Rutgers Scouting

[FatDaddyBull]

Hey Rutgers fan, if you want to point to anything historically as meaning jack to the game, only the last two years are relevant really. Brand new staff and players-the beauty of college football. Games with Matt Grothe, George Selvie and Jim Leavitt really have nothing to do with this year...

If you think USF didn't choke themselves out of the game last year (Bonani) you must've had too much hair gel and spray tan in your eyes. And USF won the year before. Rutgers has played St Mary's All Girl School in the first two games, so let's wait to declare them the 85 Bears for now.

Edited September 12, 2012 by FatDaddyBull

[NCBull]

Spray tan...funny!!

Bulls win by 3 in a squeaker; Bonani redeems himself.

[BULLZ]

man I can't wait till we kill rutgirls so I don't have to hear any more of this troll crap. Rattling off stats about rutgers defense after playing two patsies. troll on a Howard board at least u can talk smack there.

"hey guys rutgers have a top 10 def this year, o wait u haven't played anyone"

"hey guys we have a the fastest u 17 bla bla bla in the world, wanna cookie"

"hey guys you aren't scoring more than 16 on this defense, even though Tulane high school put up 12 on us"

Go get a spray tan or something.

Edited September 12, 2012 by Bullsfan11

[feardabull]

Wasn't Jamison the RB last year, too??? And how many rushing yards did Rutgers have against us???

Let's just say it'll be safe to assume they will eclipse that mark from last year. Cuz if they don't, this game will not be close.

Edited September 12, 2012 by feardabull

[blitz8ru]

Rutgers hoping to bring block party to Tampa

http://blogs.mycentr...party-to-tampa/

TAMPA, Fla. — A day after having a hand in one of the two punt blocks Rutgers recorded in its win over Howard last Saturday, Wayne Warren checked to see how former Scarlet Knights skipper Greg Schiano fared with his new team.

He noticed that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers not only emerged victorious in their season opener against Carolina, they prevailed thanks to a blocked punt.

“Crazy,’’ Warren said, shaking his head in disbelief a few days after the fact. But the more Rutgers’ fifth-year senior thought about it, it wasn’t crazy at all that Schiano’s former and current teams registered punt blocks on consecutive days.

“Honestly I want to say it’s the system,’’ Warren said. “We have some really great special teams coaches. They draw up some great things, and the techniques that they preach are unbelievable. We just believe in them 100 percent and we go out and execute them. I really think that plays a big part in it.’’

To take it a step further, consider Rutgers special teams coach Joe Rossi learned under Scarlet Knights defensive coordinator Robb Smith during his previous coaching gig at Maine, and Smith spent the previous three seasons scheming the specialty units under Schiano at Rutgers.

In other words, credit the Schiano-installed system that Smith made better and Rossi has taken to another level for why Rutgers leads the nation with 26 blocked kicks since 2009.

“Once coach Smith got here, we started blocking punts,’’ Warren said. “And then coach Rossi just picked it up from him. I think the system definitely plays a part in it.’’

Rossi, however, credits the players he recruits to play the specialty roles for executing the system.

“We’re often getting guys coming in and saying, ‘Hey, coach, what can I do to get on special teams?’ I just tell them they have to go out and perform,’’ Rossi said earlier this summer. “We’re committed to playing the best players on special teams. So if guys show they’re the best then they’ll have an opportunity to play on Saturdays on special teams.’’

Or Thursday night games like the one Rutgers will stage against the University of South Florida here at Raymond James Stadium tonight. Following his most recent win, Rutgers coach Kyle Flood called blocking a kick – whether it’s of the punt or place-kicker variety – a weekly goal.

“I think the fact we’re going to come after (the punter) is not a secret,’’ Flood said.

“I think people turn on our film, they see that. We’re open about it. We’re aggressive. We’re a block team; we’re not a return team. We’re going to try to block it every game.

“It’s something we spend a lot of time on. Generally if you spend a lot of time on it, you have good people coaching it like we do here with coach Rossi, coach Smith, you hope to get good results. We’ve been fortunate to get good results. The players have done a great job embracing the coaching they’ve been given and then going out and executing it on game-day.’’

Heading into Thursday night’s Big East opener, the Scarlet Knights are 2-for-2 on that weekly quest thanks to Isaac Holmes’ blocked extra point in the season opener and blocked punts by Warren and Miles Shuler in last Saturday’s win over Howard.

“You just have to have the will and the want-to,’’ said Warren, who has now blocked a punt in every season since 2010. “If you go out with the mindset that you’re going to block that punt, then nine times out of 10 you’re going to have success. We work at it, and when you practice it a lot it becomes a habit. You become successful at it. I think that’s the key part of it for me.’’

Edited September 13, 2012 by blitz8ru

[blitz8ru]

http://www.tampabay....scarlet/1251170

QB B.J. Daniels leads South Florida Bulls into showdown with Big East nemesis Rutgers Scarlet Knights

TAMPA — USF quarterback B.J. Daniels enters tonight's Big East opener with a surge of momentum, having thrown for three touchdowns in each of his games. That matches his best two-game total of his four seasons.

But the Bulls' opponent tonight, Rutgers, has given Daniels all kinds of trouble. In three games, Daniels has just a single one-point win, has completed fewer than half his passes, totaled three touchdowns and averaged just 176 yards of offense.

"It's not just what they do to B.J. It's what they do to everybody," Bulls coach Skip Holtz said. "There's a reason they're the No. 1 defense in the league."

Rutgers, first in the Big East last season in total defense and scoring defense, has done it with an aggressive, attacking unit that starts with a blur of presnap sleight of hand, moving players around like a shell game with helmets to make it difficult for quarterbacks to find the right audible.

"I always call them crazy. They do a lot of different things; try to confuse the offense, the offensive line, especially the quarterback," Daniels said. "There's a lot of moving parts. You have to make sure you're focused and dialed in on what you're supposed to do … not get caught up in all the moving parts of their defense."

Even in his fourth start against them, Daniels will be challenged to keep his poise against the Scarlet Knights, who have maintained their identity on defense despite losing coach Greg Schiano to the Bucs in January.

"They're very blitz-oriented, very movement-oriented. They try to cause confusion," USF offensive coordinator Todd Fitch said. "They're doing a lot of the same things over and over and over, but they try to window dress it. It creates a blur, and sometimes, that causes confusion. You have to have ways to settle the quarterback down. Your quarterback has to feel really good about what's going on around him."

To top it off, USF faces Rutgers on a short week, having gotten home from its game at Nevada about 3 a.m. Sunday morning. (Rutgers beat I-AA Howard at home Saturday.)

Fitch called this week "one of the most challenging things I've been through in coaching." He's trying to give Daniels a full understanding of what Rutgers does to throw him off from the correct reads.

Daniels' first start against Rutgers was a 31-0 loss, USF's first regular-season shutout. Rutgers used a "spy," designating one player to focus on him. Daniels completed just seven passes and gained 11 yards on 16 carries. A year later, he threw two touchdowns in a one-point win but gained 15 yards on eight carries.

Last season, even after USF gave up a 14-point lead in the fourth, Daniels broke loose for a 30-yard run on the final drive before a missed field goal as time expired sent the game to overtime, where USF lost. Daniels, who completed a season-low 41 percent of his throws in that game, was intercepted on a deflected pass in overtime.

"Definitely, they have (used a spy) in the past, especially with a lot of the zone-read things we've done," Daniels said. "But … I don't think it's anything that will take us out of what we do."

The deep ball had a starring performance Saturday at Nevada, including two 50-yard touchdowns over the final three minutes as the Bulls erased an 11-point deficit. A big-play threat is crucial to keep Rutgers from stacking the line of scrimmage.

"We have not been able to take advantage of them down the field," Holtz said. "If they want to cheat a safety in to get another guy into the box, we have to give our receivers an opportunity to go one-on-one and go down the field; with speed with guys like (Derrick) Hopkins and Terrence Mitchell and jump-ball ability with guys like Andre Davis and D'Vario Montgomery and Deonte Welch."

Rutgers coach Kyle Flood, formerly the team's offensive line coach, knows the threats Daniels presents and said any mistakes can show up on the scoreboard.

"I think what you see from B.J. is an even better version of what he already was, which is a guy that played at a high level," Flood said. "It will be a great challenge. I think you have to be ready to play good, sound defense every play because he's got the ability to expose you on defense every time he has the ball in his hands."

Schiano's pulling for …

Sure, it's a big game tonight as USF hosts Rutgers. But the big question: Who will new Bucs coach, and former Rutgers coach, Greg Schiano be rooting for? "I'm pulling for Rutgers. Those are my guys." Schiano said he hopes to get over to Raymond James Stadium for the game.

Joe Smith, Times staff writer

Edited September 13, 2012 by blitz8ru

[CousinRicky]

As far as Schiano pulling for R U, you have to respect him for that. It is a little awkward playing in the same stadium as USF, but these ARE his kids. He recruited all of them. How can he not wish the best for them? Would like to see him go shake Skip's hand and wish him well also. But if he gets in late, as he expects, he won't have that chance until afterwards.

[GaUSFBull]

No one should blame Schiano for pulling for Rutgers.