Sailing, Sailing

I know everyone looks at Rutgers' schedule and says they will sail through the early part, and not have a real test until, depending who you ask, South Florida or West Virginia. But, and I promise this blog entry will be the last reference to one of the greatest upsets in sports history (more thoughts later), but remember the Wolverines...not because they overcame adversity, but because they were steamrolled by a disciplined, mistake capitalizing team with a nickname of a team in the Big East that does the same thing...and trots out Pat White and Steve Slaton.

So as Navy drops anchor in the Raritan, and I don't want to be too un-American here, but the Scarlet Knights need to not give them any option other than trying to pass and come from behind. I am encouraged by the offensive explosion and the defensive manhandling versus Buffalo, but Navy is a quantum leap up. They are a respectable team and don't deserve to lumped in with the Norfolk State on this list. Why? Well look at their past four seasons.
2007: 9-4
2006: 8-4
2005: 10-2
2004: 8-5

Those are decent win totals for any Div 1A team, regardless of opponent. Plus, and I know this is a cliche for a service academy, they are disciplined. they tend to not make mental mistakes. Now having said that, they also played one of my favorite teams to mock in the Owls of Temple University. You know Temple, that Div. 1A that almost had a parade when they finally beat Bowling Green (who should have gone immediately on Conf USA probation). Anyway, Navy beat Temple 31-19, but if Temple is within 12 points, your team has issues.

I don't think Tiquan will rebreak his receiving record, but I think Teel and the passing game will continue to take advantage of the emphasis on stopping Ray Rice. We all see what happeens when the receivers hang on to the footballs they should...and Tiquan making a few juggling catches and runs of passes he shouldn't catch doesn't hurt things either.

And the defense? I can't wait to see what they do next. They are a menacing, quick, and hard hitting defense that flies to the ball and takes pride in stopping teams. They don't get as much love as the offense it seems because chicks and SportsCenter dig the longball and the touchdown. Football fans however dig poor third down conversion stats and tackles for loss...ok, this is heading into weird territory, but you get the idea.

This game is a winnable game for the Scarlet Knights as long as they continue to take care of the football, set-up the pass with the run, and play the stifling defense that comes with a few years of experience tangling with Navy's triple option.

Go RU.