RUTGERS REWIND – W/E September 17,
2005
On Sunday, Big Dog shared some
photos from the Villanova
game, taken from
the field during Rutgers 38-6 victory.
Andre Bone also interviewed QB B.J. Phillips (6-5 and 225) from Spring Valley HS in Columbian, SC. Phillips has received offers from
Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, and Vanderbilt. Rutgers has not yet offered Phillips,
who is considering a visit to the Banks if offered.
On Monday, RS Sr DE Ryan Neill and
Jr KOR Willie Foster were named Big East Defensive and Special
Teams Players of the Week, respectively. Neill recorded 4.5 TFLs and two sacks
against Villanova. Foster returned
the opening kickoff 93 yards for a TD.
Tom Atkins reported on the status of Injured RS So DE Eric
Foster, who
suffered a season-ending ACL injury against Villanova at the thinnest position
on the Rutgers team. Tom also
reported that Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano expected some offensive wrinkles
from Buffalo, who offense was shutout in each of their first two games. Atkins also reported that RS Sr RG John
Glass had been suspended for the Buffalo game and would be replaced in the
lineup by RS Fr RG Mike Gilmartin.
On Tuesday, Matei reported that
Rutgers had extended an offer to DE Andres Morales (6-2 and 245) from Liberty HS in
Bethlehem, PA. Morales is
considered a LB/DE ‘tweener.
Rutgers is his only offer at this time.
On Wednesday, former Scarlet Knight
P David Dunne (1990-1992) shared his Perspective on the Villanova
Game. Dunne was pleased that Rutgers beat
Villanova soundly, 38-6, as a Division I-AA opponent should be handled. However, Dunne was displeased with the
defensive yardage allowed to the Wildcats (444 total yards). And with the inability of the defense to
the offensive adjustments Villanova made at halftime. Matei interviewed DB Bryan Wright (5-11 and 165) from
Miami-Northwestern HS in Miami, FL.
Wright has received offers from Florida A&M, Delaware, Rutgers, and
Temple.
On Thursday, Matei interviewd
QB Chris
Paul-Etienne (6-1
and 180) from Miami Edison HS in Miami, FL. Chris has received offers from Akron,
Illinois, Minnesota, and Rutgers.
Paul-Etienne attended the Rutgers camp at Miami Edison HS this past
summer.
On Friday, Dan Welch published his
preseason preview of the Buffalo Bulls. The article reflected a preseason
analysis of lost starters, expected replacements, and incoming recruits. Dan predicted that the Bulls will finish
2-9 (2-6 MAC). The Bulls will be
swept in their non-conference games against the Big East. FoxSports also shared its weekly
Rutgers Team Report. FoxSports thought that Buffalo was made
to order for Rutgers high-powered offense and struggling defense. Matei also took a look Inside the Numbers, a statistical comparison of the
Scarlet Knights and Bulls. It
spelled M-I-S-M-A-T-C-H.
On Saturday, Dan Welch shared his
Keys to the Buffalo
Game, looking at
five team keys and five key individuals.
Despite Rutgers history of overlooking any remotely inferior opponent,
Dan expected this game to be be over early because Buffalo is not as good as is
Villanova. This was a game for the
future. Not the past. Dan’s keys included (1) mental focus,
(2) open field tackling, (3) playing the backups, (4) the rushing attack, and
(5) staying healthy as the most important issues in the game. Key individuals included RS Fr QB Mike
Teel, RS Jr DT Cameron Stephenson, RS Fr DT Carl Howard, RS Fr RG Gilmartin, and
So PK Jeremy Ito.
Rutgers eeked out an ugly and
uninspiring 17-3 win over hapless Buffalo. The Bulls nearly tripled their offensive
output from the first two games (349 total yards versus 130 yards per
game). As against Villanova, the
Scarlet Knight defense bent but stiffened inside the red zone, allowing only one
FG in four Bull incursions in the red zone (one blocked FGA and two
4th down stops). The
Scarlet Knight offense was just as sluggish as QB Ryan Hart had his worst
performance of the season in completing 13 of 27 for 143 yards and two TDs. Hart was inaccurate and again showed an
inability to complete deep passes to open receivers. RS Jr TB Brian Leonard and RS Sr DE Ryan
Neill were among the few Scarlet Knights who seemed interested in playing. Through three games, I have not seen the
kind of performance that leads me to believe that Rutgers can win seven
games. The Scarlet Knights simply
have not shown the ability to stop opposing offenses and the Rutgers offense
holds itself more in check than does the opposing defense. Rutgers has two weeks to rest and
prepare for a Friday night ESPN2 game against Pittsburgh, who is off to an awful
0-3 to begin the Dave Wannstedt era.
Please send any comments to
dwelch11@comcast.net. I just noticed an error in my email
address hyperlink. I apologize to
those of you who have been trying to email me, to no avail. The link has been fixed. Drop me a line at my Comcast
address. I welcome and appreciate
your feedback, even if I make it hard to do. And please put “Rutgers” in the message
header because I wouldn’t want to miss your email in a sea of spam. In the meantime, if you would like to
discuss the spring camp with other Rutgers fans, please visit our message
board.