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Message: [QUOTE="JarHeadJim, post: 2311307, member: 178"] Of all the issues confronting Rutgers Football in 2017, talent is not among them. We've got talent out the wazoo. Thats why, Which remaining 2017 Games is Rutgers capable of winning? The correct answer is [B]ALL OF THEM![/B] If you can't see that by Rutgers competitive showing with #7 Washington, who is ranked [B]HIGHER[/B] than [B]EVERY[/B] remaining opponent, save for Penn State, who at #3, is likely over-rated, then there is nothing I can do to help you. That game was ours for the taking, but we just didn't get it done, as Washington out-executed us down the stretch. The three biggest issues confronting Rutgers Football today are: [LIST] [*]Lack of Confidence [*]Missed Assignments [*]Mental Mistakes [/LIST] I got issue #1 from John Otterstedts podcast with Kyle Bolin, who said these team needs to "Believe in Itself". I thought to myself, "How ironic, that the team of Eric Legrand lacks belief in itself" Thankfully, these issues are all fixable. I don't know of a bigger confidence booster than Winning, so thankfully our 65-0 thrashing of an awful Morgan State team should hopefully restore some confidence. Huge opportunity this Saturday to supercharge our confidence, so I hope we take advantage of it. Nebraska's problems are not our problems. Our only goal Saturday is playing the best we are capable of . Do that, and I think we will be happy with Saturday's result. Nevertheless, the team is vastly improved from a year ago, and you can see that from YTD statistical rankings. [URL="http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs"]FBS Football Statistics - NCAA.com[/URL] [LIST] [*]Rutgers ranks #27 in Total Defense; LY Rutgers ranked #97 [*]Rutgers ranks #20 in Rush Defense; LY Rutgers ranked #103 [/LIST] The offense is still a work in progress, as we have so many new pieces that we are trying to fit together. But I'm hopeful that we can replicate the offensive explosion we showed against Morgan State. Not that we need to score 65 points. I'll happily settle for 30-40 points in each of our remaining contests. If nothing else, the Morgan State Game was a showcase for our non-starting players. Prior, level of talent fell off a cliff once you went from 1st string to 2nd string. Quality of depth is now an asset, and I thought our [B]reserves[/B] really shined last Saturday. [URL="http://www.scarletknights.com/boxscore.aspx?id=1337&path=football"]The Official Site of Rutgers Athletics[/URL] [LIST] [*]Jonathan Lewis showed he has the talent to be Rutgers' Michael Vick [*]Raheem BlackShear ran for 102 yards, while Josh Hicks ran for 47 on 4 carries [*]Mike Maietti Did a [B]GREAT j[/B]ob filling in for Jonah Jackson. some of his snaps could have been a little better, but the bottom line is that the quarterbacks were able to handle them [*]Bo Melton had a terrific 48 yard reception [*]Nakia Griffin Stewart caught a TD pass [*]Julius Turner, Elorm Lumor, Darnell Davis, and Willington Previlon had solid outings on the DLine; Davis had 10 tackles [*]Tyshon Fogg demonstrated a nose for the ball, and had one interception and 6 tackles [*]KJ Gray had 7 tackles and 2 pass breakups [*]Bo Melton caught a 48 yard bomb for a TD [*]Nakia Griffin-Stewart caught a TD [*]2nd String OL consisting of Zach Heeman, Zach Venesky, Micah Clark, and Sam Vretman among others looked solid [*]LB Rashawn Battle had two tackles and an interception [*]Hunter Hayek had a block [*]Zane Campbell had 5 tackles [*]Myles Nash had 6 tackles from his DE spot [/LIST] As it stands now, Rutgers 2nd string is close to our first string, which bodes well of our prospects this season. Someone is going to win the Big Ten. Might as well be us. We have the type of team, where, if we play well, we will win. If we don't play well, we won't. it all comes down to execution. I'm very happy with the improvement I've seen from game 1 to game 3. We're ready to go. [B] GO RU!!![/B] [/QUOTE]

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