“On the foot of Jeremy Ito.”
You know it. You heard it here first.
So, now what?
Well, there’s a few things on the list…heads catching on fire, West Virginia, the big picture and keeping Greg Schiano in town. We’ll tackle them, in order.
First…I think a record was set last night. There had to be more hair care products in Rutgers Stadium than any other football game in history. I know that stuff is flammable, so if they decide to burn down the town like they do in Morgantown, W.Va…we could see a lot of flaming Jersey blowouts.
Next…West Virginia on December 2. There’s no reason Rutgers can’t win this game. They proved to everyone they can run and play defense with the best of them and get the job done through the air when necessary. The receivers have to make the critical third down catches though, way too many important drops against Louisville.
If Rutgers runs the table, will they make the national championship game? No. We were wondering whether Louisville could just two weeks ago and the Cardinals started the year on the bubble of the Top 10. The Scarlet Knights just have no chance. Texas, the SEC champion (assuming it has one loss), Southern California/Cal, and Notre Dame could all snub Rutgers. I know that’s painful to hear, but that’s the truth. It’s a flawed system, and we’ll see just how flawed if Rutgers does run the table. There’s just no possible way they’d have a shot at the winner of Michigan/Ohio State.
Most importantly, I’d argue, is keeping Schiano in Piscataway. About 10 minutes after the game ended, my buddy Nick dropped me a line asking me what I thought about that situation. Well, the sexy choice is Miami, but then there’s Penn State, where he started his coaching career in the ’90s.
Nick asks, “What if Rutgers offers him an extension the same amount?” No pressure, if he averages 8-win seasons from here on out, he’ll go down a legend, they’ll rename everything after him. But, what about the challenge? Anything less than a BCS bowl at Miami or Penn State is unacceptable. Competitors need the drive.
I see one of two things happening:
1. He leaves. I think the situation in Miami makes it more feasable for him to coach there. Nobody really knows what’s going on in State College behind closed doors.
2. He gets an extension, builds the program for a few years and then leaves to the job of his choice.
There’s no doubt the man can coach. I don’t think he will spend the rest of his life in Jersey. The allure of Miami might be enough to get him out this year, so I am going to stick with option one.
However, there’s no denying what Rutgers accomplished on Thursday night. It’s the biggest win in school history. Kudos to everyone down that way, enjoy the time in the sun.
Sometimes it comes every 137 years.
Mark La Monica wonders who has the most juice in New Jersey in Newsday's Keyboard Quarterbacks blog.
Comments (8)
I think you are wrong about him leaving. He's the governor of NJ now. If he goes to Penn State he always be "Joe Pa junior" and if he goes to Miami he'll be the number 3 program in the state of Florida.
Great call on the field winning you should thank the kid from Louisville being offsides.
You have to be kidding me, Rutgers in the BCS Bowl, first they have to play real division IA teams not wanabes. Who ever ranked Louisville #3 should've had there heads examined. What are they going to do if they have to play real top ranked teams like USC, Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, Notre Dame, etc. The Big East is nothing but a glorified IAA Division. Rutgers is having a great year and the football program is have one of the best seasons in the schools history. Maybe if they keep up the good recruiting, in ten years, just maybe they will be able to compete with the nationaly ranked teams. The BSC should have a power rating system, based on the the teams you play. The tougher the team the higher the point value, the weaker the team the lower the point value.
First on Schiano: He is building a house right on campus so you know he's staying. He's a Jersey guy. People who like Jersey, never seem to leave Jersey.
And to Pearlman's post: I watch a heckuva lot of college football. There is one team Rutgers would be over-matched against: Ohio State (and I write this knowing that Rutgers blew the doors off of an Illinois team that almost shocked Ohio State). Rutgers can beat Florida, Texas, and USC on any neutral field and don't even make me laugh about Notre Dame - Rutgers would stomp them.
Why would Schiano leave Rutgers, and for Miami of all places? Miami has no class, and never will. It should just rename itself the Florida Penitentiary Academy. Besides, their fans want the coach fired when they lose three games in a season. Penn State? Another 1970's has-been program. People think they know college fottball, and spout nonsense such as "Big East is a 1AA conference" and "Notre Dame is better than RU" are only kidding themselves, and are only sad because they had to root for Hofstra or St Johns all their college lives.
Hey Desert Cat you must be kidding me. You may have "Watched" a lot of football, but I played Division I football for five years. Rutgers wouldn't know how to handle the pressure against a real major football program, not the Big East.
I'm still curious to know what a real "major" program is? Miami is a major program. Florida State is a major program. Penn State is a major program. Pearlman, are you telling me Rutgers couldn't beat them? Oh, and maybe it's good they are not a "major" program. Their players ranked 4th in Division 1A academically. Not bad for a program that is not major, doesn't have convicts, and doesn't behave like animals.
Desert Cat you sure know your football. In order to beat Penn State, Florida, USC & even Notre Dame you have to be able to beat Cinn, not get blown out by 20 points. A major college football program is a program that averages over 50,000 fans per game. I do believe their being ranked 16th was a gift. Be thankfull that Pat White wasn't playing for WVA last Saturday.