R! U! A Rutgers NCAA '09 Dynasty
 

from wikipedia

Rutgers University is the State University of New Jersey. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights participate in NCAA Division I FBS American football. Rutgers University beat Princeton University in the first intercollegiate game ever played in 1869.

Despite being the "Birthplace of College Football" and sharing the 1869 national championship with Princeton University in the first year of intercollegiate play, Rutgers has not had an overly successful heritage in the sport through the years.

Especially in the last three decades, Rutgers was regarded as one of the worst teams in Division I-A (now FBS), posting several losing seasons in a row and raising discussion of possibly reducing the team to Division I-AA (now Division I FCS) competition. For most of its existence, the football team was not associated with any formal football conference and remained independent even when the first football leagues were forming. At present, Rutgers participates in Division I FBS and is a member of the Big East Conference (since 1991).

In this dynasty, I'll be chronicling my attempts to bring the Big East crown to New Brunswick, New Jersey, and someday toppling the giants of NCAA football to win the Scarlet Knights a national championship.

I'm hoping that this lasts, and since my online league has been slow to start due to game bugs and slowly released patched, it just might. Add in the fact that my online play has been riddled with disconnects, this could potentially be my only NCAA league. If the online league picks up and my router stops giving me problems, I'll start a new dynasty for that team.

Anyway, let's get on with some housekeeping.

2006:

2006 was what many people consider to be a breakout season for Rutgers. Led by Draddy Trophy winning senior Fullback Brian Leonard, Sophomore Quarterback Mike Teel, Sophomore Halfback Ray Rice, Sophomore Wide Receiver Tiquan Underwood, Junior defensive tackle Eric Foster, and Junior kicker Jeremy Ito, Rutgers finished 12th in the nation, won eleven of thirteen games, and won the first bowl game in school history.

They started off the season going undefeated through nine, including a dramatic win over then-3rd ranked Louisville highlighted by kicker Jeremy Ito's last minute field goal to seal the win. They were defeated by both West Virginia and Cincinnati, but nonetheless received an invitation to play Kansas State in the inaugural Texas Bowl.

Rutgers defeated Kansas State 37-10 to win the first bowl game in school history. Halfback Ray Rice was named the game's MVP and ran for 170 yards and one touchdown in twenty four carries. Because of his tremendous 2006 season, in which he ran for 1794 yards and scored twenty touchdowns, Rice won Big East Player of the Year honors. He also finished seventh in Heisman Trophy votings and was a finalist for the Maxwell Award.

2007:

For the first time in almost two decades, the Rutgers football team entered a season with tremendous expectations. The team began the season ranked 16th in both the AP and USA TODAY polls, the first time the school has been ranked to begin a season.

However, a couple disappointing losses early on to Maryland and Cincinnati, then later losses to West Virginia, UConn, and Lousiville left the Scarlet Knights with an 8-5 record.

An invitation to the International Bowl, and a 52-30 win there capped off a decent 2007 campaign for Rutgers.

2008-Present:

Here I'll keep a tab of how I did each season.

2008: 6-6, Loss in International Bowl
2009: 9-3, Win in Brut Sun Bowl
2010: 7-5, Loss in Champs Sports Bowl
2011: 9-3, Win in Champs Sports Bowl
2012: 12-1, Loss in ACC Championship, Loss in Chick-fil-A Bowl
2013: 10-2, Loss in Gator Bowl
2014: 9-3, Loss in Humanitarian Bowl
2015: 11-2, ACC Champions, Win in Orange Bowl
2016: 12-1, ACC Champions, Loss in Orange Bowl
2017: 13-0, ACC Champions, BCS National Champions
2018:

Starter
Redshirting


#19 Jack Corcoran. 6'1", 230 lbs. JR. 76 OVR
#37 Andres Morales. 6'2", 260 lbs. SO(RS). 73 OVR
#39 Jourdan Brooks. 6'1", 255 lbs. FR(RS). 71 OVR

Outlook:

We still miss Brian Leonard. We probably won't see anyone that special at this position again, but it looks like this spot will have a decent player for the next few years.

Starter
Redshirting


#7 Tiquan Underwood. 6'2", 180 lbs. SR. 88 OVR
#88 Kenny Britt. 6'4", 205 lbs. JR. 87 OVR
#2 Tim Brown. 5'8", 160 lbs. JR. 81 OVR
#5 Dennis Campbell. 5'9", 180 lbs. JR(RS). 79 OVR
#83 Keith Stroud. 6'5", 190 lbs. FR. 75 OVR
#80 Keith Taylor. 6'4", 190 lbs. SR(RS). 75 OVR
#18 Julian Hayes. 6'2", 205 lbs. SO(RS). 74 OVR
#17 Timothy Wright. 6'4", 205 lbs. FR. 73 OVR
#85 Malcolm Johnson. 6'1", 170 lbs. FR. 67 OVR


Outlook:

I would say that this is our strength for this upcoming season. This is Underwood's last season and we're definitely going to miss him. Tim Brown is a very, very small kid but is incredibly fast. He'll be the slot receiver and help us out immensely. Britt is the tall guy outside and we'll try to get him the deep ball often. Stroud and Wright are our promising recruits who will redshirt this year and hopefully become what the Underwood/Britt tandem was to us in the future.

Starter
Redshirting


#89 Kevin Brock. 6'5", 245 lbs. SR(RS). 75 OVR
#3 Shamar Graves. 6'3", 230 lbs. SO(RS). 74 OVR
#82 Jeff Minemyer. 6'7", 260 lbs. SO(RS). 67 OVR

Outlook:

No standout players here. Graves looks like the future starter, and I like his speed but he lacks to height I like to see in a tight end. Minemyer clearly isn't as polished but he's a big red zone target. I want to try and use all three of these guys when we're close to the end zone.

Starter
Redshirting

Left Tackle

#75 Anthony Davis. 6'6", 325 lbs. SO. 80 OVR
#73 Desmond Stapleton. 6'5", 320 lbs. FR(RS). 72 OVR

Left Guard

#78 Kevin Haslam. 6'7", 280 lbs. JR(RS). 82 OVR
#76 Mo Lange. 6'7", 315 lbs. SO(RS). 76 OVR
#68 Keith Newell. 6'6", 290 lbs. FR(RS). 74 OVR

Center

#61 Ryan Blasczyk. 6'4", 285 lbs. JR(RS). 78 OVR
#62 Marlon Romulus. 6'3", 285 lbs. SO(RS). 76 OVR

Right Guard

#60 Caleb Ruch. 6'4", 290 lbs. FR(RS). 76 OVR
#74 Howard Barbieri. 6'5", 290 lbs. SO(RS). 73 OVR

Right Tackle

#70 Mike Gilmartin. 6'5", 290 lbs. SR(RS). 82 OVR
#69 Art Forst. 6'8", 290 lbs. FR. 75 OVR
#79 Richard Muldrow. 6'6", 300 lbs. FR(RS). 73 OVR

Outlook:

I certainly don't like the fact that three new starters will be on the line, but we'll have to make do with what we have for right now. Davis has the job at LT until he declares or graduates, and Art Forst looks like he can handle RT after his redshirt year. Caleb Ruch looks okay at RG, but LG and C look like needs to me.

Starter
Redshirting

Left End

#99 Jonathan Freeney. 6'3", 230 lbs. SO. 80 OVR
#93 Desmond Wynn. 6'6", 260 lbs. FR(RS). 76 OVR
#45 Alex Silvestro. 6'4", 230 lbs. SO. 76 OVR

Defensive Tackle

#90 Jamal Westerman. 6'3", 260 lbs. SR(RS). 85 OVR
#97 Peter Tverdov. 6'4", 265 lbs. JR. 79 OVR
#98 Vantrise Sturdivant. 6'8", 270 lbs. SR. 77 OVR
#95 Wayne Thomas. 6'5", 280 lbs. FR(RS). 77 OVR
#67 Scott Vallone. 6'3", 260 lbs. FR. 76 OVR
#55 Jamiel Farrington. 6'2", 240 lbs. FR(RS). 70 OVR

Right End

#92 Gary Watts. 6'3", 245 lbs. SR. 83 OVR
#31 George Johnson. 6'4", 250 lbs. JR. 80 OVR


Outlook:

Left end looks pretty set for us. Freeney will be the starter for the next three seasons and his backups look good enough. At DT, our three top players are JR's or SR's. I'm hoping Thomas and the redshirting Vallone will improve enough to become starters in a year or two. At right end, we have two older players and we're definitely going to focus there in recruiting.

Starter
Redshirting

Left Outside Linebacker

#48 Blair Bines. 6'2", 245 lbs. JR. 82 OVR
#17 Damaso Munoz. 6'0", 210 lbs. JR(RS). 75 OVR
#53 Jim Dumont. 6'1", 215 lbs. SO(RS). 69 OVR

Middle Linebacker

#44 Ryan D'Imperio. 6'3", 235 lbs. JR. 85 OVR
#50 Antonio Lowery. 6'2", 220 lbs. SO. 76 OVR
#56 Eric Legrand. 6'2", 240 lbs. FR. 72 OVR

Right Outside Linebacker

#34 Kevin Malast. 6'2", 236 lbs. SR. 84 OVR
#51 Manny Abreu. 6'3", 220 lbs. FR(RS). 82 OVR


Outlook:

Manny Abreu will sit for one more year, but he looks like he's going to be a very solid player when he takes the starting job next year. Not sure about Legrand. If he has some solid training camps he could potentially be the future starter but I'm going to focus some recruiting time there. At LOLB, Bines will hold down the spot for the next two seasons but I'm definitely in need of a new recruit there.

Starter
Redshirting

#25 Jason McCourty. 5'11", 185 lbs. SR. 82 OVR
#21 Devin McCourty. 5'11", 180 lbs. JR(RS). 80 OVR
#35 Billy Anderson. 6'0", 180 lbs. JR(RS). 73 OVR
#30 Brandon Bing. 5'11", 160 lbs. SO. 71 OVR
#41 Al-Majid Hutchins. 5'11", 180 lbs. FR(RS). 69 OVR
#40 David Rowe. 5'10", 195 lbs. FR. 67 OVR


Outlook:

I'm actually pretty worried about the cornerback situation. With one of the twins leaving after this year, his brother will be the number one. He doesn't have anyone to start across the field from him, though. I'm going to need to land a top recruit or else the pass defense will be a huge weak spot for us in the future.

Starter
Redshirting

Free Safeties

#36 Courtney Greene. 6'2", 210 lbs. SR. 91 OVR
#20 Davon Smart. 5'10", 190 lbs. JR(RS). 73 OVR

Strong Safeties

#6 Glen Lee. 6'2", 195 lbs. SR. 87 OVR
#26 Joe Lefeged. 6'3", 195 lbs. SO. 78 OVR
#84 Morgan Carter. 6'3", 215 lbs. FR. 70 OVR


Outlook:

Courtney Greene is our elite player on defense, and losing him after this season is going to be tough. Losing Lee as well will make it worse. I like Lefeged and think he can take over the starting job, but FS is a big need.

Starter
Redshirting

Kickers

#12 San San Te. 5'9", 165 lbs. FR(RS). 74 OVR

Punters

#93 Teddy Delleganna. 6'2", 190 lbs. SO(RS). 81 OVR


Outlook:

These guys will do for now.

Pipeline:

Our pipeline states are NJ, NY, PA, and FL. Recruiting in Florida is always tough, considering we are competing with the Gators and Seminoles. NJ is ours, and our main competitors for recruits are Syracuse and Pittsburgh in our pipeline states. West Virginia is also a major competitor for recruits.

Major Needs:

Free Safety: With Green graduating after this season and Smart strictly a backup, I'm gonna need a youngster capable of starting quickly.

Cornerback: One of the McCourty's is leaving, the other will be around for one more year. Other than that, we have no starting material. Our pass defense is in rough shape after this season.

Center: I'd really like to upgrade here. Not a glamorous position but the running game could be in trouble with a poor o-line and below average RB's.

Running Back: Okay, maybe not a huge hole, but I want to focus on the running game and the guys we have don't look like anything special.

Minor Needs:

Outside Linebacker: I have two juniors who could handle starting duties, but after that I have no one. I have two years to fill this spot but I'd like to get one this year and redshirt him.

Defensive End: I have a Senior who's graduating and a JR who will take over next year, but need a youngster to redshirt and eventually take over the job.

Recruiting:

Things went pretty well this week. I offered a scholarship the the remaining players and also scheduled some visits with 5 players:

RB Mills: Week 8 (UConn)
DE Goodwin: Week 11 (Syracuse)
DT Williams: Week 5 (FCS East)
OLB Hamby: Week 8 (UConn)
FS Clarke: Week 13 (Army)

WEEK TWO TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Courtney Bowers, PA: *** (#3)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

Fresno State (37) at Rutgers (20)

Damn it. Not the way I wanted to start the year. Gave up a ton of passing yards (394). They exposed the pass defense that I was worried about, and it's not getting better anytime soon.

Our passing game was solid, with Britt and Underwood having good games. Our QB Teel was okay, but threw an INT.

The running game wasn't special. With Young getting the bulk of the carries, he ran the ball 15 times for 62 yards. I'd like to get Robinson more carries.

They outgained us on offense 532 yards to 335 yards.

Going 3-10 on 3rd down didn't help us either. Ugh.

Recruiting:

I'm still feeling fairly confident so far. We invited 6 more players to campus for a visit, two of which will be visiting this week.

RB Mitchell: Week 8 (UConn)
C Hayes: Week 3 (North Carolina)
DE Wade: Week 11 (Syracuse)
DT Brown: Week 5 (FCS East)
DT Page: Week 8 (UConn)
ATH Hall: Week 3 (North Carolina)


WEEK THREE TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Courtney Bowers, PA: *** (#3)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

North Carolina (30) at Rutgers (37)

Nice! First win of the year against a deceptively tough UNC team.

Mike Teel led the passing attack with 249 yards through the air. Going 19 for 26, he has two TD passes.

The running game was much better. Young carried the ball 13 times for 85 yards. However, an injury will leave us without him for next week against Navy. But, after Robinson's 7.1 YPC game today, I'm not worried. He carried the ball only 6 times, but picked up 43 yards. His longest run was 9 yards, which shows me it wasn't luck but consistently good running.

Tiquan Underwood picked up 168 yards through the air and really dominated the UNC secondary.

On defense, our starting DE Watts picked up 2 sacks. San San Te, our kicker, went 3 for 3 on the day.

Recruiting:

Let's see what our two invited players thought about their visits last week.

C Hayes: Week 3 (North Carolina) B+

ATH Hall: Week 3 (North Carolina) B-

We invited another 5 players to visit this week, this time all visiting in Week 5 when we play an FCS team.

QB Cox
TE Young
G Ray
DE Carroll
CB Austin

WEEK FOUR TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Courtney Bowers, PA: *** (#3)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

Rutgers (31) at Navy (30)

Wow. What a game this was. Navy came out to an early lead in the first quarter, but then 10 points in the second quarter put us ahead.

Finally, up 31-24, Navy scored a TD with one second left. Rather than kick a XP for the tie, they went for the two-point conversion.

They didn't make it!

Incredible game. I think Mason Robinson won the starting job as well. With Young out for this game, Robinson carried the load with 22 carries for 170 yards.

Mike Teel went 11 for 16 for 169 yards and 2 TD's. Underwood picked up 95 yards through the air.

Our defense was fairly boring...no sacks or INT's.

Recruiting:

This is a huge week for us, with eight players visiting us. Along with the five players listed last week, three new players were invited to this week's game.

SS Arnold
FS Richardson
CB House

WEEK FIVE TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Courtney Bowers, PA: *** (#3)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

FCS (3) at Rutgers (42)

Obviously a game we expected to win, but we got it done.

Teel went 23 for 31 with 311 yards and 3 TD passes. Robinson and Young did well, with each running for over 90 yards. Tiquan Underwood continues to play well, with 178 yards receiving this week. Our DT Westerman picked up 2 sacks, as well.

Recruiting:

Let's see how our visits went last week:

SS Arnold: B+
FS Richardson: B
CB House: B
QB Cox: B+
TE Young: B+
G Ray: B+
DE Carroll: B+
CB Austin: B+
DT Brown: B
DT Williams: B-

I guess that's pretty good. We also invited two more recruits.

ATH Henderson: Week 8 (UConn)
OLB Adams: Week 8 (UConn)

In general, we're looking pretty good. Most of our need positions have a 3 or 4 star player who has us 1st. We just have to keep it up and make sure we keep reminding them we're here.

WEEK SIX TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Courtney Bowers, PA: *** (#3)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

Rutgers (25) at #4 West Virginia (42)

Well, I knew this was going to be a tough game but didn't think we would get blown out.

Their running game is really all there is to talk about. Their RB, Devine, picked up 198 yard on the ground. Our running game was terrible.

That's all there really is to it.

Recruiting:

Only one invite this week.

OLB Alvarez: Week 8 (UConn)

Still looking solid. Hopefully some guys will start committing soon.

WEEK SEVEN TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Courtney Bowers, PA: *** (#3)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

Rutgers (20) at Cincinnati (46)

Wow. Cincinnati is a tough team, but 17 carries for 12 yards tough? I don't think so. Our running game was AWFUL today. Losing our starting left guard for the season did more damage than I expected. Passing game was okay, but running less than 1 YPC is just unacceptable.

Recruiting:

Big week for visits. We have eight players coming onto the campus.

RB Mills
RB Mitchell
DT Page
OLB Alvarez
OLB Adams
OLB Hamby
ATH Henderson
RB Martin

WEEK EIGHT TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Courtney Bowers, PA: *** (#3)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

UConn (26) at Rutgers (23)

Well that sucked.

After going up 10-0 to start the game, UConn scored 13 in the 2nd quarter and we could never catch up. Again, our passing game was solid but the running game was less than spectacular.

We lost our starting DE to injury as well, so we won't see him for the next few weeks.

Recruiting:

No new visits scheduled, but let's see how we did last week.

RB Mills: B
RB Mitchell: B-
DT Page: C
OLB Alvarez: B-
OLB Adams: B-
OLB Hamby: B-
ATH Henderson: B
RB Martin: B-

WEEK NINE TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

Rutgers (17) at #17 Pittsburgh (34)

With the way we've been playing, I wasn't expecting a win here.

For the first time though, our passing game was really bad. Teel threw 3 INT's which killed our hopes. Two sacks on defense made me feel better about that side of the ball, but this season has been incredibly disappointing.

Recruiting:

No new visits scheduled, no commits. Boring week.

WEEK TEN TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

BYE

We're ten weeks into the NCAA season, and you may be surprised to see who tops the NCAA rankings. Here are the Top 25 through ten weeks of college football.

Top 25

#1. Wisconsin (9-0)
#2. South Carolina (9-0)
#3. West Virginia (8-0)
#4. BYU (9-0)
#5. Pittsburgh (8-0)
#6. Florida (7-1)
#7. Ohio St. (8-1)
#8. Georgia (7-2)
#9. Arizona St. (7-1)
#10. Texas Tech (8-1)
#11. Oklahoma (8-1)
#12. Virginia Tech (7-1)
#13. Boston College (7-1)
#14. Virginia (8-1)
#15. LSU (6-3)
#16. Auburn (7-2)
#17. Missouri (7-2)
#18. Texas (6-3)
#19. Alabama (7-2)
#20. Tennessee (6-3)
#21. USC (5-3)
#22. Cincinnati (6-1)
#23. Illinois (6-3)
#24. Clemson (5-3)
#25. Maryland (7-1)

Race for the Heisman Trophy:

QB Graham Harrell. SR(RS). Texas Tech

3642 yards. 45 TD's. 8 INT's.

QB Chase Daniel. SR. Missouri

2465 yards. 36 TD's. 2 INT's.

WR Kyle Jefferson. SO(RS). Wisconsin

60 receptions. 780 yards. 14 TD's.

WR Eric Morris. SR(RS). Texas Tech

67 receptions. 1110 yards. 14 TD's.

RB Mike Davis. SR. South Carolina

1175 yards. 7.6 YPC. 12 TD's.

Award Semi-Finalists

We have one guy in the running, San San Te, our kicker. He's 10th right now in the running for the Groza Award.

Recruiting:

We have two players visiting this week.

DE Goodwin
DE Wade

Some good news as well. 4-star running back Robert Mills is a soft commit to Rutgers.

WEEK ELEVEN TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

Syracuse (16) at Rutgers (38)

Finally. We finally get our first conference win.

We fired away on all cylinders this week. Mike Teel threw for 4 TD passes, Young ran for 97 yards on 18 carries, and Underwood had 110 yards receiving.

Our young OLB Manny Abreu, a backup, had a great game with a sack and an INT.

Recruiting:

Let's see how our visits went last week:

DE Goodwin: A
DE Wade: A-

Nice. That's always good to see.

We got some bad news, though, when we found out that the only QB we were recruiting committed to Penn St. I shouldn't complain, because I didn't spend that much time on him. QB was not a huge need, but it would have been nice to land a 4-star QB just in case Jefferson doesn't work out. Oh well.

WEEK TWELVE TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

Rutgers (51) at USF (34)

Big win for us this week. USF is not a strong team this year, but putting up 51 points is always nice.

Mike Teel threw a whopping 6 TD passes for 388 yards.

Kordell Young ran for 67 yards on 12 carries.

The defense played great as well. We sacked their QB 5 times, with our backup DT Wayne Thomas picking up 2 of them.

Recruiting:

We landed our first commitment!

A previous soft commit officially committed to Rutgers this week! Robert Mills, a **** running back, the 11th best RB in the nation, fills a huge hole for us. We now have a running back that should be able to start for us in the future.

The bad news is DE Goodwin committed to Maryland, and ATH Hall committed to Boston College.

This week we have a visit with:

FS Bob Clarke

WEEK THIRTEEN TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

Army (14) at Rutgers (42)

This win brings us to 6-5.

Mike Teel continues to play really well, throwing 5 TD's this week. Kenny Britt really stepped it up, catching 3 TD passes.

The defense played great, with 6 sacks. DT Tverdov picked up two on his own.

Recruiting:

Let's see how Clarke's visit went:

FS Bob Clarke: B+

We lose a couple recruits this week. C Marcus Hayes committed to Michigan. This is a guy we really wanted, and now we're going to have to search for a new player. We added Scott Foster, a ** C from Maryland to the board.

We also lost DT Josh Brown. We liked Brown but DT is not a huge need and we have some other guys we like there.

WEEK FOURTEEN TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Scott Foster, MD: ** (#41)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

BYE

Recruiting:

Yes! We got another commitment this week. RB Wayne Mitchell, a **** player signed with us. That gives us two 4-star RB's coming in next year. I'm feeling much better about the running game now!

However, we lost two more players that we really liked. First, we lost TE Darryl Young. Secondly, we lost SS Kenneth Arnold. I liked both a lot but neither were a huge need.

WEEK FIFTEEN TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Scott Foster, MD: ** (#41)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Game:

Louisville (38) at Rutgers (35)

And with that, our regular season comes to an end. We finish with a disappointing 6-6 season.

The finale really made our weaknesses clear. Teel was sacked 6 times. Our running game was week, and we let them get an early lead.

In the 4th quarter though, we scored 25 points and almost came back, we just ran out of time.

S Courtney Greene, who will be graduating, finished his college career nicely with 2 INT's.

Recruiting:

Good news on the recruiting front. We landed two of the DE's we were going after. 4-star DE Chris Carroll and 3-star DE Ben Wade will join Rutgers next season.

WEEK FIFTEEN TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Scott Foster, MD: ** (#41)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Conference Championships:

ACC

#22 Florida State (24) at #16 Virginia (21)

SEC

#11 Auburn (31) at #3 Florida (38)

C-USA

UCF (49) at Houston (28)

Big 12

#14 Kansas State (30) at #19 Texas Tech (20)

MAC

Miami University (20) at Central Michigan (38)

Rutgers has been invited to play in the International Bowl on 12/29/08! We will be playing the 7-6 Miami University Redhawks.

Transfer Requests

None.

Off-Season Recruiting

This is where we need to shine. We lost some solid players, but we have the chance to bring in some fresh talent that could bring us to the top.

This is how we left off from in-season recruiting:

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Scott Foster, MD: ** (#41)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Rodriguez, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Off-Season Recruiting Week One

I started off the week by making one pitch to every player and scheduling a visit with them. All but three were able to schedule on week one.

We only made promises to one player, FS Cody Richardson ****. We promised him that he wouldn't get redshirted and would see ample playing time. With Greene gone, he'll have that promise fulfilled.

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Scott Foster, MD: ** (#41)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Richardson, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Off-Season Recruiting Week Two

Woohoo! No less than ELEVEN recruits signed with us at the start of the week.

FS Richardson
OLB Alvarez
OLB Adams
DT Page
DT Williams
CB Austin
RB Martin
CB House
FS Clarke
OLB Hamby
G Ray

The one spot I'm missing that is a need is C, but maybe one of the athletes will convert.

As you can see from the list below, we only have one target left. I added some more this week, but it's a longshot they come here.

WR Chris Austin, FL: ****
WR Trey Perry, PA: ****
QB Antoine Martindale, FL: ***
C Vince Alston, NJ: *
C Shelton McCullough, MA: *

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)
Antoine Martindale, FL: ***

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Wide Receivers:

Chris Austin, FL: ****
Trey Perry, PA: ****

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Scott Foster, MD: ** (#41)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)
Vince Alston, NJ: *
Shelton McCullough, MA: *

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Richardson, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Off-Season Recruiting Week Three

Well, the last original target has signed with us. This week we'll focus on the new guys we added and hope one of them is convinced quickly enough to sign with us.

RU welcomes ATH Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)!

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)
Antoine Martindale, FL: ***

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Wide Receivers:

Chris Austin, FL: ****
Trey Perry, PA: ****

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Scott Foster, MD: ** (#41)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)
Vince Alston, NJ: *
Shelton McCullough, MA: *

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Richardson, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Off-Season Recruiting Week Four

We lost WR Chris Austin to Clemson.

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Trevor Cox, MD: **** (#9)
Antoine Martindale, FL: ***

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Wide Receivers:

Chris Austin, FL: ****
Trey Perry, PA: ****

Tight Ends:

Darryl Young, PA: **** (#1)

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Centers:

Scott Foster, MD: ** (#41)
Marcus Hayes, NY: *** (#11)
Vince Alston, NJ: *
Shelton McCullough, MA: *

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Andre Goodwin, NJ: *** (#34)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Josh Brown, NJ: **** (#20)
Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Richardson, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Strong Safeties:

Kenneth Arnold, NJ: **** (#10)

Athletes:

Daniel Hall, NJ: *** (#22)
Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

Off-Season Recruiting Final Week

We finish out recruiting and land two of the players we added late. WR Perry and QB Martindale will join the squad. I'm disappointed that we lost both centers though. Here's a look at our final recruiting commitments.

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Antoine Martindale, FL: ***

Running Backs:

Robert Mills, NJ: **** (#11)
Wayne Mitchell, NJ: **** (#15)
Shane Martin, PA: *** (#49)

Wide Receivers:

Trey Perry, PA: ****

Guards:

Jeremy Ray, NJ: ** (#55)

Defensive Ends:

Chris Carroll, CT: **** (#17)
Ben Wade, NY: *** (#55)

Defensive Tackles:

Fred Page, CT: **** (#6)
Harvey Williams, NJ: *** (#39)

Outside Linebackers:

Atonio Alvarez, WV: **** (#9)
Lance Adams, LA: **** (#18)
Lee Hamby, PA: *** (#64)

Cornerbacks:

Bobby Austin, PA: *** (#46)
(JUCO) Clayton House, PA: *** (#41)

Free Safeties:

Cody Richardson, MD: **** (#3)
Bob Clarke, NY: *** (#50)

Athletes:

Fred Henderson, PA: ** (#42)

We ended up with 18 recruits.

Three of them were form the Top 100 players list

Our class was grades as the 15th best recruiting class, ending up with the following breakdown of players:

***** 0
**** 8
*** 8
** 2
* 0

Position Changes

We moved a couple guys around to balance out LOLB/ROLB, LDE/RDE and things of that nature, but only moved one player out of their natural position.

Freshmen recruit RG Ray was moved to Center.
Freshmen recruit ATH Henderson was moved to Cornerback.

Roster Cuts

In order to get down to 70 players, we cut the following three players:

WR Julian Hayes
RB Joe Martinek
CB Brandon Bing

Returning Starters:

12 (7 Offense, 5 Defense)

Key Losses:

FS Courtney Greene

Greene was the stud of our defense and it's really tough to lose him. I landed a pretty solid recruit at FS though, so I'm not too worried.

WR Tiquan Underwood/QB Mike Teel

Underwood and Teel were the foundation of our solid passing attack. I have no idea how Britt and Lovelace will play with that same pressure put on them. Hopefully an improved running game will take some pressure off.

DT Jamal Westerman

Not really worried about this one seeing our recruits ratings, but will still miss him.

CB Jason McCourty

One twin is still here, but Jason graduated. Losing him makes our pass defense pretty weak. I didn't land anything better than a *** recruit either, so I'm fairly worried.

Just saw this, awesome work!

Week 01: Navy
Week 02: -
Week 03: @ Temple
Week 04: -
Week 05: West Virginia (#10
Week 06: Pittsburgh (#18)
Week 07: @ UConn
Week 08: @ Syracuse
Week 09: @ Notre Dame
Week 10: USF
Week 11: Cincinnati
Week 12: Rice
Week 13: @ Louisville
Week 14: @ Boston College
Week 15: -

Strength of Schedule: B

Some of the unranked team I'm playing should be pretty tough. Week 9 @ Notre Dame should be tough, same with Boston College. I'm not looking forward to playing WVU and Pitt back to back, either.

Starter
Redshirting


#15 Jabu Lovelace. 6'2", 205 lbs. SR(RS). 85 OVR
#11 Domenic Natale. 6'2", 210 lbs. SR(RS). 82 OVR
#4 Chris Paul-Etienne. 6'2", 200 lbs. JR(RS). 79 OVR
#1 D.C. Jefferson. 6'6", 230 lbs. FR(RS). 78 OVR
#18 Antoine Martindale. 6'1", 196 lbs. FR. 69 OVR

Outlook:

It's actually pretty tempting to start D.C. Jefferson, but I'll give Lovelace a year at the helm. If we start off poorly, Jefferson could get the nod. I do like Lovelace's speed, and I'm thinking we'll be doing quite a bit more scrambling with him.

Starter
Redshirting


#8 Kordell Young. 5'9", 185 lbs. JR(RS). 82 OVR
#24 Mason Robinson. 5'10", 180 lbs. JR. 82 OVR
#25 Robert Mills. 5'10", 200 lbs. FR. 79 OVR
#29 Wayne Mitchell. 6'0", 196 lbs. FR. 74 OVR
#23 Rashad White. 5'11", 170 lbs. SO. 74 OVR
#38 Shane Martin. 6'0", 200 lbs. FR. 71 OVR


Outlook:

Young and Robinson will be battling it out this year and next for the starting job. I can't wait until Mills and Mitchell take over, though.

Starter
Redshirting


#19 Jack Corcoran. 6'1", 230 lbs. SR. 79 OVR
#37 Andres Morales. 6'2", 260 lbs. JR(RS). 76 OVR
#39 Jourdan Brooks. 6'1", 255 lbs. SO(RS). 76 OVR

Outlook:

We'll be set here for the next three seasons, but nothing special.

Starter
Redshirting


#88 Kenny Britt. 6'4", 205 lbs. SR. 91 OVR
#2 Tim Brown. 5'8", 160 lbs. SR. 84 OVR
#5 Dennis Campbell. 5'9", 180 lbs. SR(RS). 81 OVR
#83 Keith Stroud. 6'5", 190 lbs. FR(RS). 78 OVR
#17 Timothy Wright. 6'4", 205 lbs. FR(RS). 75 OVR
#80 Trey Perry. 6'4", 180 lbs. FR. 71 OVR
#85 Malcolm Johnson. 6'1", 170 lbs. FR(RS). 69 OVR


Outlook:

I made a tough decision here. Rather than starting the 5'8" Brown, I'm going to keep him in the slow and start FR(RS) Keith Stroud. I feel like his height is a big advantage to have on the outside, and I think Brown is much better suited as a slot man.

Starter
Redshirting


#3 Shamar Graves. 6'3", 230 lbs. JR(RS). 78 OVR
#82 Jeff Minemyer. 6'7", 260 lbs. JR(RS). 71 OVR

Outlook:

Not very excited about this position this year, but Graves is fast for a TE and may surprise me.

Starter
Redshirting

Left Tackle

#75 Anthony Davis. 6'6", 325 lbs. JR. 84 OVR
#73 Desmond Stapleton. 6'5", 320 lbs. SO(RS). 76 OVR

Left Guard

#78 Kevin Haslam. 6'7", 280 lbs. SR(RS). 84 OVR
#68 Keith Newell. 6'6", 290 lbs. SO(RS). 79 OVR

Center

#61 Ryan Blasczyk. 6'4", 285 lbs. SR(RS). 82 OVR
#62 Marlon Romulus. 6'3", 285 lbs. JR(RS). 78 OVR
#66 Jeremy Ray. 6'2", 294 lbs. FR. 65 OVR

Right Guard

#60 Caleb Ruch. 6'4", 290 lbs. SO(RS). 81 OVR
#76 Mo Lange. 6'7", 315 lbs. JR(RS). 80 OVR

Right Tackle

#69 Art Forst. 6'8", 290 lbs. FR(RS). 79 OVR
#79 Richard Muldrow. 6'6", 300 lbs. SO(RS). 76 OVR

Outlook:

Well, we have a few young guys starting on the right side of the line, but I think we're getting better. Losing two more starters after this season though. I'm gonna try and invest heavily into recruiting a stud linemen.

Starter
Redshirting

Left End

#99 Jonathan Freeney. 6'3", 230 lbs. JR. 83 OVR
#93 Desmond Wynn. 6'6", 260 lbs. SO(RS). 79 OVR
#94 Ben Wade. 6'2", 246 lbs. FR. 67 OVR

Defensive Tackle

#91 Red Page. 6'6", 316 lbs. FR. 82 OVR
#97 Peter Tverdov. 6'4", 265 lbs. SR. 82 OVR
#95 Wayne Thomas. 6'5", 280 lbs. SO(RS). 80 OVR
#67 Scott Vallone. 6'3", 260 lbs. FR(RS). 79 OVR
#55 Jamiel Farrington. 6'2", 240 lbs. SO(RS). 72 OVR
#92 Harvey Williams. 6'3", 265 lbs. FR. 70 OVR

Right End

#31 George Johnson. 6'4", 250 lbs. SR. 80 OVR
#45 Alex Silvestro. 6'4", 230 lbs. JR. 76 OVR
#96 Chris Carroll. 6'0", 210 lbs. FR. 71 OVR

Outlook:

I considered starting Page this year, but in the end I decided that if I let him sit for a year, he will be unstoppable for the next four years. I can't wait until he starts next year as a freshmen. I'm going to need a new RE soon, though.

Starter
Redshirting

Left Outside Linebacker

#48 Blair Bines. 6'2", 245 lbs. SR. 86 OVR
#58 Lance Adams. 5'11", 219 lbs. FR. 77 OVR
#59 Lee Hambly. 6'1", 228 lbs. FR. 71 OVR
#53 Jim Dumont. 6'1", 215 lbs. JR(RS). 71 OVR

Middle Linebacker

#44 Ryan D'Imperio. 6'3", 235 lbs. SR. 88 OVR
#50 Antonio Lowery. 6'2", 220 lbs. JR. 80 OVR
#56 Eric Legrand. 6'2", 240 lbs. FR(RS). 76 OVR

Right Outside Linebacker

#51 Manny Abreu. 6'3", 220 lbs. SO(RS). 88 OVR
#17 Damaso Munoz. 6'0", 210 lbs. SR(RS). 81 OVR
#57 Antonio Alvarez. 6'1", 210 lbs. FR. 75 OVR

Outlook:

I can't wait to see Abreu start this year. Our linebacker squad is probably one of our best areas, and I really like our future with Adams on one side and Alvarez on the other. Legrand looks like he could be a decent MLB as well.

Starter
Redshirting

#21 Devin McCourty. 5'11", 180 lbs. SR(RS). 84 OVR
#35 Billy Anderson. 6'0", 180 lbs. SR(RS). 78 OVR
#43 Clayton House. 6'0", 194 lbs. SO. 74 OVR
#41 Al-Majid Hutchins. 5'11", 180 lbs. SO(RS). 72 OVR
#40 David Rowe. 5'10", 195 lbs. SO. 71 OVR
#36 Fred Henderson. 6'5", 231 lbs. FR. 70 OVR
#47 Bobby Austin. 6'1", 190 lbs. FR. 70 OVR


Outlook:

Not entirely thrilled about the present or future of this positon. McCourty is a #2 CB to me and I'm going to get shredded through the air once again this year.

Starter
Redshirting

Free Safeties

#20 Davon Smart. 5'10", 190 lbs. SR(RS). 79 OVR
#49 Cody Richardson. 6'3", 216 lbs. FR. 76 OVR
#22 Bob Clarke. 6'1", 202 lbs. FR. 69 OVR

Strong Safeties

#26 Joe Lefeged. 6'3", 195 lbs. JR. 81 OVR
#84 Morgan Carter. 6'3", 215 lbs. FR(RS). 73 OVR


Outlook:

Losing both starters hurt, and needing to promise Richardson the starting job hurt as well. Richardson should be solid eventually but it looks like Smart is, well, the smart option here.

Starter
Redshirting

Kickers

#12 San San Te. 5'9", 165 lbs. SO(RS). 77 OVR

Punters

#93 Teddy Delleganna. 6'2", 190 lbs. JR(RS). 81 OVR


Outlook:

These guys will still do for now.

Pipeline:

Our pipeline states are NJ, NY, PA, and FL. Recruiting in Florida is always tough, considering we are competing with the Gators and Seminoles. NJ is ours, and our main competitors for recruits are Syracuse and Pittsburgh in our pipeline states. West Virginia is also a major competitor for recruits.

Major Needs:

Cornerback: I'm still looking for a **** recruit here. McCourty is our only serviceable starter right now, and he'll be gone next year.

Wide Receiver: I didn't recruit anyone last year here, and now I'm faced with a few players leaving. I'll definitely need to pick up at least two guys here.

Middle Linebacker: I have two young guys on the outside that are going to be great, but I need someone in the middle.

Defensive End: Have a senior starting now and a junior who I'm not thrilled about. I'd like to get someone here to create a dominant front seven.

Minor Needs:

Fullback: While it's not really a need, I'd love to get a fullback who can run the ball well.

Tight End: With two Juniors, I need some fresh talent for when they graduate.

Offensive Line: I don't have a specific position, but I'd love to get a really great player to run behind.

WEEK ONE TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)


Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)

Wide Receivers:

Chris Taylor, FL: **** (#3)
Adam Smith, FL: **** (#34)
Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

#1. Florida
#2. Oklahoma
#3. Wisconsin
#4. South Carolina
#5. Ohio St.
#6. Georgia
#7. Texas
#8. Arizona St.
#9. Missouri
#10. West Virginia
#11. LSU
#12. Virginia Tech
#13. USC
#14. Penn St.
#15. Kansas St.
#16. Auburn
#17. Tennessee
#18. Pittsburgh
#19. Alabama
#20. Maryland
#21. Virginia
#22. BYU
#23. Texas Tech
#24. Florida St.
#25. Clemson

Rutgers Rank:

We start off the season ranked #65. That's awful.

Pre-Season All Americans:

Once again, we don't have any All-American players, but we do have a few All-Big East players.

1st Team:

WR Britt
DT Tverdov
K Te
P Dellaganna

2nd Team:

RG Lange

Heisman Watch

I'll try and keep you updated on the Heisman race every couple weeks. Right now, here's what it looks like:

WR Jeremy Maclin. JR(RS). Missouri
HB Noel Devine. JR. West Virginia
QB Sam Bradford. JR(RS). Oklahoma
QB Chris Smelley. JR(RS). South Carolina
QB Pat Bostick. JR. Pittsburgh

Recruiting:

With everyone having an offer, this week we focused on our need positions and used what was left on the 5-star recruits. I feel like it went pretty well. We managed to talk to everyone except one player, and we're not even in his Top 10. I invited two players on visits.

MLB Pearman - Week 2 (BYE)
DE Pope - Week 2 (BYE)

Pearman's visit is huge. He is a 5-star recruit and we are #1 on his list. I hope it goes well.

WEEK TWO TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU
Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)

Wide Receivers:

Chris Taylor, FL: **** (#3)
Adam Smith, FL: **** (#34)
Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

BYE

Recruiting:

Crap. Maybe they don't like visiting on bye weeks, because both Pearman and Pope gave their visit a C. I guess it could have been worse, but now I'm worried.

I'm going to set up the rest of the recruits with visits if they are ready before I do anything else. And now I'm gonna try and get them to come during a game week.

Here are the results:

RB Larkin - Week 10 (USF)
CB Harris - Week 10 (USF)
DE Gonzalez - Week 5 (WVU)
DE Bly - Week 6 (Pitt)
SS Williams - Week 12 (Rice)

WEEK THREE TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)

Wide Receivers:

Chris Taylor, FL: **** (#3)
Adam Smith, FL: **** (#34)
Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

Rutgers (29) at Temple (32)

Wow. Looks like my team isn't nearly as good as I was hoping it would be. Lord only knows what's gonna happen when we start facing WVU, Pitt, Notre Dame, and BC. Ugh.

Recruiting:

Invited a few more players for visits:

ATH Hines - Week 10 (USF)
WR Pratt - Week 10 (USF)
DE Burgess - Week 5 (WVU)
ATH Vaughn - Week 12 (Rice)
CB Wilson - Week 10 (USF)

WEEK FOUR TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)

Wide Receivers:

Chris Taylor, FL: **** (#3)
Adam Smith, FL: **** (#34)
Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

BYE

Recruiting:

Two more player were invited for visits, including a very, very important one this week.

T Davis - Week 5 (WVU)
DE Ross - Week 10 (USF)

Davis is a 5-star recruit who I really want. If we can pull out this win against WVU we may have a chance of getting him.

WEEK FIVE TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)

Wide Receivers:

Chris Taylor, FL: **** (#3)
Adam Smith, FL: **** (#34)
Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

#10 West Virginia (33) at Rutgers (7)

Just awful. Running game sucked, Lovelace got sacked 5 times with our freshmen RT Forst giving up three of them. Another "ugh" for this week.

Recruiting:

Davis gave last week's visit a C+, so it wasn't a disaster but we could have gained a lot of ground if we won that game. This week is going to be similar. Playing the #24 Pittsburgh, a win would be huge for recruiting visits.

Two more players got invited this week:

WR Jones - Week 6 (Pitt)
MLB Cross - Week 6 (Pitt)

WEEK SIX TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)

Wide Receivers:

Chris Taylor, FL: **** (#3)
Adam Smith, FL: **** (#34)
Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

#24 Pittsburgh (48) at Rutgers (31)

Well, it could have been worse. We actually played fairly well. Lovelace had a pick and ran horribly, but our backs and receivers played well. OLB Abreu had 2 sacks, 8 tackles, and 4 tackles for a loss.

The real story here is Pitt's QB Bostick, who is a favorite for the Heisman Trophy award. He went 20-28 with 6 TD's. That's just too tough to overcome.

Top 25 and Heisman update coming up next.

We're six weeks into the NCAA season. Oklahoma and Ohio St. top the rankings, both undefeated through 5 and 4 games, respectively. Here are the rest of the Top 25 through six weeks.

Top 25

#1. Oklahoma (5-0)
#2. Ohio St. (4-0)
#3. Arizona St. (4-0)
#4. Missouri (6-0)
#5. Virginia Tech (5-0)
#6. Kansas St. (5-0)
#7. USC (5-0)
#8. West Virginia (5-0)
#9. Penn St. (4-0)
#10. Florida (4-1)
#11. Alabama (5-0)
#12. Auburn (4-0)
#13. Wisconsin (3-1)
#14. Georgia (3-1)
#15. Maryland (5-0)
#16. LSU (4-1)
#17. Texas Tech (6-0)
#18. Minnesota (4-0)
#19. BYU (5-0)
#20. South Carolina (3-2)
#21. Tennessee (5-1)
#22. Texas (3-2)
#23. Iowa (4-0)
#24. Pittsburgh (3-1)
#25. Cincinnati (4-0)

Race for the Heisman Trophy:

QB Taylor Pitts. JR(RS). Texas Tech

2245 yards. 31 TD's. 6 INT's.

QB Blaine Gabbert. FR(RS). Missouri

1683 yards. 19 TD's. 4 INT's.

WR Michael Crabtree. JR(RS). Texas Tech

59 receptions. 698 yards. 9 TD's.

QB Mark Sanchez. SR(RS). USC

1537 yards. 19 TD's. 1 INT.

RB Keiland Williams. SR. LSU

569 yards. 6.2 YPC. 4 TD's.

Recruiting:

Scheduled one more visit for this week, getting WR Chad Harris to visit us Week 10 against USF. That is going to be a huge week for us.

WEEK SEVEN TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)

Wide Receivers:

Chris Taylor, FL: **** (#3)
Adam Smith, FL: **** (#34)
Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

Rutgers (31) at Connecticut (28)

What. a. game. Down by 4 with 26 seconds left in the game, Lovelace picks up his 2nd TD run from 7 yards out to win it.

Lovelace was by far the player of the game. He didn't throw like a Heisman winning QB, but he sure did run like one. 18-29, 130 yards, 1 TD/1 INT through the air, and 13 runs for 88 yards and two TD's. Great game against our rivals, UConn.

Great thread. Hopefully the recruiting class you hauled in from last year gives you the tools to turn the program around from it's slight slide backwards.

Any chance you'll sign up for the waiting list of the RFL online dynasty?

Recruiting:

No real updates here. I spent a ton of time on the big time recruits we are going after and cut ties with two players that we just weren't that close with.

WEEK EIGHT TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)

Wide Receivers:

Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

Rutgers (2-3) at Syracuse (2-4)

Not the prettiest game in the world but we'll take it.

Lovelace went 12-22 for 198 yards with 2 TD's and 2 INT's.

Young picked up 103 yards on 17 carries, and Kenny Britt caught 7 passes for 96 yards and a TD.

The highlight of the day was Tim Brown's 96 yard kickoff return for a TD.

Final Score: Rutgers 38, Syracuse 24

Recruiting:

Nothing like finding out 3 of your top recruits are less interested in you after spending a ton of time with them the week before! That's discouraging, but I kept at it and spend the majority of my time with them again this week. The big USF game is only a week away.

WEEK NINE TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)

Wide Receivers:

Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

Rutgers (3-3) at Notre Dame (3-3)

Woohoo! This isn't a game that I thought I would win, but we pulled it off in front of a national TV audience.

First off, Lovelace was hurt after two plays and was out for the game, so FR(RS) D.C. Jefferson came in off the bench.

After 3 quarters, ND was up 13-12. The first play of the 4th quarter though, ND scores to make the score 20-12.

With 8:07 left, Jefferson hits WR Campbell for a 28 yard TD pass. We try for the extra point and don't make it, so we need to stop them and kick a field goal to go ahead.

We stop them, and with 2:21 left, Jefferson hits WR Kenny Britt perfectly in stride for a 44 yard touchdown! We held them off from there and win against the Fighting Irish.

Jefferson played great, going 12-17 for 226 yards and 2 TD's.

Young carried the ball 26 times for 131 yards and a TD.

Final Score: Rutgers 25, Notre Dame 20

Recruiting:

NO! South Carolina snatched up my #1 recruit, Tyler Pearman, a 5 star MLB. I was first on his list for a while but last week he dropped me to 2nd. He must have had a great visit with them or something. Damn it!

This week could be huge for us though. Beating USF with 7 players visiting would be great.

WEEK TEN TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Committed Elsewhere
Committed to RU

Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)

Wide Receivers:

Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

USF (3-4) at Rutgers (4-3)

Huge win for us here! Everyone played really well. Lovelace went 16-20 for 247 yards and 3 TD's. Running game worked well, receivers did great, and the defense was solid. Can't ask for much more.

Let's hope the recruits liked it.

Final Score: Rutgers 48, USF 14

Recruiting:

No commits yet, but we didn't lose anyone this week either. However, three of our top players have soft commited to another team. Uh oh.

Our visits went great last week, with no one grading it under a B+.

WEEK ELEVEN TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Soft-Committed Elsewhere
Committed Elsewhere
Soft-Committed to RU
Committed to RU

Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)

Wide Receivers:

Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

Cincinnati (7-1) at Rutgers (5-3)

Uhh...huh? I was thoroughly expecting to get blown out here, even though we've been on a winning streak.

Okay, maybe I thought we could pull out a win if we got lucky. But 57-19? Nice!

Offense was clicking all around today. Lovelace went 11-13 for 179 yards and 3 TD's. Young carried the ball 17 times for 89 yards and picked up 3 TD's as well. He also picked up a TD in the air, giving him 4 total today.

Tim Brown had another special teams touchdown, this time on a punt return.

Final Score: Rutgers 57, Cincinnati 19

__________________

Recruiting:

Ack! We lost three more recruits this week. I'm getting kind of nervous. I thought our winning streak would help but nothing good has come of it yet in recruiting. At least two of them were already soft committed, so we kind of felt like we lost them already.

WEEK TWELVE TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Soft-Committed Elsewhere
Committed Elsewhere
Soft-Committed to RU
Committed to RU

Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)

Wide Receivers:

Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

Rice (5-4) at Rutgers (6-3)

Nothing too crazy this game, we we got the job done well. No great performances by anyone in particular except our safety Lefeged who had two picks.

Final Score: Rutgers 42, Rice 14

Recruiting:

We open up the week learning that 5-star RB Larkin committed to our rival Syracuse. Grrreat.

The good news is that ATH Vaughn has soft-committed to our school. Only a ***, but better than nothing.

WEEK THIRTEEN TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Soft-Committed Elsewhere
Committed Elsewhere
Soft-Committed to RU
Committed to RU

Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)

Wide Receivers:

Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

Rutgers (7-3) at Louisville (3-7)

Lovelace was solid today. 12-18 and a spectacular 4 TD passes.

Young was great, running the ball 28 times for 164 yards.

Again, nothing too crazy, but a great all around performance by everyone. We're on a 6 game winning streak with one game left to play!

Final Score: Rutgers 35, Louisville 7

Nice job Jets and nice win vs. Louisville!

We're ranked!

We've been ranked #25 going into our final week, and the NCAA's second to last week of play.

We're thirteen weeks into the NCAA season. Here are the rest of the Top 25 with two weeks left to go!

BCS Top 25

#1. Oklahoma (11-0)
#2. USC (10-0)
#3. BYU (11-0)
#4. Fresno St. (11-0)
#5. Ohio St. (10-1)
#6. Arizona St. (9-1)
#7. Auburn (10-1)
#8. LSU (10-1)
#9. Iowa (10-1)
#10. Florida (8-3)
#11. Maryland (10-1)
#12. Colorado (10-1)
#13. Missouri (9-3)
#14. Pittsburgh (8-2)
#15. Georgia (8-3)
#16. Texas (8-3)
#17. Alabama (9-3)
#18. West Virginia (9-2)
#19. Virginia Tech (8-3)
#20. Penn St. (8-3)
#21. Virginia (9-2)
#22. Tennessee (9-3)
#23. ECU (10-1)
#24. Miami (9-2)
#25. Rutgers (8-3)

Race for the Heisman Trophy:

QB Sam Bradford. JR(RS). Oklahoma

3177 yards. 37 TD's. 5 INT's.

QB Taylor Pitts. JR(RS). Texas Tech

4005 yards. 49 TD's. 13 INT's.

QB Blaine Gabbert. FR(RS). Missouri

3742 yards. 37 TD's. 13 INT's.

QB Todd Reesing. SR. Kansas

3064 yards. 32 TD's. 9 INT's.

QB Jonathon Crompton. SR(RS). Tennessee

3290 yards. 32 TD's. 5 INT's.

Award Semi-Finalists

None from RU.

Recruiting:

We've been decimated. We have one **** left. The rest are ***. I'm livid that we didn't end up with ANY of the blue chippers. Ugh.

I added a bunch of low-rated guys to fill out the board. I feel like this season has been successful, but recruiting has been a disaster.

WEEK FOURTEEN TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Soft-Committed Elsewhere
Committed Elsewhere
Soft-Committed to RU
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Bryan Ware, PA: *** (#58)

Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)
(JUCO) Sean Tatum, NJ: *** (#67)
Jim Clarke, NJ: *** (#45)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)
Stephen Howard, Can.: * (#96)

Wide Receivers:

Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)
Darrell Estes, RI: ** (#162)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)
Bo Harris, NJ: *** (#21)

Guards:

Isaiah Butler, DE: ** (#81)
Matthew Mathis, RI: *** (#35)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Defensive Tackles:

Marcus Lee, NJ: * (#151)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)
Mike Hawking, FL: ** ( #71)

Outside Linebackers:

Russ Bishop, NJ: ** (#112)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)
J.T. Cook, NY: ** (#129)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)
Derek Hutchinson, CT: ** (#58)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

Rutgers (8-3) at Boston College (7-4)

This is a huge, huge game.

And we win!

After entering the 4th quarter tied at 13, we kicked a FG to tie it up. It remained at 13-13, but we found the endzone with 4:32 left in the game!

Young had a solid game rushing 20 times for 110 yards.

Our defense was great, picking up 4 sacks, 2 by our DE George Johnson.

We started off the season 1-3 and were prepared for disaster. After an eight game winning streak, where will we be ranked? Let's find out...


Final Score: Rutgers 20, Boston College 13

Recruiting:

Finally! We get our first commitment, two actually. We'd like to welcome ATH Courtney Vaughn *** and WR Larry Pratt *** to Rutgers!

We also got soft commitments from DE Ross, CB Wilson (a **** recruit), and DE Gonzalez.

WEEK FIFTEEN TARGET LIST

Name, State: Rating (National Position Rank)
Scholarship Offered
Soft-Committed Elsewhere
Committed Elsewhere
Soft-Committed to RU
Committed to RU

Quarterbacks:

Bryan Ware, PA: *** (#58)

Running Backs:

Joel Larkin, NY: ***** (#4)
(JUCO) Sean Tatum, NJ: *** (#67)
Jim Clarke, NJ: *** (#45)

Tight Ends:

Vincent Ramirez, CT: **** (#5)
Stephen Howard, Can.: * (#96)

Wide Receivers:

Larry Pratt, PA: *** (#67)
Chad Harris, NJ: *** (#88)
Scott Jones, RI: *** (#105)
Darrell Estes, RI: ** (#162)

Tackles:

Chris Davis, NJ: ***** (#3)
Bo Harris, NJ: *** (#21)

Guards:

Isaiah Butler, DE: ** (#81)
Matthew Mathis, RI: *** (#35)

Defensive Ends:

Adam Burgess, PA: **** (#7)
Brian Pope, NJ: **** (#12)
Dedrick Gonzalez, PA: *** (#32)
Brad Bly, IL: *** (#35)
Nathan Ross, NJ: *** (#46)

Defensive Tackles:

Marcus Lee, NJ: * (#151)

Middle Linebackers:

Tyler Pearman, NJ: ***** (#1)
James Cross, Can.: *** (#44)
Mike Hawking, FL: ** ( #71)

Outside Linebackers:

Russ Bishop, NJ: ** (#112)

Cornerbacks:

Alex Wilson, NJ: **** (#17)
Mark Harris, NY: **** (#18)
J.T. Cook, NY: ** (#129)

Strong Safeties:

Travis Williams, KY: *** (#25)
Derek Hutchinson, CT: ** (#58)

Athletes:

(JUCO) Chad Hines, NJ: ***** (#1)
Courtney Vaughn, NJ: *** (#43)

Game:

BYE

Thanks!

Sorry man. I already have too much on my plate right now :(

With the final week of the 2009 college football season upon us, we've moved up to #23.

I had a feeling about this class....just looked like you were reaching for the pretty girls in the pack, but w/o a wingman. . . At any rate, I like that you're getting some O-Line on the list. Thought that'd be a big potential weakness for you that you could get in front of with this class. Perhaps it is for the best.