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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 3595, member: 289"] Saturday October 1st Noon in the Dome vs. Rutgers TV: Big East Network Rutgers is kind of like Wake Forest- a perennial doormat who turned tiger in 2006, winning 11 games. They were good for several years afterwards, winning 8, 8 and 9 games before slipping back to 4-8 last year with only one conference win, losing their last six games. They have been a thorn in Syracuse’s side because, essentially, they became what we had been and we became what they had been. They were a symbol of our collapse. They are also probably our leading recruiting rival because we used to get a lot of players from New Jersey, (a much more productive state for football prospects than New York), but their coach Greg Schiano vowed to “build a fence around the state” to prevent that and also raided some New York players that had committed to Paul Pasqualoni and decommitted when he was fired. SU fans not only want SU to be good again but they want Rutgers to be bad again. Then all will be right with the world again. When Doug Marrone’s first team crushed the Scarlet Knights in the Dome, 31-13, it was a huge thing and beating them in their own place last year on a last second field goal, 13-10 to become bowl eligible was another nail in the coffin - we hope. But Rutgers isn’t Wake Forest. They are the State University of New Jersey, the same way Penn State is for Pennsylvania and Ohio State is for Ohio. New York has no equivalent- just a lot of smaller schools like Cortland State, Oswego State, Albany State, etch. SU likes to advertise itself as “New York State’s College Team” but we are still a private school, a third the size of Rutgers. It’s always been said that if they ever got their program going, the could become a major football power. Schiano is still there and they are still recruiting strongly, including Savon Huggins, one of the top running back prospects in the country. They aren’t going away. A more likely prospect is that Syracuse will develop something they haven’t had since the Colgate and Penn State days: a genuine rivalry. (We could also develop one with Connecticut- it could be a three-way rivalry). The problem is, SU fans have such contempt for Rutgers and Connecticut they refuse to consider them rivals. I think that’s a mistake: rivalries are the heart and soul of college sports and when one seems to be developing, we should welcome it. Rutgers’ big problem last year was an implosion at quarterback. Tom Savage was supposed to be the star but instead became an asterisk when he got hurt and then decided to transfer. Freshman Chas Dodd took over and struggled enough that Schiano spent most of the Syracuse game running Jeremy Deering, a wide receiver by trade, out of the wildcat formation. Their leading rusher, Jordan Thomas, gained only 417 yards and switched to defense when Huggins committed. They have two excellent receivers in Mark Harrison, (44 catches for an impressive 829 yards and 9 scores and Mohammed Sanu, who also caught 44 for 418 and 2 scores. He also ran for 309 yards. Athlon calls them the Big East’s best tandem of wide-outs). DC Jefferson is a good tight end. Defensively, Rutgers loses six starters from a unit that sprang some leaks, including a 38-69 disaster at Cincinnati. Like Marrone, Schiano is promoting faster players into the starting line-up, making his two safeties into linebackers. He’s also moved a couple of guys over from offense, including Thomas. It will be interesting to see how the players respond to their new responsibilities. Tackle Scott Vallone is a “rising star” on the defensive line. They have a good placekicker named San San Te but the punting is a question mark. Mason Robinson is a good kick returner. It would be a great coup to beat Rutgers for the third straight year after losing to them four times in a row but I don’t think this series will ever return to the “good old days”. It’s going to be a struggle every year. Their stats from last year: Offense- rushing 100.9 (101st) passing 194.0 (79th), total 294.9 (114th) scoring 20.8 (101st) Defense- rushing 156.4 (65th) passing 217.8 (55th) total 374.2 (65th) scoring 26.5 (62nd) Turnover margin: +7 (26th) [/QUOTE]

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