2014 was a great year. I expected 4-8 (Vegas had RU at 4.5 wins) and got 8-5 with a bowl win! I'm not sure RU overperforms next year, though. Right now I'm predicting 5-7 or 6-6. However, I'm somewhat optimistic that the blowouts will be less frequent than this season.

W 9/5 vs. Norfolk State
W 9/12 vs. Washington State
L 9/19 @ Penn State
W 9/26 vs Kansas
L 10/10 vs Michigan State
W 10/17 @ Indiana
L 10/24 vs. Ohio State
L 10/31 @ Wisconsin
L 11/7 @ Michigan
L 11/14 vs. Nebraska
W 11/21 @ Army (Yankee Stadium)
Toss-up 11/28 vs. Maryland

If we have another overperforming type of year, perhaps the Michigan and PSU games turn into wins along with Maryland. I think a bad year would include a loss to Indiana and RU drops the MD game. Anything worse than that would start the coaching conversation again, I think.

What say you?

Congrats on the 8-5 season and the bowl win over UNC. Best of luck to you guys next season. Hopefully we can start being competitive again and make the Big Ten a better league, and when we play in a couple years hopefully you don't embarrass us.

Thanks. I'm looking forward to playing you guys in 2017.

Bump

Chris, I'm in agreement with your list, though I'm expecting we'll steal one from Penn State or Michigan. 6-6 would be a great outcome for the team with the toughest conference schedule.

(12-29-2014 03:55 PM)chrisRU Wrote:  2014 was a great year. I expected 4-8 (Vegas had RU at 4.5 wins) and got 8-5 with a bowl win! I'm not sure RU overperforms next year, though. Right now I'm predicting 5-7 or 6-6. However, I'm somewhat optimistic that the blowouts will be less frequent than this season.

W 9/5 vs. Norfolk State
W 9/12 vs. Washington State
L 9/19 @ Penn State
W 9/26 vs Kansas
L 10/10 vs Michigan State
W 10/17 @ Indiana
L 10/24 vs. Ohio State
L 10/31 @ Wisconsin
L 11/7 @ Michigan
L 11/14 vs. Nebraska
W 11/21 @ Army (Yankee Stadium)
Toss-up 11/28 vs. Maryland

If we have another overperforming type of year, perhaps the Michigan and PSU games turn into wins along with Maryland. I think a bad year would include a loss to Indiana and RU drops the MD game. Anything worse than that would start the coaching conversation again, I think.

What say you?

I think RU beats Maryland. The tossup in my mind is Wash State. The odds are with us on paper but Rettig's first test, anything could happen.

I'm going to predict wins against NSU, WSU, Kansas, Indiana, Army, and Maryland. Losses against OSU, MSU, Wisc, and Nebraska.
Aim to split Penn State and Michigan.

Final record 7-5 (3-5), plus bowl win
That's my optimistic forecast. I could just as easily see 4 wins this year if we struggle to find our groove in the new offense.

(08-30-2015 09:04 PM)Clammy Wrote:  

(12-29-2014 03:55 PM)chrisRU Wrote:  2014 was a great year. I expected 4-8 (Vegas had RU at 4.5 wins) and got 8-5 with a bowl win! I'm not sure RU overperforms next year, though. Right now I'm predicting 5-7 or 6-6. However, I'm somewhat optimistic that the blowouts will be less frequent than this season.

W 9/5 vs. Norfolk State
W 9/12 vs. Washington State
L 9/19 @ Penn State
W 9/26 vs Kansas
L 10/10 vs Michigan State
W 10/17 @ Indiana
L 10/24 vs. Ohio State
L 10/31 @ Wisconsin
L 11/7 @ Michigan
L 11/14 vs. Nebraska
W 11/21 @ Army (Yankee Stadium)
Toss-up 11/28 vs. Maryland

If we have another overperforming type of year, perhaps the Michigan and PSU games turn into wins along with Maryland. I think a bad year would include a loss to Indiana and RU drops the MD game. Anything worse than that would start the coaching conversation again, I think.

What say you?

I think RU beats Maryland. The tossup in my mind is Wash State. The odds are with us on paper but Rettig's first test, anything could happen.

I'm going to predict wins against NSU, WSU, Kansas, Indiana, Army, and Maryland. Losses against OSU, MSU, Wisc, and Nebraska.
Aim to split Penn State and Michigan.

Final record 7-5 (3-5), plus bowl win
That's my optimistic forecast. I could just as easily see 4 wins this year if we struggle to find our groove in the new offense.

I agree that Washington State has turned into a toss-up. I'm really glad RU leads off with Norfolk State and it should us a chance to see where the team is headed in 2015.

I'm trending a bit more pessimistic now than last December. I'm not sold that it's a good thing that Laviano and Rettig were neck and neck all the way until Laviano's suspension. Indiana may exceed expectations this year and it placed right in the middle of a brutal stretch of the schedule. A few too many distractions with Flood and the suspensions, and recruiting has been ho hum for a few years now. If I were to recast this today, I'd say 4-8. I hope I am wrong! If RU is 2-8 going into Army, there will be a lot of pressure for a change.

W 9/5 vs. Norfolk State
L 9/12 vs. Washington State
L 9/19 @ Penn State
W 9/26 vs Kansas
L 10/10 vs Michigan State
L 10/17 @ Indiana
L 10/24 vs. Ohio State
L 10/31 @ Wisconsin
L 11/7 @ Michigan
L 11/14 vs. Nebraska
W 11/21 @ Army (Yankee Stadium)
W 11/28 vs. Maryland

Oh, and I got surprise-bumped to the RAC lot, so that may also be unfairly influencing my pessimism this year!!!

(08-31-2015 08:58 AM)chrisRU Wrote:  Oh, and I got surprise-bumped to the RAC lot, so that may also be unfairly influencing my pessimism this year!!!

Oh brother. In that case, RU had better win some games to make the schlep worthwhile. We are going to be railgating on NJT for most of this year's games.

W 9/5 vs. Norfolk State
W 9/12 vs. Washington State
L 9/19 @ Penn State
W 9/26 vs Kansas
L 10/10 vs Michigan State
W 10/17 @ Indiana
L 10/24 vs. Ohio State
L 10/31 @ Wisconsin
L 11/7 @ Michigan
L 11/14 vs. Nebraska
W 11/21 @ Army (Yankee Stadium)
W 11/28 vs. Maryland

I'm back to 6-6, my pseudo-original prediction. This is assuming no more major developments in the off-the-field issues RU has this year.

Temple is a good team and would beat Rutgers in Philly as well, so I don't see the Penn State Loss as a sign Rutgers is poised for a 4-0 start. Toss up games are PSU, Indiana, and MD. Nebraska may end up being closer than outsiders are willing to admit. We'll have to see how the season plays out.

The line for the Washington State game is -2 in favor of Rutgers. I'm hoping it wont be so close.

Sorry I missed this.

I think we go 8-4.
Norfolk State is already in the book.
Washington State, Kansas and Army all lost to FCS teams, so that's 3 more.
Indiana. Not scared.
Maryland. Not scared.
Penn State. Not scared.
Then win one of Michigan, Nebraska or Wisconsin.

W 9/5 vs. Norfolk State
L 9/12 vs. Washington State
L 9/19 @ Penn State
W 9/26 vs Kansas
L 10/10 vs Michigan State
W 10/17 @ Indiana
L 10/24 vs. Ohio State
L 10/31 @ Wisconsin
L 11/7 @ Michigan
L 11/14 vs. Nebraska
W 11/21 @ Army (Yankee Stadium)
W 11/28 vs. Maryland

5-7, assuming this Carroo thing ends up not being as bad as I'm hearing and the team doesn't implode. Unfortunately I have a sinking feeling that this is going to get worse before it gets better.

On the field, I'm not impressed with Laviano's arm and I feel like Rettig can also scramble...and also has the higher ceiling. He's also got a cannon for an arm. I'm hoping whoever the head coach is (you can't be sure at this point!) gives HR a shot. I was particularly disappointed RU couldn't open up the field against WSU on Saturday, which could've made the run game more effective. On defense, the secondary is playing like half of their starters are in jail (oh wait) and missing Hamilton on the D-Line is obvious.

Honestly, I'd be shocked if we won more than 2 more games the rest of the way. This thing is far from hitting bottom.

At the beginning of the season, I thought 8-10 wins was a realistic goal. Now I'm thinking 6 might be a stretch. What an embarrassment.

I can give you my preseason call and what I see now:

NSU: W; W
WSU: W; W
PSU: W; L (though I still like the way RU matches up defensively)
KU: W; W
Bye week: W as team gets healthy; L as Keystone Cops continue to run program
MSU: L; L
@IND: W; L (I expected more out of Indiana than I've seen)
OSU: L; L
@WIS: L; L
@UM: W; L (was ready to call for road upset)
NEB: W; L (my upset special of the year)
@Army: W; W
UMD: W; W (only because both programs will be destroyed by then. On the bright side, tickets should be cheap if you want to bring the family)

Indiana can go either way, but I'm not willing to predict a road conference win with the current state of affairs. I should point out that I can't go back in hindsight and predict a Wazzu loss. That game had me nervous, but I thought RU had a talent edge that would carry it through.

I'm revising my pick at Penn State to a W. Call me an optimistic fool. I think this is going to be a low-scoring (read: boring if you don't have a rooting interest) affair.

W 9/5 vs. Norfolk State
L 9/12 vs. Washington State
L 9/19 @ Penn State
W 9/26 vs Kansas
L 10/10 vs Michigan State
L 10/17 @ Indiana
L 10/24 vs. Ohio State
L 10/31 @ Wisconsin
L 11/7 @ Michigan
L 11/14 vs. Nebraska
W 11/21 @ Army
L 11/28 vs. Maryland

Batten down the hatches guys. Rutgers is teetering on having their worst season in a pretty long time. The team lacked any juice last night vs. Penn State. I don't think Laviano is the sole problem, but he certainly isn't the answer either. He has no ability to open up the field with deep passes and, to be fair, he doesn't have the deep weapons either with Carroo off the team. Paul James appears to be missing a step or two as well. I think the defense will get lit up vs. teams with strong pass protection as well. The secondary is bad as we feared.

It's very close to getting ugly. Let's hope the team digs in and the staff gets creative.

W 9/5 vs. Norfolk State
L 9/12 vs. Washington State
L 9/19 @ Penn State
W 9/26 vs Kansas
L 10/10 vs Michigan State
L 10/17 @ Indiana
L 10/24 vs. Ohio State
L 10/31 @ Wisconsin
L 11/7 @ Michigan
L 11/14 vs. Nebraska
W 11/21 @ Army
W 11/28 vs. Maryland

I'll switch to 4-8 now since Maryland is also in for a long year. Will be curious how many Flood supporters remain if Rutgers is 2-8 heading into the Army game.

W 9/5 vs. Norfolk State
L 9/12 vs. Washington State
L 9/19 @ Penn State
W 9/26 vs Kansas
L 10/10 vs Michigan State
L 10/17 @ Indiana
L 10/24 vs. Ohio State
L 10/31 @ Wisconsin
L 11/7 @ Michigan
L 11/14 vs. Nebraska
W 11/21 @ Army
L 11/28 vs. Maryland

Back to 3-9. sigh.

(10-27-2015 01:12 AM)chrisRU Wrote:  W 9/5 vs. Norfolk State
L 9/12 vs. Washington State
L 9/19 @ Penn State
W 9/26 vs Kansas
L 10/10 vs Michigan State
L 10/17 @ Indiana
L 10/24 vs. Ohio State
L 10/31 @ Wisconsin
L 11/7 @ Michigan
L 11/14 vs. Nebraska
W 11/21 @ Army
L 11/28 vs. Maryland

Back to 3-9. sigh.

We have a win over Indiana (not a loss) so it is 3 wins to date. At best we could possibly win the last 3 games which would make us 6-6 but no guarantee of a bowl invite. Anything less then 6-6, we are out of the bowl picture and the heat will be on Flood.

(10-27-2015 01:12 AM)chrisRU Wrote:  W 9/5 vs. Norfolk State
L 9/12 vs. Washington State
L 9/19 @ Penn State
W 9/26 vs Kansas
L 10/10 vs Michigan State
L 10/17 @ Indiana
L 10/24 vs. Ohio State
L 10/31 @ Wisconsin
L 11/7 @ Michigan
L 11/14 vs. Nebraska
W 11/21 @ Army
L 11/28 vs. Maryland

Back to 3-9. sigh.

Is Indiana going to hop in a time machine and travel back in time to change the outcome of the Oct 17 game?

I still hold Maryland and Army in the win column and I'll be at HPSS rooting for a win over Bill Brasky, which I believe is achievable.