One really has to feel for RU fans...sometimes I find it amazing that they still draw 30,000 per even though things like this happen to them seemingly every yr

Jackson


Rutgers fumbles a 27-7 lead as Illini win
Sunday, September 04, 2005
BY TOM LUICCI
Star-Ledger Staff
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- During one of his off-season press conferences, Greg Schiano said he briefly considered jumping up abruptly after sitting down, peering at the seat and declaring, "Man, is that hot."

He decided against making light of Rutgers' quest for a winning season or his situation. But here's a suggestion for the Knights' fifth-year coach: Stand the rest of the year.

Rutgers managed to do yesterday what it hals done so often, transforming off-season enthusiasm into a sobering reminder of why the program hasn't had a winning record since 1992.

The Knights didn't just lose yesterday. They lost, 33-30 in overtime, to a young Illinois team with a quarterback making his first college start after sitting the bench the previous three years. They lost to a team that had gone 4-19 the previous two seasons. And they lost after having a headlock grip on victory with a 20-point lead early in the second half.

Naturally, they lost because yet another Jersey guy -- E.B. Halsey -- made the Knights' defense look silly on a play that set up Illinois' winning touchdown in overtime.

Go ahead and say it: Same old Rutgers.

"This ranks right up there with the most disappointing losses we've had since I've been here," running back Brian Leonard said, "especially since we wanted to come out and start strong."

Leonard did his part, rushing for 128 yards -- 83 on a highlight-film touchdown run. So did quarterback Ryan Hart, who was 27-of-44 for 342 yards and two TDs and didn't throw an interception for the only the fifth time in his career.

The Knights -- despite a slew of squandered opportunities -- were in control and cruising with a 27-7 lead early in the second half.

The defense wilted, the mistakes kept coming, Jeremy Ito kept missing field goal attempts and Illinois rallied for 17 unanswered points in the final 11:54 of regulation. When Tim Brasic found Halsey in the flat for what wound up as a 13-yard touchdown play, the Illini had forged a 27-27 tie with 1:13 left in regulation.

Forget overtime, because the Knights never had a chance then. Their offense -- which produced 517 yards -- had stalled completely and their defense was spent. Ito, who missed four of his seven field-goal attempts, gave Rutgers a 30-27 lead in overtime on a 40-yard field goal, but it lasted for three plays -- or until the Illini got the ball for their turn.

Halsey, the former Elizabeth High School star, seemed trapped as he caught a screen pass in the left flat on second-and-7 from the 22, before stopping and reversing field. He left seven Rutgers defenders grasping at air as he crisscrossed the field, carrying to the 2-yard line. A play later, Pierre Thomas capped the comeback victory with a touchdown run.

"I don't know how many yards I went," Halsey said, "but I knew I needed a Gatorade when I went to the sideline."

This was a tough one to take -- even for a group accustomed to losing and doing so in creative ways.

"This ranks right at the top (of bad losses)," senior defensive end Ryan Neill said. "I think we haven't won in the past and, as a team, we don't know that feeling of how to win consistently."

Schiano is 12-35 at Rutgers, 4-19 in road games.

"When you miss opportunities like we did early on and you leave a team that's at home with a lot of energy in the game, you're playing with fire," Schiano said. "With as many missed opportunities as we had ... we have to find a way to win the game."

Rutgers reached the Illini 17, 4 and 26 on its first three drives, netting just three points. But the Knights overcame that to take a 20-7 halftime lead on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Hart to Leonard.

And it was 27-7 after Leonard hurdled defensive back Charles Bailey on the way to an 83-yard touchdown run early in the second half.

Then it all unraveled.

"I'm in shock," offensive guard John Glass said. "I'm really at a loss for words."

It's like unending torture. I mean man. :frown: If I were Rutgers I would throw out huge coin and try and get Jumbo Fisher from LSU, I mentioned this in another thread. He had a chance to get the UC job and passed on it at the last second because he thought he would be handed the keys to the LSU job since it was obvious that Saban was shopping around for an NFL job. Rutgers has a hotbed of talent, similar to Cincinnati and South Florida. They have a big market, a strong fan base, solid facilities and play in a BCS conference. Fan base aside, it's pretty much the same thing that attracted Dantonio to UC and almost attracted Fisher here. I'd make a run at him if I were Rutgers. Schiano just isn't cutting it.

Cat's_Claw Wrote:It's like unending torture. I mean man. :frown: If I were Rutgers I would throw out huge coin and try and get Jumbo Fisher from LSU, I mentioned this in another thread. He had a chance to get the UC job and passed on it at the last second because he thought he would be handed the keys to the LSU job since it was obvious that Saban was shopping around for an NFL job. Rutgers has a hotbed of talent, similar to Cincinnati and South Florida. They have a big market, a strong fan base, solid facilities and play in a BCS conference. Fan base aside, it's pretty much the same thing that attracted Dantonio to UC and almost attracted Fisher here. I'd make a run at him if I were Rutgers. Schiano just isn't cutting it.

Sounds like something worth considering. Schiano must go, its so bad I don't even really want to go to the games this year even though I will out of blind loyalty to my school.

brista21 Wrote:

Cat's_Claw Wrote:It's like unending torture.  I mean man.  :frown:  If I were Rutgers I would throw out huge coin and try and get Jumbo Fisher from LSU, I mentioned this in another thread.  He had a chance to get the UC job and passed on it at the last second because he thought he would be handed the keys to the LSU job since it was obvious that Saban was shopping around for an NFL job.  Rutgers has a hotbed of talent, similar to Cincinnati and South Florida.  They have a big market, a strong fan base, solid facilities and play in a BCS conference.  Fan base aside, it's pretty much the same thing that attracted Dantonio to UC and almost attracted Fisher here.  I'd make a run at him if I were Rutgers.  Schiano just isn't cutting it.

Sounds like something worth considering. Schiano must go, its so bad I don't even really want to go to the games this year even though I will out of blind loyalty to my school.

I know, it sucks for you guys. Rutgers definitely deserves better. I keep bringing up Fisher because he is just the perfect fit for the exact same reason he was the perfect fit for us. The only difference between Dantonio and Fisher is their philosophy. Dantonio is a defensive guru who has the perfect people in place for a strong offense. Fisher is an offensive guru who, I believe, would have the pefect people in place for defense. He would also have the Rutgers guys in shape for late in games and would make the proper adjustments. It's a matter of if he would want the Rutgers job. He showed a ton of interest in the UC job because of the Big East and recruiting bed and market, something Rutgers would provide. Either way, Rutgers needs to get a new coach in their RIGHT NOW. You have talent, Shiano is a solid recruiter, just get a coach in there now so he will have a talent base to work with instead of starting over from scratch.