The Perfect Rutgers Road Game for 2015

Today, with half a winter and a full spring and summer between us and the resumption of Rutgers football, we just got some great news about the 2015 season. The game between the Scarlet Knights and the Black Knights will be moving from the evil field in the Bronx to one of the best football locations in the nation, Michie Stadium at West Point.

I'll be there with my traveling companion. I hope it's better weather than the cold rain and snow mix we had in 2007. Other than being cold and wet, I remember that game for Ray Rice's 243 rushing yards and watching James Gandolfini mingling with the cadets on the sidelines. There were tons of empty seats in the wet upper deck that year, but let's fill it with scarlet in 2015.

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.

The Scarlet Knights have their third winning season in a row

The seniors line up for the opening coin toss earlier today.

With the 20-16 win against the Pittsburgh Panthers at the Stadium today, the Knights are now assured of their third winning season in a row, ending this season (counting the inevitable bowl appearance) somewhere between 7-6 and 9-4. Those young men standing together and watching the coin toss in the picture up above are the only current Scarlet Knights who can remember what it was like to end the season with a losing record. They are the only current Scarlet Knights who can remember what it was like to know that there would be no games played after the last regular season game. The only current Knights who remember how much worse a 4-7 record feels than a 7-4 record.

I mention this because I have heard from a number of people in the New York area (including some who were behind me in the stands today) who are disappointed in this year's version of the Knights. If they had any sense of history, they would realize how important it is that the Knights have just beaten the Panthers for the third time in a row -- this is a team that owned a 19-3 record against the Knights when these seniors were freshmen. These seniors helped double the number of wins the Knights hold in this long series in just three years. There are now high-school football recruits who think of Rutgers as a dominant team in the Big East, but there was a time not too long ago when no one would think to seriously mention the name of Rutgers in comparison to Pitt and Syracuse.

The Knights deserve praise for this turnaround. These seniors were a big part of it, and they'll be missed.

Today's Brain Teaser

Complete This Sequence:

W - W - W - L - L - W - W - L - L - W - ?? - ??