2007, Year of the Thirty-Minute Chop

The picture of the "60 Min Chop" sign to the right was taken at this year's USF victory, but if we could only have played 30-minute games this year, we would have been 10-2 rather than 7-5, with the three extra wins highlighted in bold.
And, at the half, the winner is . . .
W - RU 28 / Buffalo 0
W - RU 24 / Navy 7
W - RU 45 / Norfolk State 0
W- RU 17 / Maryland 14
W -RU 17 / Cincinnati 7
W - RU 24 / Syracuse 14
W - RU 17 / South Florida 14
L - West Virginia 17 / RU 3
L - UConn 25 / RU 16
W - RU 14 / Army 6
W - RU 17 / Pitt 10
W- RU 28 / Louisville 17

At 250 to 131, Rutgers' first-half points this year were almost double that of their opponents; but the Scarlet Knights lost the second half in 2007 by a score of 124 to 131. While the first and second halves were dead even for the opponents, the Knights second-half point production was less than half that of their opening period.

I can't help thinking that a big part of the difference is Brian Leonard. How many times did he keep a key late drive alive last season when it was needed most? Last night would have been totally different with just one or two more Rutgers first downs during key drives in the second half.