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RU v WSU

Geoduck12

All Conference
Jan 18, 2012
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On ESPN's Rutgers season predictions. Must say I'm somewhat surprised by the assumption. I think this should be a pretty competitive game.

"All four nonconference games (Norfolk State, Washington State, Kansas and Army) should be victories, but adding four more wins will take an upset or two in Big Ten play and a successful bowl trip. Rutgers may be improving, but proof might not show up in the win column until they get some more favorable matchups against West Division foes in the future."
 
Are the Cougs and improved team over last year? I'd like to think they'll be better, but with a new QB it's always hard to say. Rutgers is breaking a new QB as well, the game should have gone the Cougs way last year, had it not been for some costly mistakes in the 4th quarter. Tougher because it;s road game, but IMO the Cougs play better on the road than they do in Seattle.
 
Are the Cougs and improved team over last year? I'd like to think they'll be better, but with a new QB it's always hard to say. Rutgers is breaking a new QB as well, the game should have gone the Cougs way last year, had it not been for some costly mistakes in the 4th quarter. Tougher because it;s road game, but IMO the Cougs play better on the road than they do in Seattle.

This is kind of how these predictions go because we lost last year, but this is definitely a winnable game.
 
Vegas has Rutgers as a slight favorite. The game could go either way. I'll go with the guys with skin in the game over some hack writer.
 
On ESPN's Rutgers season predictions. Must say I'm somewhat surprised by the assumption. I think this should be a pretty competitive game.

"All four nonconference games (Norfolk State, Washington State, Kansas and Army) should be victories, but adding four more wins will take an upset or two in Big Ten play and a successful bowl trip. Rutgers may be improving, but proof might not show up in the win column until they get some more favorable matchups against West Division foes in the future."

Rutgers ended up being better last year than most expected but when it comes down to it, they were kind of the opposite of WSU. Pretty marginal team that had a habit of making that one big play that won games for them. Plus, Nova had a knack with the long ball. They had big passing plays against WSU (78 yds), Michigan (80 yds) and Maryland (42 yds) that proved to be the difference. Can they pull that off this year? Their most experienced QB had a total of 28 pass attempts last year. Ours has 243 attempts. Not exactly the same level of experience when comparing new "starters". Their 7-5 record was pretty respectable but a few bad breaks would have put them at 4-8. Maryland went on cruise control when they were up 35-10 and gave up a huge comeback. As bad as our defense was against them, all we really needed to do was catch a punt and make a few offensive plays and we probably would have won.

We can't afford to overlook Rutgers, but they were fortunate to get to play WSU with no special teams ability and one of the worst Michigan teams in school history. If our special teams is average this year, I think we'll be ok. If our defensive backfield has matured and plays well, we might even win easily. I'm glad that we have a week to get warmed up though.
 
It's just one of those things as a Rutgers fan that never seem to get easier. There's always a litany of excuses as to why we won games. It's usually someone else's problem. You should've won, but you blew it in the fourth. Michigan was a bad team, that's why we won. Maryland phoned it in, that's why we won. I know its par for the course and that's fine. Ultimately, I agree though. I can't sit here and say anyone is just writing this game off as a W. We don't have the luxury of being that positive about anything. I am positive about a few things though. We have a new QB with next to no experience. So it's a good thing this a home game, because if Laviano had to play you guys in Seattle, I could see that being a challenge for a young guy. Otherwise offensively, we are 4 or 5 deep at RB. Paul James, who put up 170+ yards against you last year will most likely be back from injury. Our OL has to replace a couple starters, but the early returns are positive. WR's all return (and we have one of, if not the best in the B1G in Leonte Carroo) and we did lose our best TE to the NFL (Tyler Kroft), but the back-ups have promise. Defensively, and here's where I see things being different, I think we could be better than last year. We haven't lost much and what we did lose, we could've upgraded when its all said and done. Now, the inherent challenge with playing you guys is how much you throw the rock. It remains to be seen how our secondary will handle that. Could be a tough match-up like last year. I'm curious to hear about this new kid you have playing this year. Halliday was pretty damn good when he needed to be, I expect some of the same. However, if our pass rush improves like I think it will, it could change the landscape of the whole game. So all that talking really put us back where we started. Going to be a good game and should be a predictor of where both of us are at to start the season. A blow out on either side seems unlikely and if it did happen it would be a major cause for concern.
 
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It's just one of those things as a Rutgers fan that never seem to get easier. There's always a litany of excuses as to why we won games. It's usually someone else's problem. You should've won, but you blew it in the fourth. Michigan was a bad team, that's why we won. Maryland phoned it in, that's why we won. I know its par for the course and that's fine. Ultimately, I agree though. I can't sit here and say anyone is just writing this game off as a W. We don't have the luxury of being that positive about anything. I am positive about a few things though. We have a new QB with next to no experience. So it's a good thing this a home game, because if Laviano had to play you guys in Seattle, I could see that being a challenge for a young guy. Otherwise offensively, we are 4 or 5 deep at RB. Paul James, who put up 170+ yards against you last year will most likely be back from injury. Our OL has to replace a couple starters, but the early returns are positive. WR's all return (and we have one of, if not the best in the B1G in Leonte Carroo) and we did lose our best TE to the NFL (Tyler Kroft), but the back-ups have promise. Defensively, and here's where I see things being different, I think we could be better than last year. We haven't lost much and what we did lose, we could've upgraded when its all said and done. Now, the inherent challenge with playing you guys is how much you throw the rock. It remains to be seen how our secondary will handle that. Could be a tough match-up like last year. I'm curious to hear about this new kid you have playing this year. Halliday was pretty damn good when he needed to be, I expect some of the same. However, if our pass rush improves like I think it will, it could change the landscape of the whole game. So all that talking really put us back where we started. Going to be a good game and should be a predictor of where both of us are at to start the season. A blow out on either side seems unlikely and if it did happen it would be a major cause for concern.

As I said, we can't overlook you and have to take you seriously but it's a winnable game for a team with bowl aspirations. I'm jealous of the fact that your team has the mentality that it will find the way to win. When you look at WSU over the past eleven years, we've had 25 games that we lost by one score or less. 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2014 could have all been bowl seasons if we could have found our way in most of those games. You guys do that and it makes you dangerous. Your running game does make me nervous because we've certainly shown that we'll give up big runs to a determined opponent. It will be a great measuring stick for both teams. I doubt that WSU makes a bowl game if we lose to you guys. You'll be a bottom tier bowl team if you lose to us.
 
Yea we'll see about that. It's definitely a cautiously optimistic type season. Or cautiously pessimistic, whatever way you tend to lean. I just hope you guys enjoy your trips east as much as we did out west. I didn't go to the game itself but I was flying out to Washington at the exact same time to get in a car and drive out to Quincy to see Dave Matthews play at The Gorge. My God that's some beautiful country out there. So don't be too hard on Jersey. The parts you may see won't be as glorious, but it certainly has its charm. And hopefully people are as nice to you as you were to us.
 
Yea we'll see about that. It's definitely a cautiously optimistic type season. Or cautiously pessimistic, whatever way you tend to lean. I just hope you guys enjoy your trips east as much as we did out west. I didn't go to the game itself but I was flying out to Washington at the exact same time to get in a car and drive out to Quincy to see Dave Matthews play at The Gorge. My God that's some beautiful country out there. So don't be too hard on Jersey. The parts you may see won't be as glorious, but it certainly has its charm. And hopefully people are as nice to you as you were to us.

11 years of bad football have led most of our fanbase to be cautiously pessimistic. Think of how you felt in 2002 with Schiano and you know how we feel. You think there might be better days ahead but it's hard to be too confident. We hope that we're poised for something like your 2005 season though. In terms of visiting, I hope the Cougs that go have a great trip. This summer is such that it's not an option for me this time.
 
It's just one of those things as a Rutgers fan that never seem to get easier. There's always a litany of excuses as to why we won games. It's usually someone else's problem. You should've won, but you blew it in the fourth. Michigan was a bad team, that's why we won. Maryland phoned it in, that's why we won. I know its par for the course and that's fine. Ultimately, I agree though. I can't sit here and say anyone is just writing this game off as a W. We don't have the luxury of being that positive about anything. I am positive about a few things though. We have a new QB with next to no experience. So it's a good thing this a home game, because if Laviano had to play you guys in Seattle, I could see that being a challenge for a young guy. Otherwise offensively, we are 4 or 5 deep at RB. Paul James, who put up 170+ yards against you last year will most likely be back from injury. Our OL has to replace a couple starters, but the early returns are positive. WR's all return (and we have one of, if not the best in the B1G in Leonte Carroo) and we did lose our best TE to the NFL (Tyler Kroft), but the back-ups have promise. Defensively, and here's where I see things being different, I think we could be better than last year. We haven't lost much and what we did lose, we could've upgraded when its all said and done. Now, the inherent challenge with playing you guys is how much you throw the rock. It remains to be seen how our secondary will handle that. Could be a tough match-up like last year. I'm curious to hear about this new kid you have playing this year. Halliday was pretty damn good when he needed to be, I expect some of the same. However, if our pass rush improves like I think it will, it could change the landscape of the whole game. So all that talking really put us back where we started. Going to be a good game and should be a predictor of where both of us are at to start the season. A blow out on either side seems unlikely and if it did happen it would be a major cause for concern.
I think this, in a lot of ways, if it's how you describe, could be a good matchup for the Cougs. RU's offensive strength is in running the ball, our defensive "strength" (let's not pretend they're monsters, but...) will be our front 6/7. The unproven receivers behind Carroo, against our young secondary. Our traditionally deep Leach wideout crew against a both fairly young and inexperienced secondary (If I'm wrong about this, let me know, RU fan- not trying to take shots at Rutgers). Us being able to match up our Outland trophy nominee who allowed one sack all year against the kid at Rutgers who got pulled out of their spring game cause he had too many sacks in the first half.

It looks like a lot of good, "strength on strength" kind of matchups, where Rutgers could have an edge, but it looks like the biggest "strength on weakness" matchup could be WSU's passing game against the RU secondary, which should help.
 
Rutgers won last year in Seattle and we are worse than we were a year ago at QB. Now they get us at home and are expecting to win? Shocker.
 
It's just one of those things as a Rutgers fan that never seem to get easier. There's always a litany of excuses as to why we won games.

WSU fans can certainly relate to that, but unlike Rutgers over the past decade, we haven't won many (any) games to speak of.

The WSU vs. RU game is an intriguing one on many levels. It was a close game last season, with a lot of offense. Given the personnel changes to both teams this season, there aren't a lot of givens. Both teams are still little fish in their respective conferences, so winning this game is a priority to both of us.

Rutgers has a solid running game and a new QB. Considering WSU had a dreadful secondary last year, and that we boast a decent front 7, facing a run-first team with a new QB helps us I think. With that said, we will almost assuredly sell out to stop the run, leaving us vulnerable for play-action.

WSU has a relatively new, but a game tested QB vs. a Rutgers secondary that appears to be their weak link. The fact that we spread the field and get rid of the ball quickly will certainly challenge DB's who are unsure of themselves.

Rutgers brings back some capable front 7 returnees on defense to go against the strength of WSU's team, our offensive line. Pass protection will be important.

Not sure who will win. Have to expect a close game.
 
This is the pleasure of intersectional games. Both teams excited, both teams anxious and season are built or ruined by the outcome.

The loss last year crushed the optimism of the preseason and carried over to the Nev loss. RU's win carried them forward with confidence they could beat big 5 teams.

15 is coming soon, let's see what happens.
 
Have to say that it is a pleasure to read an opposing board that isn't filled with insults.
As already stated, your "new" QB is already pretty seasoned and we are nowhere near that with ours, whoever it is.
For us to win, we will need to totally dominate the line of scrimmage for our running game to eat the clock and keep your offense off the field. If we cannot take advantage of you stacking the box, I think we will lose this game.
 
Have to say that it is a pleasure to read an opposing board that isn't filled with insults.
As already stated, your "new" QB is already pretty seasoned and we are nowhere near that with ours, whoever it is.
For us to win, we will need to totally dominate the line of scrimmage for our running game to eat the clock and keep your offense off the field. If we cannot take advantage of you stacking the box, I think we will lose this game.
I recall you guys had some impressive studs in your front seven last year. Not sure who is back, but it will test our offensive line if the same talent is largely returning.
Like I've stated several times before, we play better on the road then we do at home. I know, it sounds strange, but in fact our wins in conference the past two seasons have been on the road vs. Utah, Arizona, USC, Cal, and Oregon State. We played ASU last season in Tempe very tough (4th Q meltdown as I recall due to turnovers) and played Furd really tough on the road. Even Auburn on the road two seasons ago went down to the end, and they ended up being in the national championship game that season. I like our chances vs. Rutgers. Maybe I'm delusional, but we'll be ready and we'll play good football vs your team.
 
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Have to say that it is a pleasure to read an opposing board that isn't filled with insults.
As already stated, your "new" QB is already pretty seasoned and we are nowhere near that with ours, whoever it is.
For us to win, we will need to totally dominate the line of scrimmage for our running game to eat the clock and keep your offense off the field. If we cannot take advantage of you stacking the box, I think we will lose this game.

It's funny that you mention that because last year I think we tried to do that initially and on the very first play you guys hit the deep ball on Tracy Clark 1 on 1 on the outside and he got roasted. Our biggest problem handling you guys was the cutback runs. So many times we over pursued and just looked silly. Have to give you guys a lot of credit because you definitely run the ball well. We just have to learn not to beat ourselves and make it even harder on us.
 
It's funny that you mention that because last year I think we tried to do that initially and on the very first play you guys hit the deep ball on Tracy Clark 1 on 1 on the outside and he got roasted. Our biggest problem handling you guys was the cutback runs. So many times we over pursued and just looked silly. Have to give you guys a lot of credit because you definitely run the ball well. We just have to learn not to beat ourselves and make it even harder on us.
Yikes...I forgot that first pass. Great call and started us out on our heels.
 
I think and have already gone on record that the Coug's will win this game. I think it will be high scoring at least on the WSU side. We averaged 31 points per game last season and if we would have played a little better in 3 games our average would be about 38 points per game. We played badly against UW, USC, and Nevada where we somehow only averaged 14 points per game and two of those were at home..

I see the Cougs scoring 42 in this game, but I am unsure what Rutgers will put up. I looked at their inexperience at QB as a fairly serious obstacle early in the season. If that is the case we may be able to load up against the run and make them throw. I just don't see Rutgers being ready for prime time on offense until they gel a bit more.

Hopefully I am correct in my assumptions.
 
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I see the Cougs scoring 42 in this game, but I am unsure what Rutgers will put up. I looked at their inexperience at QB as a fairly serious obstacle early in the season. If that is the case we may be able to load up against the run and make them throw. I just don't see Rutgers being ready for prime time on offense until they gel a bit more.

Hopefully I am correct in my assumptions.

I hope you're right, but here's why I'm not as optimistic.....

First, it's tough for me to feel completely confident that Falk can lead our offense to 42 points in an East Coast road game, against a team that we lost to last season, and facing our first P5 game of the year. A prediction of 42 points assumes that our WR's will be in midseason form, our line will perform flawlessly, our QB will be on fire, and we won't make many mistakes.

Rutgers, in my opinion, has a significantly larger margin for error than we do. For one, they're the home team in a cross sectional game. They're also a run-first team with a stable of capable running backs. The question of their QB being a serious obstacle is valid, but only if we can stop the run and take the lead early. If they're able to run the ball and/or they jump out to a lead, I can see play-action killing us, as has been the case for a decade. Our defense couldn't stop anyone last year, run or pass, and until we prove that we can, I'm staying in the skeptical camp.

Then there's the question of special teams and turnovers, two areas where we were dreadfully bad last season. Can we convert routine FG's when our drives stall inside their 30? Can we cover kickoffs/punts? Will we win, or at least break even in the turnover battle. Saying yes to these questions is based completely on blind optimism. Our kicking game was awful during Spring ball. I think it will improve this season, but in week 2? Not so sure. If you don't have a capable kicker, no amount of coaching is going to change that. Hopefully the incoming kid is legit.

Don't get me wrong, I think we can win the game. I just think it's more likely to be lower scoring due to the fact that both offenses will probably struggle to find themselves.
 
Solely based on last years game, this is a winnable game. WSU has a very good chance to win, by just playing solid, not great but solid. Given their QB situation, I like us playing on the road. Cougs 35 Rutgers 27
 
My only quibble with all of the concerns about this being a road game is the fact that the Seattle game is a road game for us too. It was not a home game and the crowd was not a factor for either team.

Some of the other posts in this thread show that perception is amazingly powerful. We did lose last year and that is undeniable. However, we were leading 38-34 when we fumbled the punt and we had moved into scoring position in six out of the seven previous drives. Rutgers deserves credit for the win, but this attitude that a loss is a foregone conclusion because we muffed a punt is a pretty negative way to view the team and to some people, the L is the only thing that matters and context is unimportant. We'd be fools to assume that we are going to win the game, but I think it is just as foolish to pretend that all of the good things that happened in the game last year didn't matter.
 
My only quibble with all of the concerns about this being a road game is the fact that the Seattle game is a road game for us too. It was not a home game and the crowd was not a factor for either team.

Some of the other posts in this thread show that perception is amazingly powerful. We did lose last year and that is undeniable. However, we were leading 38-34 when we fumbled the punt and we had moved into scoring position in six out of the seven previous drives. Rutgers deserves credit for the win, but this attitude that a loss is a foregone conclusion because we muffed a punt is a pretty negative way to view the team and to some people, the L is the only thing that matters and context is unimportant. We'd be fools to assume that we are going to win the game, but I think it is just as foolish to pretend that all of the good things that happened in the game last year didn't matter.
I was at the game, the crowd was loud for the Cougars. It was not a neutral game.

Otherwise, I agree with you. You cannot take Rutgers win away from them. But, it was just as much about what WSU did to themselves more than what Rutgers did to WSU.
 
I was at the game, the crowd was loud for the Cougars. It was not a neutral game.

Otherwise, I agree with you. You cannot take Rutgers win away from them. But, it was just as much about what WSU did to themselves more than what Rutgers did to WSU.

Agree, and let's also not forget that last years game kicked off at 10:30PM EST.
 
I was at the game, the crowd was loud for the Cougars. It was not a neutral game.

Otherwise, I agree with you. You cannot take Rutgers win away from them. But, it was just as much about what WSU did to themselves more than what Rutgers did to WSU.

I did not go last year, but on TV at kickoff it looked like the lower bowl of the stadium was only 20% full. While I don't doubt it was a mostly pro-cougar crowd, was it really that loud, especially after the opening play for rutgers?
 
Agree, and let's also not forget that last years game kicked off at 10:30PM EST.
I don't know if you have any teenagers or early 20s kids, but that is about the time the start their day...and sort of wake up. I'm serious too. It's not late for them.
 
Patrol, I don't necessarily disagree with many of the points that you make. However, I have to disagree with your interpretation that RU has a greater margin for error. Sort of a yin & yang, opposite sides of the coin thing. You noted that they are a ground team, and even more so with a green QB, and you cited that as a strength. That might be true against a team whose D was well balanced, but our green guys are playing D back. And even those guys got game experience last year as a result of our injury revolving door. It is pretty clear that our D will match up better against a running team in the first couple of games, and RU is a running team. If they cannot successfully run and are forced into passing situations, I think they are in trouble. So much for that margin of error issue…I think that sword will cut both ways.

As for the turnovers, you are right…except…we have never (never) had two consecutive years where our turnover margin was so pathetic. I'll be pretty surprised if we do so this year.

Overconfidence by RU is an asset for WSU. I hope RU reads all their press clippings.
 
I did not go last year, but on TV at kickoff it looked like the lower bowl of the stadium was only 20% full. While I don't doubt it was a mostly pro-cougar crowd, was it really that loud, especially after the opening play for rutgers?

I showed up about 45 minutes early and it was shockingly empty. It stayed that way almost all through intrductions. There were a lot of people in the concourse at the beer gardens and showing up late. Once we got into the first quarter or so, the crowd wasn't so bad. It got pretty loud on third downs and most other defensive plays.
 
I don't know if you have any teenagers or early 20s kids, but that is about the time the start their day...and sort of wake up. I'm serious too. It's not late for them.

True, but I have a hard time arguing with a straight face that it wasn't a huge advantage for WSU to have the other team fly 3,000 miles and then have the game start at 10:30 Eastern.
 
I did not go last year, but on TV at kickoff it looked like the lower bowl of the stadium was only 20% full. While I don't doubt it was a mostly pro-cougar crowd, was it really that loud, especially after the opening play for rutgers?
The lines were very long getting in as they did just about a strip search (I am exaggerating, but not much) for everyone getting into the stadium. I missed the kickoff and so did a lot of other people. Yes, it was loud. Not Seahawk loud, but it was plenty loud.
 
True, but I have a hard time arguing with a straight face that it wasn't a huge advantage for WSU to have the other team fly 3,000 miles and then have the game start at 10:30 Eastern.
I know that sounded kind of odd to say, but I see this all the time with my son and his friends. They are ready to go out and longboard or maybe go see a movie at about 1030pm. Their day is just starting! Meanwhile, I'm more than ready to hit the sack due to exhaustion.
 
Patrol, I don't necessarily disagree with many of the points that you make. However, I have to disagree with your interpretation that RU has a greater margin for error. Sort of a yin & yang, opposite sides of the coin thing. You noted that they are a ground team, and even more so with a green QB, and you cited that as a strength. That might be true against a team whose D was well balanced, but our green guys are playing D back. And even those guys got game experience last year as a result of our injury revolving door. It is pretty clear that our D will match up better against a running team in the first couple of games, and RU is a running team. If they cannot successfully run and are forced into passing situations, I think they are in trouble. So much for that margin of error issue…I think that sword will cut both ways.

As for the turnovers, you are right…except…we have never (never) had two consecutive years where our turnover margin was so pathetic. I'll be pretty surprised if we do so this year.

Overconfidence by RU is an asset for WSU. I hope RU reads all their press clippings.

I'm going to piggyback on this comment. Ekuale, Paulo, Vaeao, Barber, Palacio and McClennan are all back on our "front" line. Losing Pole and Cooper stinks but our front three starters average 286 lbs and all had decent playing time last year. That's big. Allison and Pelleur are the other starting linebackers and they finished in the top 8 of the team last year in tackles. Lemora played in 11 games last year and was fourth on the team in passes broken up. He's shown at nickel back in the post spring depth chart. In the secondary, Pippins, White and Taliulu played a ton last year and we have to hope they grew up. Dotson probably exceeded expectations as a freshman but had to take a medical redshirt. I think he'll be a valuable addition back into the mix. Long story short, while our defense was not good last year, the majority are back. I expect us to be decent against the run and mediocre to fair against the pass.

Rutgers is breaking in a QB who had less passes all year than Falk threw in his first half of a game last year. A huge part of their success was the ability to connect on the long ball to loosen up defenses. Can their new QB do that? They will run the ball against us and I expect them to get 150 yards. Last year, they had 281 yards passing against us that provided balance with their run game. Can we concentrate on the run where we avoid the 56 yard blast that put them up 21-10 last year? Stop two plays and WSU would have had a 31-13 lead at the start of the fourth quarter. The biggest question for us is whether or not we can limit the big mistakes. It's nagged us for years and could certainly bite us again next year.

If we play well and make the routine plays, our offensive strength match up with their defensive weakness and their offensive strength matches up against our defensive weakness. That should give us an advantage if we limit mistakes. The reality is that their run game is good enough and experienced enough that it might not matter. We might be forced to leave our secondary hanging out there and they might not be up to the task. At some point, you have to truly believe in yourself if you are going to succeed. I believe our team is ready to take a big step forward this year.
 
I'm going to piggyback on this comment. Ekuale, Paulo, Vaeao, Barber, Palacio and McClennan are all back on our "front" line. Losing Pole and Cooper stinks but our front three starters average 286 lbs and all had decent playing time last year. That's big. Allison and Pelleur are the other starting linebackers and they finished in the top 8 of the team last year in tackles. Lemora played in 11 games last year and was fourth on the team in passes broken up. He's shown at nickel back in the post spring depth chart. In the secondary, Pippins, White and Taliulu played a ton last year and we have to hope they grew up. Dotson probably exceeded expectations as a freshman but had to take a medical redshirt. I think he'll be a valuable addition back into the mix. Long story short, while our defense was not good last year, the majority are back. I expect us to be decent against the run and mediocre to fair against the pass.

Rutgers is breaking in a QB who had less passes all year than Falk threw in his first half of a game last year. A huge part of their success was the ability to connect on the long ball to loosen up defenses. Can their new QB do that? They will run the ball against us and I expect them to get 150 yards. Last year, they had 281 yards passing against us that provided balance with their run game. Can we concentrate on the run where we avoid the 56 yard blast that put them up 21-10 last year? Stop two plays and WSU would have had a 31-13 lead at the start of the fourth quarter. The biggest question for us is whether or not we can limit the big mistakes. It's nagged us for years and could certainly bite us again next year.

If we play well and make the routine plays, our offensive strength match up with their defensive weakness and their offensive strength matches up against our defensive weakness. That should give us an advantage if we limit mistakes. The reality is that their run game is good enough and experienced enough that it might not matter. We might be forced to leave our secondary hanging out there and they might not be up to the task. At some point, you have to truly believe in yourself if you are going to succeed. I believe our team is ready to take a big step forward this year.
Rutgers is also breaking in a new offensive coordinator. While breaking in a new defensive coordinator is probably a good thing for WSU, Ralph Freidgen was a very good offensive coordinator for them. Hopefully, in breaking in a new QB and new OC they start out slow
 
Patrol, I don't necessarily disagree with many of the points that you make. However, I have to disagree with your interpretation that RU has a greater margin for error. Sort of a yin & yang, opposite sides of the coin thing.

Overconfidence by RU is an asset for WSU. I hope RU reads all their press clippings.

This is merely pre-season conjecture from a fan (me) who doesn't claim to have the esteemed football IQ that some posters on here like to boast about. I don't blame you for disagreeing with me, because I'm often wrong about my WSU predictions.

I'm simply using common prognostication data points as to why I think Rutgers has a greater margin for error.

  1. Rutgers is the home team in an early season, cross country matchup. Vegas typically awards 3-4 points to home teams right off the bat.
  2. Rutgers utilizes an offense that doesn't have as many moving parts as ours. QB under center, 2 tight ends at times, play-action. If we bottle up their running game, we'll have a great chance. If we don't.....
  3. Relating to point #2, I have concerns about how we match up defensively in this game. Most of Spring/Fall camp is focused on defending sideline to sideline, Pac-12 offenses, defending the pass, rushing the passer, etc. Our defensive line is not built to stop North/South teams, and playing a power rushing team on the road in week 2 could be troubling.
  4. Special teams. I hate to continually beat this horse, but until we show improvement, this is a huge disadvantage for us. If Rutgers gets 3-4 points for being the home team and 6 points for having a superior special teams, there's the margin of error I was referring to.
  5. Rutgers will not be overconfident in this game. I grew up on the East Coast, and in many ways, Rutgers has a chip on their shoulder similar to WSU and Oregon State. They've had their fair share of success, but they are the small fish in the big pond. New Jersey / New York is a professional sports dominated area. Rutgers and Boston College both face similar challenges in that regard. Nobody really cares about their programs unless they're playing Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Florida State, etc.
Still, I'm not conceding this game to Rutgers. We haven't yet seen the complete Mike Leach offense, but this could be the year that we start games by scoring 5 TD's on our first 6 drives and nickel and dime teams to death with our short passing game, similar to what Leach did at Tech. Your yin/yang point is valid. If our offensive line performs the way we think they will, and Rutgers has the issues in their secondary some are predicting, they could be in for a long day of chasing our WR's around.
 
This is merely pre-season conjecture from a fan (me) who doesn't claim to have the esteemed football IQ that some posters on here like to boast about. I don't blame you for disagreeing with me, because I'm often wrong about my WSU predictions.

I'm simply using common prognostication data points as to why I think Rutgers has a greater margin for error.

  1. Rutgers is the home team in an early season, cross country matchup. Vegas typically awards 3-4 points to home teams right off the bat.
  2. Rutgers utilizes an offense that doesn't have as many moving parts as ours. QB under center, 2 tight ends at times, play-action. If we bottle up their running game, we'll have a great chance. If we don't.....
  3. Relating to point #2, I have concerns about how we match up defensively in this game. Most of Spring/Fall camp is focused on defending sideline to sideline, Pac-12 offenses, defending the pass, rushing the passer, etc. Our defensive line is not built to stop North/South teams, and playing a power rushing team on the road in week 2 could be troubling.
  4. Special teams. I hate to continually beat this horse, but until we show improvement, this is a huge disadvantage for us. If Rutgers gets 3-4 points for being the home team and 6 points for having a superior special teams, there's the margin of error I was referring to.
  5. Rutgers will not be overconfident in this game. I grew up on the East Coast, and in many ways, Rutgers has a chip on their shoulder similar to WSU and Oregon State. They've had their fair share of success, but they are the small fish in the big pond. New Jersey / New York is a professional sports dominated area. Rutgers and Boston College both face similar challenges in that regard. Nobody really cares about their programs unless they're playing Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Florida State, etc.
Still, I'm not conceding this game to Rutgers. We haven't yet seen the complete Mike Leach offense, but this could be the year that we start games by scoring 5 TD's on our first 6 drives and nickel and dime teams to death with our short passing game, similar to what Leach did at Tech. Your yin/yang point is valid. If our offensive line performs the way we think they will, and Rutgers has the issues in their secondary some are predicting, they could be in for a long day of chasing our WR's around.

I think Rutgers' secondary is going to surprise people. I don't think it will stop Washington State, but I expect Rutgers to challenge WSU's passing game. Rutgers returns everyone except the strong safety, but he's been replaced by a 4 star transfer from Miami (Fla.). Last year everyone questioned the unit because they finished 120th against the pass in 2013, so why not question them for 2014. The WSU game didn't help at the beginning of the 2014 season, but they did get better and finished 69th against the pass. This an experience unit now and they still don't have any seniors in the group. It's mostly juniors and red-shirt sophomores this year.
 
This is merely pre-season conjecture from a fan (me) who doesn't claim to have the esteemed football IQ that some posters on here like to boast about. I don't blame you for disagreeing with me, because I'm often wrong about my WSU predictions.

I'm simply using common prognostication data points as to why I think Rutgers has a greater margin for error.

  1. Rutgers is the home team in an early season, cross country matchup. Vegas typically awards 3-4 points to home teams right off the bat.
  2. Rutgers utilizes an offense that doesn't have as many moving parts as ours. QB under center, 2 tight ends at times, play-action. If we bottle up their running game, we'll have a great chance. If we don't.....
  3. Relating to point #2, I have concerns about how we match up defensively in this game. Most of Spring/Fall camp is focused on defending sideline to sideline, Pac-12 offenses, defending the pass, rushing the passer, etc. Our defensive line is not built to stop North/South teams, and playing a power rushing team on the road in week 2 could be troubling.
  4. Special teams. I hate to continually beat this horse, but until we show improvement, this is a huge disadvantage for us. If Rutgers gets 3-4 points for being the home team and 6 points for having a superior special teams, there's the margin of error I was referring to.
  5. Rutgers will not be overconfident in this game. I grew up on the East Coast, and in many ways, Rutgers has a chip on their shoulder similar to WSU and Oregon State. They've had their fair share of success, but they are the small fish in the big pond. New Jersey / New York is a professional sports dominated area. Rutgers and Boston College both face similar challenges in that regard. Nobody really cares about their programs unless they're playing Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Florida State, etc.
Still, I'm not conceding this game to Rutgers. We haven't yet seen the complete Mike Leach offense, but this could be the year that we start games by scoring 5 TD's on our first 6 drives and nickel and dime teams to death with our short passing game, similar to what Leach did at Tech. Your yin/yang point is valid. If our offensive line performs the way we think they will, and Rutgers has the issues in their secondary some are predicting, they could be in for a long day of chasing our WR's around.

concering point 2. I don't know if they do run a 2 TE, qb under ceneter O or not, but if they do that does not necassarily mean less moving parts less complicated etc. Those O's can be harder to grasp with more moving parts. Heck WSU probably has the least "moving" parts in the nation.
 
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