Hi Hawks. Sorry for your loss yesterday. Just thought i'd drop by and tell you a little bit about Rutgers, to hopefully help you forget about it.
No doubt the DL is the strength of the team. Led by NFL prospect and All Big Ten candidate, Darius Hamilton, the DL has played pretty well the first three games. Darius had 10 tackles in yesterdays game, and his linemate, defensive end Julian Pinnix Odrick had 12 tackles to go along with 2 sacks. The LB corp features 3 first time starters and they've made their share of mistakes, but they've also displayed great potential. The secondary has been solid, but they have also been prone to giving up the big play. Coach likes to gamble and likes to play a lot of Man-Man, so our guys have been burned from time to time. The secondary also needs to do a better job tackling.
The offense has great potential, but has had trouble getting out of its own way at times. Chris Laviano is the starting qb, but has struggled the first three games. The fanbase has been pining for his replacement since last season. When he's playing well, Rutgers has a decent chance of putting up a good showing, such as when we lost close to Michigan State last year. Too many times, he's been plagued by inconsistency, however, and provided less than spectacular results. On the bench is a super frosh by the name of Tylin Odin, who I think has Lamar Jackson potential. Doubt they throw him out to the wolves before the Illinois game, however, so it looks like laviano for now.
Robert Martin heads the RB corp, and I think he will be playing in the NFL someday. Yesterday, he had a breakout performance, rushing for over 160 yards, including an 80 yarder he took to the house. i'm hopeful that his performance is a sign of greater things to come. He's backed up by Josh Hicks, who runs with significant power. Between the two of them, its as good a 1-2 back combo you'll see in the Big Ten.
Janarion Grant is our most productive wr, and one of the most exciting players in the Big Ten. Whenever he gets the ball in his hands, he is a threat to take it to the house, whether as a wr, or as a returner. Another wr we have is Juwuan Harris, who is exceptionally fast, and took a ball to the house yesterday. Andre Patton goes 6-3 220, and is an especially effective threat inside the redzone.
Its clear to me that Iowa is a far more established program than we are at this point. I've always admired your fanbase's penchant for showing up to bowl games and I admire your coach as well. For Rutgers to have a chance, we're going to need our qb to step it up and minimize turnovers, and we're going to need to run the ball and control the clock. If we don't, we will likely see results similar to our games against Wisconsin and Nebraska, which got ugly early.
If you're travelling to the game, i would suggest you:
- Stay in Times Square NY, if you can $$$$$
- Visit Central Park NYC
- Walk the Brooklyn Bridge
- Eat at Carmines in NYC
- Eat at Wolfgangs steakhouse in NYC
- Visit Atlantic City, NJ if you have time
- Eat at Portugese restaurants in the ironbound section of Newark
- Chris Ash, former Buckeye DC, is our Head Coach who is doing a terrific job, given what he was dealt.
- His assistants for the most part are in the first year at the Big Ten Level
- I consider ourselves to be in Year 1 of an Expected 5 Year Building Program. Offensive and Defensive Schemes are completely New
- Our QB is below average to average, and I think i'm being charitable here
- Our OL has ceiling for growth and they are trying to get better every game
- Our RB's could be the Best in the Big Ten
- Our WR's have the talent to be solid, but need to get better.
- Our TE's are solid
- Our DL is probably the best unit on the team
- Our LB's are very green, and prone to mistakes
- Our DBs are solid but have a penchant for giving up big plays
No doubt the DL is the strength of the team. Led by NFL prospect and All Big Ten candidate, Darius Hamilton, the DL has played pretty well the first three games. Darius had 10 tackles in yesterdays game, and his linemate, defensive end Julian Pinnix Odrick had 12 tackles to go along with 2 sacks. The LB corp features 3 first time starters and they've made their share of mistakes, but they've also displayed great potential. The secondary has been solid, but they have also been prone to giving up the big play. Coach likes to gamble and likes to play a lot of Man-Man, so our guys have been burned from time to time. The secondary also needs to do a better job tackling.
The offense has great potential, but has had trouble getting out of its own way at times. Chris Laviano is the starting qb, but has struggled the first three games. The fanbase has been pining for his replacement since last season. When he's playing well, Rutgers has a decent chance of putting up a good showing, such as when we lost close to Michigan State last year. Too many times, he's been plagued by inconsistency, however, and provided less than spectacular results. On the bench is a super frosh by the name of Tylin Odin, who I think has Lamar Jackson potential. Doubt they throw him out to the wolves before the Illinois game, however, so it looks like laviano for now.
Robert Martin heads the RB corp, and I think he will be playing in the NFL someday. Yesterday, he had a breakout performance, rushing for over 160 yards, including an 80 yarder he took to the house. i'm hopeful that his performance is a sign of greater things to come. He's backed up by Josh Hicks, who runs with significant power. Between the two of them, its as good a 1-2 back combo you'll see in the Big Ten.
Janarion Grant is our most productive wr, and one of the most exciting players in the Big Ten. Whenever he gets the ball in his hands, he is a threat to take it to the house, whether as a wr, or as a returner. Another wr we have is Juwuan Harris, who is exceptionally fast, and took a ball to the house yesterday. Andre Patton goes 6-3 220, and is an especially effective threat inside the redzone.
Its clear to me that Iowa is a far more established program than we are at this point. I've always admired your fanbase's penchant for showing up to bowl games and I admire your coach as well. For Rutgers to have a chance, we're going to need our qb to step it up and minimize turnovers, and we're going to need to run the ball and control the clock. If we don't, we will likely see results similar to our games against Wisconsin and Nebraska, which got ugly early.
If you're travelling to the game, i would suggest you:
- Stay in Times Square NY, if you can $$$$$
- Visit Central Park NYC
- Walk the Brooklyn Bridge
- Eat at Carmines in NYC
- Eat at Wolfgangs steakhouse in NYC
- Visit Atlantic City, NJ if you have time
- Eat at Portugese restaurants in the ironbound section of Newark
