By Whit Prowdy
Published: November 21, 2008 PrintEmail
Shaking the Rust Off the Armor
How the Rutgers Scarlet Knights righted the ship.
The 2008 Rutgers Scarlet Knights season began with hope and promise.
Despite the departure of Ray Rice to the NFL in favor for more
Baltimore-y pastures, spirits were sky high. Fueled by the return of
two 1000-yard receivers in Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood, the return
of the dynamic Mike Teel, and a defense with NFL Draft Round 2 prospect
Courtney Greene, expectations were right up there in the recently
dominant Big East, as were the spirits of fans who crammed into Rutgers
Stadium on a steamy late August day in Piscataway. The Knights ran onto
the field that day to a sellout ovation of over 43,000. Requiem by
Trans-Siberian Orchestra blared from the speakers above. Britt and
Underwood chest-bumped at the 20. Everything was going the way of
Rutgers. The ball sailed into the air…and the 2008 season was under way.
But then, uh…oh no…shoot…they did wha?
24-7. Not the terminology for Rutgers’ dominance that day…moreso the
final score…with Rutgers on the tail end…losing to Fresno State (who,
mind you, went on to become ranked for a brief while). Mike Teel
appeared as if he hadn’t practiced once over the spring and summer…and
he wasn’t helped by Britt’s alligator arms. Mesh that with a porous
front seven that hadn’t been living to expectations, was barely
touching the opposing QB, and allowing opposing WR’s to dance circles
around them…and you’ve got a team that begins 1-5…one year removed from
a #10 AP ranking, two years from a #7 BCS ranking.
So what exactly went wrong? Let’s take a closer look.
First of all, let’s point out that Rutgers had a rather difficult
opening schedule. Their five losses came at the hands of opponents who
are currently 34-16, all of whom have been or are currently ranked top
25 at some point this season (with the exception of Navy). Unlike
certain other Big East teams *cough USF cough* who were fighting
against such powerhouses as Florida International and UCF, Rutgers had
its hands full with the surging Tarheels.
Second, there was CLEARLY some rust that just wasn’t being shaken…and
never was this more evident when you looked at the play of QB Mike
Teel. Expected to finally emerge in his senior season, he laid three
straight eggs in Rutgers’ 0-3 start, posting a 1-6 TD-INT ratio. His
receivers were of no help either, as Britt had his fair share of
troubles (dropped a beauty of a TD pass against Fresno State), and
Underwood’s 392 receiving yards after ten games have all but dropped
him off of everyone’s draft board.
And of course, the elephant in the room that everyone’s talking
about…the vacancy left behind by Ray Rice. Not only did he leave behind
mighty big shoes to fill, he also left head coach Greg Schiano with a
mammoth problem. The first-year speed demon Jourdan Brooks? The proven
veteran coming off of reconstructive knee surgery Kordell Young? Or one
of the plethora of others that may be diamonds in the rough? At first,
Young got the assignment, and though showing bursts of promise here and
there, still didn’t appear to be completely over his injury. Jourdan
Brooks was a very pleasant breath of fresh air with his hard running
and strong performance against Navy, but recent inconsistencies have
had Schiano leaning towards Joe Martinek, fresh off a strong
performance against Syracuse. The shuffling and lack of solidarity at
the position, in my opinion, proved detrimental.
So why are they all of a sudden on fire?
We return to the schedule to see the four teams they’ve beaten on their
way to four straight wins. UConn, in my opinion, should have been
Rutgers’ sixth loss, had it not been for the atrocious kicking
performance by Tony Ciaravino…smacking two off the goalposts, the
latter being the potential go-ahead. A classic case of “better lucky
than good” if there ever was one. Finally building some momentum, they
visited the ranked Pitt Panthers…and weeks of frustration and bottled
up talent was simply unleashed. Teel bombed for 361 yards and 6
touchdowns, three going to Kenny Britt. Young also had a decent game,
getting the bulk of the carries and finding the end zone twice. The
20-point defeat of the 17th ranked Panthers stuck with the team, even
after the bye, as they smacked Syracuse in a cold, raw Rutgers Stadium
35-17 despite falling behind 14-0. The Knights would then cruise to
.500 in style, completely throttling the formerly ranked, freefalling
Bulls of South Florida.
So where do we go from here? As of this typing, Army comes to town
Saturday, and God bless ‘em for everything they have done and will do
once football comes to pass, they appear to be a stepping stone to
6-5…and are in store for a complete shellacking (In fact, I’m more
concerned with how the Rutgers fans will conduct themselves that day
after the Navy fiasco). After that, a Thursday night matchup when
Louisville comes to the site of their greatest disappointment once upon
a time in late October 2006. No doubt retribution will be on their
minds, but Rutgers, I anticipate, will be charged up and ready to go
that night. In fact, two of Rutgers’ three recent Thursday games were
thrilling wins against Louisville and South Florida, ranked 3 and 2
respectively. This puts the Scarlet Knights at 7-5 on the season.
And after one of the most unlikely, impressive turnarounds in recent memory…
