Iowa and Wisconsin constantly produce legit big ten players despite not pulling in top 25 classes.

 

[jtung230]

We miss GW in those situations.

 

[NY AGENTMAN]

We couldn’t get that yard at Nebraska either. And had many chances at it.

The OL is probably in the bottom 3 of the BIG. It is better than the Late 10’s version but not good enough against the BIG lines. We aren’t playing South Florida anymore !

 

[jtung230]

The OL is probably in the bottom 3 of the BIG. It is better than the Late 10’s version but not good enough against the BIG lines. We aren’t playing South Florida anymore !

Not the OL. It’s the new offensive with AK. The announcers said it. We lost our identity

 

[NY AGENTMAN]

What identity? A 38% completion QB?

 

[SBP]

This is the biggest indictment of all of our lack of depth. Also, the goal line play calling is atrocious. If you can’t score from the 1 after so many tries, you’re not a good football team, period. We need to get plug and play transfers on that line next year.

 

[Knight Shift]

We miss GW in those situations.

Nah

 

[Knight Shift]

What identity? A 38% completion QB?

Stop it with the BS 1 game narrative

 

[jtung230]

Nah

Wow. Talking about denial. If you can’t admit that our power running game has regressed, I guess there is nothing to talk about.

 

[RUboston]

The play just before we were stopped on 4th and 1, it appeared to me that the receiver did not fight for the extra yard or two that would have gotten the first down. Leads me to believe maybe he didn't know where it was.

 

[Shelby65]

Maybe try something different than exactly what they were expecting. Maybe try to run from a power formation with a lead blocker for once.

No room in the post-it-notes sized playbook for that trick play. Besides, the I formation wasnt developed until the 1950s. It’s too new and radical for -2.0

 

[Knight Shift]

Wow. Talking about denial. If you can’t admit that our power running game has regressed, I guess there is nothing to talk about.

Athan runs just fine.

 

[Knight Shift]

The play just before we were stopped on 4th and 1, it appeared to me that the receiver did not fight for the extra yard or two that would have gotten the first down. Leads me to believe maybe he didn't know where it was.

I mentioned this a couple of times yesterday. Seemed our receivers were consistently oblivious to the 1st down marker.

 

[jtung230]

Stop it with the BS 1 game narrative

Really 2 games now. I hope it won’t be 3. I fully expect us to go back to more run focus. This dink and dunk crap ain’t working. It’s like a tackling drill for the opposing defense

 

[Pils86]

Really think when we had those 7 lineman come in 3 years ago and 3 had to medically retire. Really hurt RU. And one kid was Allen considered best recruit in NJ. And Mike Teel mentioned Wisconsin has 2 tackles considered early draft picks. Chris Snee was there looking at Wisconsin left tackle.

Allen was the last 4* OL recruit I can remember for a long time, maybe the only one in 2.0. If he and DeCroce stayed healthy I think we would be much better off right now. We need to prioritize OL recruiting and the 2025 class is showing that if it holds.

 

[Pils86]

Maybe try something different than exactly what they were expecting. Maybe try to run from a power formation with a lead blocker for once.

This. I watched about 5 minutes of the PSU/USC game and saw PSU do two trick plays, one where there were only three lineman tight and guys spread all over the place, led to a decent gain of 15 or so, forgot the other. Then USC gets the ball and first play does a fake double reverse that goes to the house. Over and over again we line up tight and run up the middle all game.

 

[RUboston]

The opposing defensive coordinators must watch with glee when they review our game film.

 

[RUinPAC10land]

NIL money needs to be spent on the offensive and defensive line than any other positions. I am so sick and tired of seeing schools like Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin push RU around year in and year out. I totally saw this coming and was hoping that I was wrong.

 

[OldManRiver]

Maybe try something different than exactly what they were expecting. Maybe try to run from a power formation with a lead blocker for once.

Do we even have a FB to have a power formation?

 

[bethlehemfan]

Seems like our whiff rate in recruiting is very high. Not sure how Iowa and Wisconsin constantly produce legit big ten players despite not pulling in top 25 classes.

Iowa and Wisconsin have a long history of sending linemen to the nfl and their lines are composed primarily of midwestern “farm boys “ that dream of playing at those schools. They are also established programs and Wisconsin in particular is pulling in transfers.

 

[kupuna133]

The play design on that 4th and 1 was atrocious. Bring in heavy formation with an unbalanced line to the boundary. Tackle and 2 tight ends right. The play was designed to go A/B gap. And all 3 (tackle and 2 TE’s) block down into the A/B gap. They stacked bodies and brought more defensive personnel directly to where monangai was attempting to run.

 

[jtung230]

The play design on that 4th and 1 was atrocious. Bring in heavy formation with an unbalanced line to the boundary. Tackle and 2 tight ends right. The play was designed to go A/B gap. And all 3 (tackle and 2 TE’s) block down into the A/B gap. They stacked bodies and brought more defensive personnel directly to where monangai was attempting to run.

That’s why a running QB makes the math more favorable.

 

[RUtrumpet92]

The offense is so predictable. I miss the old days where we typically had at least one trick play a week that could pop off for big gains. Or lining up with two backs, faking up the middle and tossing it wide to Rice. Now it's running between the tackles all day long.

 

[kupuna133]

That’s why a running QB makes the math more favorable.

That’s a different argument. Play wasn’t designed to have the qb as a running option. And at that point (down, distance and field location) you don’t want a slow developing mesh. On 3rd down I can see using the qb but on 4th and 1 on your goal line just body up and fire off the line.

 

[beaced]

The most striking takeaway from today was the knowledge gained that, with a heisman candidate caliber running back and a seasoned team on a sun soaked pristine day in October we couldn’t gain 1 yard on Wisconsin.

And not only could we not gain one yard, our coaching staff KNEW we couldn’t gain the one yard. We had two fourth and inches early in the first quarter and we punted both. No interest in going for it.

Then, in the 2nd quarter, deep in opponent territory, we finally work up the nerve. We go big formation, give it to our rb, who got maybe 2 feet? Completely stuffed and it was obvious the moment the play happened.

It’s year 5 and it’s Groundhog Day, again. We still can’t get a yard against Wisconsin bc their guys eat glass and just come into our Place and do whatever the hell they want. Over. And over. And over again.

The final insult — when Wisconsin needed a yard they had no issue getting it

Their HC must have been there a long time

 

[NY AGENTMAN]

Stop it with the BS 1 game narrative

Was responding to a post about losing identity with GW

 

[RUforJERSEY]

Do we even have a FB to have a power formation?

I dont think so but certainly have around 4-5 tight ends. Fletch might not be the biggest but several of the others are 250+ Teams have even been known to put a big lineman back there.

 

[ashokan]

We miss GW in those situations.

That's actually true.

I understand GW (5 runs for 25 yesterday) had issues with the dinky-dunky short passes but I appreciated that he and the rugby mauls/scrums were new things that finally worked in red zone for RU. People saw GW as skinny and weak but he was actually pretty strong in a pile (Kentucky coaches noted that). He did lead B1G in QB running TDs and yards - and set RU records for same. I see RU still missing passes that GW used to get crucified for but now its in style to blame WRs, wind, injuries etc.

 

[93RUDoc]

Why is no one mentioning our need to jettison Kirk Ciarrocca to outer space

 

[TM94goRU]

You can only run a successful ground and pound offense if you are bigger and stronger than your opponent. Our lines look like the Junior Varsity playing an all-star Varsity squad.

To make matters worse, our team looked and performed like their checks bounced. No emotion, no pride to not be beaten. Some keep saying injuries. Well it is football, damn near every team has them. Even players playing are banged up and sore. It is a game where you often play in pain. No excuses!

Since we don't match up physically, our only real hope is to out scheme our opposition. Of course our guys need to stop dropping the ball.

 

[Kbee3]

I dont think so but certainly have around 4-5 tight ends. Fletch might not be the biggest but several of the others are 250+ Teams have even been known to put a big lineman back there.

Fletcher has not exactly been impressive with his blocking.

 

[rutgersal]

Seems like our whiff rate in recruiting is very high. Not sure how Iowa and Wisconsin constantly produce legit big ten players despite not pulling in top 25 classes.

They attract better recruits with higher ceilings, even if their rating is just 3 stars.

 

[jOmega]

Why is no one mentioning our need to jettison Kirk Ciarrocca to outer space

We canned Sean Gleason a few years back for not producing but at least he had some imaginative plays (mis-direction, sweeps, reverses). KC needs to get some of that type of thinking.

 

[Branchrentals]

Garry is a .500. coach which I guess is good for RU. The messed up my parking pass, again good luck to everyone at NJ university.