Info On Rutgers's Offensive Line (from Scarlet Scuttlebutt)

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  Scarlet Scuttlebutt

Top 25 Notes: RU punt-block team proves effective

What Schiano said 10/24

October 24, 2010 • 11:29 am

By Keith Sargeant

Here’s what Rutgers coach Greg Schiano had to say Sunday morning after his team fell to Pittsburgh, 41-21, on Saturday afternoon:

On the upcoming schedule between now and Nov. 3 gave vs. USF:

“â€We’ll practice a couple times this week, Wednesday and Thursday, and then Saturday will be like a regular Tuesday in game-week.â€

Getting healthier a focus?

“â€We are going to do certain things for certain guys, kind of personalize what needs to be done. But you still need to get better as well. So it’s delicate balance but we’ll try to do individually with each guy.â€

How banged up is Mohamed Sanu because he didn’t do much in the Wildcat?

“â€Well, we didn’t know. Going into the game we were going to have to wait-and-see how he did in warmups. He’s an incredible athlete; he healed quite a bit. But he was not 100 percent so we tried to do what we felt he could do. And I thought he did a good job on what we asked him to do.â€

On how the O-line performed:

“â€We’re struggling a little bit obviously. Some of the (sacks) we just got whooped. You know, I thought we ran the ball better than we have all season actually against that level of competition. Unfortunately we got behind in the second half and really couldn’t do it as much as we planned on doing. But again the pass protection is one of the big issues that we have to get figured out right now.â€

On why this team will bounce back:

“â€The people we have in this building, the coaches and the people that play here. We’ve been through tough times before and we have tough people here. It’s no disrespect to the teams we have yet to play on our schedule. But we’re going to find a way to get things fixed and get it going in the right direction.â€

On Chas Dodd’s struggles:

“â€Guys didn’t get open. They covered us well. We tried to do some things protection-wise to redistribute our resources. You have decisions to make (on) how many guys you’re going to send into the route. The more guys you put out in the route the more it strains the (protection). We have to make choices each down by the play that’s called where we use those resources. So there were times when we kept in a running back or a tight end to help on protection. There were other times when we released everybody. Finding that balance that our (offensive line) guys can handle, we have to help them. We have to continue to help them more than we have. That’s our job, and then they need to perform better in the techniques they’re taught. And we’re going to work hard to get both of those better.â€

On who is going to start at QB vs. USF:

“â€The situation is a little bit different in that Tom (Savage) is healthy. He practiced more last week, so we’re going to staff-meet — and right now we’re not even into the game-week preparation — so when we start our game-week (next Saturday) and we have our press conference to start the week I’ll probably be more prepared to do that than right now.â€

Any injury concerns?

“â€I know there were some guys that played in a lot of pain yesterday. D.C. Jefferson played in a lot of pain. Fabian Ruiz played with pain. They both twisted their ankles early in the game. But I thought really gutty performances. There were guys that were playing bumped up. On the offensive line, Art Forst (and) Desmond Stapleton, were playing. There are guys that are playing with pain so that’s one of the reason I think we have to right now give their bodies a little bit of a rest, as well as their minds.â€

On defensive performance:

“â€What I thought was very much the case. There were a couple plays where maybe we just got licked but there were a lot of opportunities there. Every game is a story unto itself. And there are critical junctions of that story, and that story goes in another direction. We had our opportunities and we weren’t able to execute and take advantage of those opportunities.

“â€And when you play a team that has weapons like Pittsburgh. If you don’t take advantage of those opportunities, the flipside of that is those players are going to take advantage of those opportunities. Sometimes if you take advantage of those opportunities you never live to see the downs where they make those plays. That’s as old as the game itself. We didn’t cash in when we had opportunities, and some of it was the abilities of the Pittsburgh players. We were unable to do it. But others were our own self-inflicted and when you do that, the game can go in another direction. That’s kind of what happened Saturday. The old adage, ‘It’s never as bad as you think when you lose (and) it’s never as good as you think when you win.’ That’s the case here. We can clean up a few things defensively and we need to get back to play really good defense. But to talk about it and identify it is one thing; to go do it is another. So that’ll be the charge this week.â€

Get the sense that the players need a few days emotionally to recharge?

“â€I think so. But if we didn’t have the schedule the way it is, then we wouldn’t have that chance. But we do and we’re going to use it wisely. From a physical standpoint, when I looked at the season and mapped out a preliminary plan. You know, it the Big East Conference you have some unusual weeks so you really have to plan in advance otherwise you’re caught unprepared. Originally there was going to be a built-in rest after this juncture and then after the South Florida games we can get a couple days there.

“â€But in looking at what’s happened and the circumstances, I think it just falls at a good time for our guys.â€

On whether Eric LeGrand was able to watch the Pittsburgh game:

“â€He was able to watch it.â€

On how wide-open the Big East is now and it remains up for grabs:

“â€It is wide-open. None of that will matter unless we get our ownselves improved. But yes, as far just the facts that the league is open, there’s no doubt about that. Pittsburgh sits in the driver’s seat; they have destiny in their own hands. To say it’s wide-open, yes. But to say it’s really … Pittsburgh has their destiny in their own hands.â€

On whether LB Manny Abreu (knee) will be ready for USF?

“â€I don’t think so. The original window is that Manny won’t be ready. You never say never, but from what we were told that would be too soon. So we’ll just prepare with the people that we have and after we get it going again just try to improve in the areas that we need to see the most improvement.â€

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From SCARLET NATION FORUM.... Just banter sort of interesting..

http://rutgers.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=642&tid=138151179&mid=138151179&sid=988&style=2

THE OFFICIAL RUTGERS vs. S. FLORIDA PREDICTION THREAD Reply

Let's face it, we have not played well in the last two games. Our O-line is by far our biggest weakness. Although, we own S. Florida I don't expect this game to be easy at all for us. I expect a very close game, but I (hopefully) expect us to pull through in the end.

Rutgers 21

S. Florida 17

some banter

bELieve in 52

Posted on 10/28 2:12 PM

Re: THE OFFICIAL RUTGERS vs. S. FLORIDA PREDICTION THREAD Reply

Who will be our starting QB?

Posted on 10/28 2:16 PM

Re: THE OFFICIAL RUTGERS vs. S. FLORIDA PREDICTION THREAD Reply

Not sure of the score, but in light of USF being better than FIU, Tulane, Army and UConn and our offensive line being horrid in each of those games, this should be a USF win by a decent margin. There is nothing to suggest our OL will be any better having not seen an iota of improvement, esp re pass protection, through the first 7 weeks. As always, I hope I'm wrong.

Posted on 10/28 2:23 PM

Re: THE OFFICIAL RUTGERS vs. S. FLORIDA PREDICTION THREAD Reply

Probably Dodd, but it doesn't matter because I expect both Dodd and Savage to play. It wouldn't surprise me if Savage get's more reps then Dodd and leads this team back to a win and also starts the next game for us. Wouldn't surprise me one bit.

bELieve in 52

Posted on 10/28 2:25 PM

Re: THE OFFICIAL RUTGERS vs. S. FLORIDA PREDICTION THREAD Reply

To make it 4 in a row:

USF = 17

RU = 31

New Jersey No Mercy

Posted on 10/28 2:26 PM

Re: THE OFFICIAL RUTGERS vs. S. FLORIDA PREDICTION THREAD Reply

USF - 27

RU - 17

USF showed me something last week. RU has not shown anything all season. Going on the road in the middle of the week is not an ideal situation for RU (despite the 10 day break).

If this were at home, I would probably favor RU by three. USF has not proven themselves on the road EVER at the end of the season.

Posted on 10/28 3:28 PM

Re: THE OFFICIAL RUTGERS vs. S. FLORIDA PREDICTION THREAD Reply

RU 100

USF 0

Posted on 10/28 3:40 PM

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CONTINUED FROM ABOVE REPLY;

Re: THE OFFICIAL RUTGERS vs. S. FLORIDA PREDICTION THREAD Reply

KnightSweats, Com'on man. It's good to keep this thread absent of kool-aide, rose colored glasses and negatoid BS.

What do you think?

New Jersey No Mercy

Posted on 10/28 3:44 PM

Re: THE OFFICIAL RUTGERS vs. S. FLORIDA PREDICTION THREAD Reply

    Originally posted by MozRU:

    KnightSweats, Com'on man. It's good to keep this thread absent of kool-aide, rose colored glasses and negatoid BS.

    What do you think?

I have no idea what to think on this one. It's not Schiano vs. Levitt. I have my doubts that the o-line is going to be worlds better than what we've seen in the course of 10 days, but if they are at least functional, and the D holds up, we could pull it out. But it would be an upset.

RU 17

USF 28

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MORE OF THE ABOVE;

Rivals says USF over Rutgers 20-17 Reply

First prediction I saw so far for this game.

THE BUZZ: Neither team has looked all that good; then again, they're in the Big East, so they fit right in with the rest of their conference brethren in that regard. USF's offense came alive in its last game. Was that because of the opponent (Cincinnati) or because everything finally has clicked? Rutgers is having all sorts of problems offensively, especially along the line. But the defense has done a good job of keeping things close.

THE LINE: TBD. THE PICK: USF 20-17

I actually agree with the score...I just think we win 20-17. I think we give Daniels a tough time and we sneak a victory out. I think alot will depend on what kind of USF offense we see. Hopefully last week was a fluke and that they don't have their offense back just yet.Either way I expect this game to be very close.

If we lose, a bowl game this year might not happen, especially with the remaining schedule.

Link: USF 20-17

Posted on 10/28 12:06 PM

Re: Rivals says USF over Rutgers 20-17 Reply

I have a sneaking feeling we win this one pretty easily....offense will look a little better....defense will be fired up after some extra rest, and special teams will score one. I guess 27 - 13. We're really not that bad a team...we just need to put the pieces together. A little extra time this week will pay off IMO.

Posted on 10/28 12:20 PM

Re: Rivals says USF over Rutgers 20-17 Reply

I like the analysis as it basically goes hand-in-hand with what some posters here have been trying to say - the OTHER teams in the BE, aside from Pitt, SUCK right now - don't let results from them playing each other fool you (they're NOT fooling anybody else...).

BIG E - KEEP CHOPPIN' #52 - A (SCARLET)NATION IS BEHIND YOU!!!

Posted on 10/28 12:47 PM

Re: Rivals says USF over Rutgers 20-17 Reply

    Originally posted by AreYouNUTS:

    I like the analysis as it basically goes hand-in-hand with what some posters here have been trying to say - the OTHER teams in the BE, aside from Pitt, SUCK right now - don't let results from them playing each other fool you (they're NOT fooling anybody else...).

Well Syracuse certainly fooled me and I'm sure others too by beating WVU at WVU and dominating them in almost every aspect of the game.

bELieve in 52

Posted on 10/28 2:28 PM

Re: Rivals says USF over Rutgers 20-17 Reply

Nuts - what does that have to do with anything. Its not like we played a murders row and lost close ones, and look bad because of that. We ARE bad. USF is less bad. Therefore we will likely lose. I mean Sagarin has this as a TD game. So rivals is 4 points more favorable because they "aren't being fooled". They still think we lose to a team they think is a bad team.

Posted on 10/28 2:34 PM

Knightmoves

Re: Rivals says USF over Rutgers 20-17 Reply

I'm thinking that a 20-17 loss at USF will be our best game of the season to date.

Posted on 10/28 3:13 PM

Re: Rivals says USF over Rutgers 20-17 Reply

    Originally posted by derleider:

    Nuts - what does that have to do with anything. Its not like we played a murders row and lost close ones, and look bad because of that. We ARE bad. USF is less bad. Therefore we will likely lose. I mean Sagarin has this as a TD game. So rivals is 4 points more favorable because they "aren't being fooled". They still think we lose to a team they think is a bad team.

Read their comment about the rest of the Big East before you go jumping all over me in an effort to infict everybody else with your manic depression. Yikes. rolleyes

USF SUCKS.

Cinci SUCKS.

WVU SUCKS.

'Cuse SUCKS.

'Ville SUCKS.

UConn SUCKS.

We SUCK.

Get it now? Those teams ALL HAVE HUGE FLAWS, and we can beat every one of them, or not of them, so move on for crying out loud. Yet ANOTHER thread infested by a negatoid. Unreal.

This post was edited on 10/28 3:18 PM

BIG E - KEEP CHOPPIN' #52 - A (SCARLET)NATION IS BEHIND YOU!!!

Posted on 10/28 3:15 PM