PHOTO BY: ANDREW HOWARD / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ... DESIGN BY: JOVELLE ABBEY TAMAYO / PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
G2
G A M E DAY
NOVEMBER 12, 2010
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
KnightsGameday RUTGERS VS SYRACUSE
GAME 9: Rutgers Stadium, 3:30 p.m. TV: ESPNU RADIO: 1450 AM
RU returns home to honor LeGrand BY SAM HELLMAN CORRESPONDENT
Thirty-six days is the longest lag between games at Rutgers Stadium for the football team in four years and returning to the friendly confines in Piscataway could not have come any sooner for the Scarlet Knights. Since the Knights’ thrilling victory over Connecticut on Oct. 16, Rutgers has two Big East road losses along with Eric LeGrand’s tragic injury weighing itself down as the Knights return to Rutgers Stadium tomorrow at 4-4 to take on Syracuse. “I’m definitely looking forward to coming back,” said senior defensive end Jonathan Freeny. “That crowd is going to be electric. It’s going to be very exciting. We’re going to have the fans’ support and we’re just going to go out there and do our jobs.” For Freeny and 14 other seniors, tomorrow marks the penultimate home game in their careers and the final game while school is in session, with Louisville’s game in two weeks coming over the Thanksgiving holidays. The Knights want to make this one count with so much on the line. “A lot is at stake,” said sophomore wide receiver Mark Harrison, who has a touchdown reception in four straight games. “We just have to come out and execute. It’s good to come back home to Jersey and we’re just going to go out there and have fun.” With just four games left, Rutgers needs two wins to become bowl eligible and three to guarantee a postseason game for the sixth consecutive season. “We are all aware of what’s at stake,” said senior defensive end Alex Silvestro. “But before we can worr y about any of that stuff, Syracuse is a really tough team that we can’t take our focus away from for one second.” Defensively, Syracuse offers one of the toughest blitz schemes to defend against in the Big East. The Orange pass rush crushed the Rutgers offensive line and quarterback Tom Savage last season for nine sacks in a 31-13 upset. And that was with two NFL tackles on the Knights’ line. “We talked about it [earlier in the week] and [Savage] was just telling me about what they did and the results and what he had to do
SPREAD: Syracuse by 3
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INSIDE the NUMBERS
SCARLET KNIGHTS (4-4)
SYRACUSE (6-3)
PASSING CMP YDS TD INT. AVG. 3 136.6 C. Dodd 58.3% 956 5 3 89.0 T. Savage 52.1% 445 2
CMP YDS TD INT. AVG. PASSING R. Nassib 56.1% 1,563 15 5 173.7
RUSHING NO. YDS TD LNG AVG. 54 285 4 91 M. Sanu 5.3 J. Martinek 83 277 4 35 3.3 RECEIVING NO. YDS TD LNG AVG. 40 389 2 29 M. Sanu 9.7 M. Harrison 21 373 4 52 17.8 12 249 1 46 20.8 J. Deering TKL SCK 74 0.5 1 58 1 53
DEFENSE
A. Lowery J. Lefeged S. Beauharnais
INT 0 1 0
ANDREW HOWARD / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
and what he had to look to,” said true freshman quarterback Chas Dodd, who is set to make his fifth consecutive start and second at Rutgers Stadium. “I think, as far as what I’ve seen, we have a pretty good gameplan. I feel confident about it.” Offensively, Syracuse presents quarterback Ryan Nassib and running back Delone Carter. Schiano described Carter as an NFL-caliber back and is more than just a gamemanager in his first year as a starter. “I’m pretty impressed with their offense,” Silvestro said. “They don’t make many mistakes. Their line is five good players. It’s not like one guy carries them. They’re really just a solid core all-around and they always come up to play. Last year I would say they were nowhere near as good as they are this year. They’re going to come at us and
come out to play gain. It’s just a Big East dogfight.” Between the struggles in the last two Big East contests and the problems Syracuse presents, returning home could not come at a better time. “I can’t wait [to come back],” Schiano said. “I love playing in Rutgers Stadium. It is my favorite place. Our students are unbelievable. Our fans are great. I can’t wait to get back in there and play at home.” The return home is also the first game at Rutgers Stadium since LeGrand’s tragic injury. Rutgers will place a banner outside the Scarlet Walk for students and fans to sign. “We go out and we carry E on the back of our helmets and in our hearts, but on the field we’re focused,” said defensive end Justin Francis. “That’s what he wants.”
SCHEDULE Sept. 2 Sept. 11 Sept. 25 Oct. 2 Oct. 8 Oct. 16 Oct. 23 Nov. 3 Nov. 13 Nov. 20 Nov. 26 Dec. 4
Norfolk State FIU N. Carolina Tulane Connecticut Army Pittsburgh South Florida Syracuse Cincinnati Louisville West Virginia
RUSHING D. Carter A. Bailey
NO. YDS TD LNG AVG. 5.3 161 853 7 46 4.8 79 380 1 31
RECEIVING V. Chew A. Lemon N. Provo A. Bailey
NO. 33 29 25 22
YDS 519 365 262 210
DEFENSE
D. Smith D. Hogue P. Thomas
LNG 48 51 33 37
AVG. 15.7 12.6 10.5 9.5
TKL SCK 75 0 61 2.5 60 0
INT 1 2 1
TD 5 4 1 2
INJURIES Questionable — LB R. Gillum, OT M. Hay
INJURIES Questionable — M. Abreu Doubtful — M. Cooper
Sophomore wideout Mark Harrison scored touchdowns in each of the past four games, a streak which began Oct. 8 against Connecticut.
]
W, 31-0 W, 19-14 L, 17-13 L, 17-14 W, 27-24 W, 23-20 OT L, 41-21 L, 28-27 3:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. TBA TBA
SCHEDULE Sept. 4 Sept. 11 Sept. 18 Sept. 25 Oct. 9 Oct. 16 Oct. 23 Oct. 30 Nov. 6 Nov. 13 Nov. 20 Nov. 27
W, 29-3 L, 41-20 W, 38-14 Maine W, 42-7 Colgate W, 13-9 South Florida L, 45-14 Pittsburgh W, 19-14 West Virginia W, 31-7 Cincinnati L, 28-20 Louisville 3:30 p.m. Rutgers 7:00 p.m. Connecticut Boston College TBA Akron
Washington
Key Matchup Rutgers offensive line vs. Syracuse blitz packages The Scarlet Knights allowed nine sacks against Syracuse last season, and the Orange return linebacker Doug Hogue, who had 3.5 sacks against Rutgers last year and has two more this year as part of Syracuse’s blitz-heavy defensive scheme.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP: OFFENSE
MOHAMED SANU Wide Receiver
DESMOND STAPLETON Tackle
DESMOND WYNN Guard
HOWARD BARBIERI Center
CALEB RUCH Guard
DEVON WATKIS Tackle
D.C. JEFFERSON Tight End
MARK HARRISON Wide Receiver
CHASS DODD Quarterback
COLIN MCEVOY Fullback
JOE MARTINEK Running Back
Sophomore 6’-2”, 218 lbs.
Junior 6’-5”, 285 lbs.
Junior 6’-6”, 290 lbs.
Senior 6’-5”, 304 lbs.
Junior 6’-4”, 290 lbs.
Sophomore 6’-7”, 310 lbs.
Sophomore 6’-6”, 258 lbs
Sophomore 6’-3”, 230 lbs
Freshman 6’-0”, 197 lbs
Senior 6’-1”, 215 lbs
Junior 6’-0”, 215 lbs
DAVID ROWE Cornerback
JOE LEFEGED Strong Safety
KHASEEM GREENE Free Safety
BRANDON BING Cornerback
Junior 6’-0”, 196 lbs
Senior 6’-1”, 205 lbs
Sophomore 6’-1”, 215 lbs
Senior 5’-11”, 180 lbs
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP: DEFENSE
JONATHAN FREENY Right end
CHARLIE NOONAN Tackle
SCOTT VALLONE Tackle
ALEX SILVESTRO Left end
MANNY ABREU Linebacker
STEVE BEAUHARNAIS
Linebacker
ANTONIO LOWERY Linebacker
Senior 6’-3”, 250 lbs
Senior 6’-2”, 274 lbs
Sophomore 6’-3”, 270 lbs
Senior 6’-4”, 260 lbs
Junior 6’-3”, 245 lbs
Sophomore 6’-2”, 230 lbs
Senior 6’-2”, 225 lbs
G AMEDAY
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
NOVEMBER 12, 2010
G3
’Cuse starts stretch key to bowl hopes Buffalo Soldier A.J. JANKOWSKI
W
hat time is it? Crunch time. It is time for the Rutgers football team to tighten the jocks and pull this one out against Syracuse to keep postseason hopes alive. And if history is any indication, the Scarlet faithful has cause for concern. The Scarlet Knights need two wins in their final four games to reach the much sought after six-win benchmark, ensuring bowl eligibility. Let’s take a look at these upcoming games to see just how probable a sixth-straight bowl is.
ANDREW HOWARD / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Junior defensive end Justin Francis intercepted a pass against South Florida when he dropped back into coverage, but he and the defensive line will look to get after first-year quarterback Ryan Nassib.
Knights look to pressure Nassib BY SAM HELLMAN CORRESPONDENT
The last time the Rutgers and Syracuse football teams clashed, the Orange were double-digit underdogs to the Scarlet Knights. But with a combination of a dominant pass rush and the home field advantage of the Carrier Dome, Syracuse turned the tables on the favored Knights and came away with Doug Marrone’s signature win in his inaugural season as head coach. The tides change this season with the Orange coming to Rutgers Stadium as favorites and the Knights hoping home field advantage and an unexpected pass rush can swing the pendulum back the other way. “We definitely can get at them,” said junior defensive end Justin Francis. “The coaches give us a lot of insight on what their offensive guys are doing. We’re definitely going to make something happen in the pass rushing game and tr y to dominate the line of scrimmage, hopefully like they did last season.” Greg Paulus manned the starting quarterback duties for Syracuse last season, but Ryan Nassib came off the bench to complete four of six passes for 69 yards.
Nassib, now ’Cuse’s full-time starter, is one of the bigger surprises in the Big East this season, emerging as a more-than-reliable signal caller for the Orange. But like Tom Savage last season, Nassib is a first-year starter and the Knights see an opportunity to get in his head with the pass rush. “He’s a good, young quarterback,” Francis said. “We definitely have to get after him and get in his face a lot.” Nassib has 15 touchdown passes to just five interceptions this season to go along with a 56.1 completion percentage and 1,563 passing yards. But before Rutgers worries about Nassib, the defensive line’s chief concern is containing the run. “You have to stop the run first and obviously that’s something that they do a lot is run that ball,” said senior defensive end Alex Silvestro, who leads Rutgers with seven tackles for a loss. “They have a really good running back. Any quarterback, obviously, is going to be given problems regardless of how young or old he is when you get pressure on him. Ever y pass rusher will tell you that you have to stop that run before you can think about a sack.” Syracuse running back Delone Carter has 853 rushing
yards this season to go along with seven touchdowns. His 94.8 rushing yards per game are good for fourth-best in the Big East and 27th overall in the NCAA. “If they’re in a third-and-short situation, then your opportunities to rush the passer are not high,” said senior defensive end Jonathan Freeny. “On first and second downs, we have to go out there and get them just to get them to the third-and-long situations. That’s a really tough running back we’re going against, so that’s a big challenge in itself.” Statistically, getting pressure on Nassib is a significant challenge. Syracuse surrenders 2.2 sacks per game for sixth-worst in the Big East. On the other hand, Rutgers is dead last in sacks per game with 0.88, which is also 118th out of 120 FBS teams. Rutgers, traditionally one of the top teams in the nation in TFLs, is 59th in the country this season with 5.9 per game, making defense against ’Cuse on first and second down even more important. “It puts them in situations that are defensively favorable and offensively unfavorable,” said head coach Greg Schiano. “You get third-and-behind-the-sticks and third-and-seven-plus, it opens up what you can do defensively.”
Nov. 13 vs. Syracuse — The Knights fell behind the Orange by 14 points for two straight years prior to last year. And in 2009, it caught up to Rutgers as Syracuse dropped 31 points at the Carrier Dome and the Orange defense dropped Tom Savage nine times. Things won’t get any easier this year. For the first time in recent memory, the Orange are favorites heading into Piscataway led by head coach Doug Marrone, who will be crowned Big East Coach of the Year come season’s end. For the Knights to come out on top, they will need to be ahead early, something that has not been the case recently against the Orange. Nov. 20 at Cincinnati — The Bearcats could be 0-9 with zero touchdowns scored the entire season and I’d still pick them to beat Rutgers any day of the week. The Knights have not beaten the Bearcats since 2005 and haven’t won in Cincy since 1987. If there was ever a more likely time to turn that tide, it is this year. Cincinnati is reeling at 1-2 in
the conference and hardly looks like the team that almost upset Oklahoma early in the year. Their offense is anemic without Zach Collaros under center and he is nowhere near 100 percent. Still, no matter who is Cincy’s signal caller, I still like them over the Knights. Nov. 26 vs. Louisville — If one of these four remaining games is a lock, it is this one. Don’t get me wrong, the Cardinals are much more of a formidable opponent than in years’ past and head coach Charlie Strong has started to turn things around down south. But at home late in the season, I like Rutgers here. A Knight should always get the best of a bird. Dec. 4 at West Virginia — Nothing could be worse than postseason aspirations on the line in the season finale on the road in Morgantown, W. Va. Head coach Bill Stewart has Greg Schiano’s number and dials it up year after year after year after … you get the picture. The last time Rutgers beat WVU? The Buffalo Bills were in the Super Bowl. And we all know they aren’t going back anytime soon. So there you have it. Two wins in four games and it all starts Saturday night against the Orange. Following the paths that history has laid out for us, Rutgers will get one win at home on Black Friday against Louisville. After that, it’s a crapshoot. Here’s a fail-safe solution: Don’t leave it to chance on the road. Take care of business at Rutgers Stadium against Syracuse and Louisville. Because when you crunch the numbers, the Knights’ bowl streak is in serious jeopardy. — A.J. Jankowski is an associate spor ts editor at The Daily Targum and accepts comments,criticisms and witticisms at jankowskialex@gmail.com.
KNIGHTS BOUNCE BACK BEHIND MARTINEK SCORES The return home was just what the doctor ordered for the Rutgers football team, as the Scarlet NCAA ‘11 SIM Knights took down Syracuse, 20-7, in The Daily Targum’s weekly “NCAA Football 2011” simulation. Quarterback Chas Dodd handled the Syracuse pressure nicely, completing 16 of 27 passes for
223 yards without throwing a touchdown or an interception. The Orange only got two sacks this year, as opposed to the nine last season against Tom Savage. Joe Martinek ran for 81 yards on 24 attempts and scored both touchdowns for the Scarlet Knights, with Mohamed Sanu leading receivers with seven catches for 82 yards.
Defensively, Rutgers held Ryan Nassib to 11-of-29 passing. Defensive end Alex Silvestro sacked Nassib twice and had nine total tackles, while defensive back Logan Ryan picked off Nassib. The Daily Targum’s weekly simulation is 6-2 this season. — Sam Hellman
ANDREW HOWARD / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Head coach Greg Schiano led the Scarlet Knights to five straight bowl games and needs two more wins to qualify for No. 6.
T H E D A I LY TA R G U M
GAMEDAY
NOVEMBER 12, 2010
PA G E G 4
ENRICO CABREDO
The Scarlet Knights offensive line ranks last out of 120 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 35 sacks allowed this season, as the unit rotating eight linemen consistently struggles.
Struggling unit hopes to erase memories of nine-sack showing BY STEVEN MILLER SPORTS EDITOR
Film study was a little bit tough this week for a few parties, in particular. Rutgers head football coach Greg Schiano acknowledged it, and film sessions forced the offensive line to relive its overwhelmingly poor performance last season against Syracuse. Schiano watched the entire game one last time late on Monday night and the result could only lead him to sympathize with his unit of pass protectors. “I imagine pretty tough [for them]. It was tough for me to watch the whole game,” Schiano said. “At the conclusion of the game, it was enough to get my rear end out the door because I didn’t feel very well.” Nine sacks on quarterback Tom Savage highlighted the Orange’s 31-13 win at the Carrier Dome, where the offensive line could not stop the Syracuse pass rush. “It was like we couldn’t do anything right,” said senior center Howard Barbieri, who star ted that game at right guard. “It was ver y frustrating.”
Although only Barbieri and junior Art Forst, who was pulled from the starting lineup last week but will still play, remain from that game, the new unit will have to be ready for more of the same because the Orange love to blitz. Starting freshman signal caller Chas Dodd estimated that Syracuse brings blitzes 50 percent of the time, but what makes defensive coordinator Scott Shafer’s scheme successful is the players, according to Schiano. Three of the Orange defenders who combined for five of the nine sacks last season — Doug Hogue, Shamarko Thomas and Andrew Lewis — return on an experienced squad that ranks second in the Big East in scoring and total defense. “It’s very hard to mimic their blitzes because of the guys who are doing the blitzing,” Schiano said. “Blitzes by themselves don’t make it — it’s the guy doing the blitzing who makes the blitz. We tried to show [the offensive line] what it’s going to be like, but the speed of it and the strength of it is going to be different.” But it is the unit that will be different for Rutgers. While Syracuse’s defense is senior-laden, the Knights’ offensive line consists of an eight-man
rotation. Two of the eight members converted from defense to offense less than a year ago. Three combined for four career starts before the 2010 season. And three have experience, but bounced from position to position before finding homes this year. The result is a group that struggled through the first eight games to find any sort of consistency, allowing 35 sacks to rank last among 120 teams in the nation. “That is college football. There is going to be turnover. Maybe it is more than normal, but that is part of the life we live,” Schiano said. “We have to be able to get guys ready and have them ready and develop them for when it is their shot. We need to play better on the offensive line — that is no secret.” The turnover includes the loss of two starters, Anthony Davis and Kevin Haslam, who are now in the NFL, and Ryan Blaszczyk, who had tryouts with several teams. “We don’t have any stars on our offensive line, that’s for sure,” Schiano said. Instead, there is a group of players trying to find their place. The biggest shakeups came last week against South Florida, when
Forst did not start for the first time in 29 games, sophomore Devon Watkis made his first start and redshirt freshman Andre Civil debuted. There could be more changes to the starting unit and the breakdown of plays, but the same group of eight will play this week, although the linemen insist the lack of consistency does not affect the group’s play. “People have good days and we’re going to keep getting better. We have to do it as a unit,” said junior left tackle Desmond Stapleton, who started every game. “Some people are good at one thing and maybe another week other people are good at something different, so we just want to have the best five people out there. “I trust anybody that comes in and plays on the offensive line. It doesn’t matter who’s in, we just have to be consistent with the five guys on the field.” Through eight games, the offensive line was consistently bad: — Three sacks against Football Championship Series opponent Norfolk State. — One against Sun Belt foe Florida International.
— Five against North Carolina, plus a hit that injured Savage’s ribs. — Tulane sacked the quarterback four times and forced a Savage scramble that resulted in an injured hand and forced him out of the starting lineup. — When Chas Dodd took over, Connecticut sacked him five times. — Then Army got to him for eight sacks. — Pittsburgh’s pass rush created seven sacks. — South Florida got to the quarterback twice. Some of those numbers rival last year’s nine-sack game against Syracuse — a game that brings back memories even more vividly on the film. But the difference is last year’s line had NFL players and this one has eight just trying to play better. “We play as a unit. We meet as a unit, we eat as a unit, we do everything as a unit,” Stapleton said. “If one man goes down or one man comes in, we can’t just stop. We do it as a unit.” Unfortunately for the Knights, the entire eight-man unit cannot be on the field against Syracuse’s blitzes at the same time.
EIGHT OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
DESMOND STAPLETON Starting left tackle
DESMOND WYNN Starting left guard
ART FORST Backup left guard
HOWARD BARBIERI Starting center
CALEB RUCH Starting right guard
ANTWAN LOWERY Backup right guard
DEVON WATKIS Starting right tackle
ANDRE CIVIL Backup right tackle
Junior 6’-5”, 285 lbs.
Junior 6’-6”, 290 lbs.
Junior 6’-8”, 311 lbs.
Senior 6’-5”, 304 lbs.
Junior 6’-4”, 290 lbs.
R-Freshman 6’-4”, 302 lbs.
Sophomore 6’-7”, 310 lbs.
R-Freshman 6’-3”, 256 lbs.