Oh, They Were THAT Kind of Number 2

Other titles could have read:
"BullsHit Knight Wall," "Bulls S#$% the Bed," or "Bulls Forced to Get Off Pot"


Sorry about that South Florida. Didn't mean to bring you back to reality. You played a great game, you have a pretty flashy quarterback...and by that I mean it looked like he was blinded by a thousand flashes of light the way he played in the second half.

It seemed like some of the defensive intensity was back in this game, although it was still an offensive pass interference call away (although it was pretty blatant) from being a very, very, very tight game with a field goal pending us towards a tie game (no idea if that is good english, but maybe that hypocritical english professor will offer to correct my web grammar when he is done counting the four or five books he has sold...)

The trickery was nice, but I'm sure there will be a groundswell complaining that it took gadgetry to beat them. I don't have any problem with it. Those types of plays work for a reason. Coaches and/or players see chances and then players execute them. And if you look at the fake field goal, South Florida had a pretty good idea it was happening, but some fingertips kept that from being a head scratcher and keeping it a hi-fiver. And I read one comment complaining again about student behavior (albeit a small one) chanting 'overrated.' The comment says this devalues the accomplishment of your team beating someone. I can't disagree more. Teams like Virginia that keep escaping with one or two point wins can make cases that they are good until someone proves them otherwise. A loss to Rutgers doesn't mean South Florida isn't good, but it does mean that Rutgers proved something in taking down a good team. Plus, and I can't believe I need to enlighten people to this again, trash talking is part of the game for a fan. It is not a polite pursuit all the time. Yes, we clap when someone who is injured walks off the field, or we might even clap if someone sets some weird record, but ultimately, we want to cheer for our team, and root, yes root, against the opposing team.

If Auburn had hung on to win last night, which if they were any friend of Rutgers they would have, Rutgers could have had a pretty good ladder argument to be in the top 5. You know, Rutgers beat South Florida which beat Auburn which almost beat LSU. I love those games...but only when AU doesnt get BURNED on a 22 yard td pass with virtually no time on the clock...and if one auburn db can just tip the ball away, I am heading to photoshop to build a ladder with all kinds of logos....but oh well, I will just have to wait for Rutgers to whip WVU and not need a ladder...

Go RU.

Not THAT guy

So it has been a few days since I spewed out my thoughts on the men of Scarlet. And the last time I did, we were coming off a heartbreaker versus Maryland. Now, we are a few days removed from a Bearcat beatdown that was tough because we had chances, not a chance, but chances to win that game. Even though I don't know exactly how to pick up the pieces and talk the talk, I know that I don't want to be that guy who dumps his team at the slightest hint of adversity. Far from it. Even though this sucks, and I don't like to see my team go through these kinds of tough losses, I am comforted by the not so distant past that reminds me that times have been tougher, and to be disappointed to lose to a ranked team and not have a secret acceptance of my place in the football world, means a lot in terms of football respect.

So, two losses into this tough stretch, the season still stretches out in front of us. National Title hopes, I mean, realistically, they were a far off dream this season anyway, but now that reality is firmly in our front mirror. The middle linebacking woes seem to have cropped up in our rush defense, and having tight ends who can block and catch the ball have room for improvement. I can only tell you that a bowl would still be a nice goal for this team, regardless of the year, and three wins amongst our final games seems a good chance, considering teams like the Cuse, Pitt, and Uconn are on the horizon. Oh, and Louisville might not be the big bad bird we all thought they were, at least their defense couldn't stop a pickup flag football team.

Is it irony also that one of the comments I received on my last post was from someone selling rutgers floor mats? I felt like I was a little bit of a floor mat after losing on consecutive weeks this year, oh, how I might have been spoiled by last year, but I knew to keep my fandom from going amuck. Back in the '80's, as a Rtugers fan, I thought a team like West Virgina had a good M.O. They were good enough to be in the national title talk once every 3 or 4 years, when one of their classes came together and developed and peaked together. I always thought I would be happy with that. I just hope I don't have to start burning couches to foster that kind of mojo.

By the way, the link for those Rutgers mats if you are curious is oddly enough:
www.rutgersmats.com

Enjoy and go RU.

Bandwagon: Plenty of Seats Available

Well, here we are. A place I knew was right around some bend. A gut-wrenching Rutgers loss to an inferior team we should have beaten. As expected, the dire-hards are off the bandwagon, leaving behind those who were there in the first place. We, the fans who suffer and stay no matter what the current wind, are not surprised, although it stings nonetheless.

I remind myself and others that not winning a national title is a problem most schools in division 1 have and the fact that Rutgers' chances have diminished greatly doesn't change my allegiance or enjoyment of the team. I still like seeing players develop and mature. I enjoy the process of this team learning and evolving. It is not that far removed from the crappy days of autumn where a three point loss was a victory, not a sad feeling that something slipped away. And if I try hard enough, I can look at the 7 teams in the top 13 that lost and take some solace that maybe it isn't over yet...maybe we can rise through the rankings again and since it was early enough in the season, we still have time to reload the bandwagon and the press votes to have a run at it. But if all I have to look forward to is a chance at a conference championship, that wouldn't suck too bad.

And beyond my Rutgers fandom, I enjoy college football, so the upcoming match-ups with Cincy, USF, Louisville and WVU are still games I anticipate greatly.

Things could be worse, they can always be worse. I could be a Temple football fan.

Go RU.