Chris Ash had his hands full in Piscataway this fall, as
Rutgers was repeatedly humiliated by top powers in the Big 10. Rutgers finished
2-10, but even worse, they were 0-9 in Big 10 play. Their only wins came
against FCS member Howard, and they won at home against New Mexico, which now
looks like a quality win of sorts. The average margin of loss was by 30.9
points per game, something further moved by a 58 point loss to Ohio State, and
a 78 point loss to Michigan, which was the worst defeat by a Big 10 team since
the University of Chicago was a member of the league. The good news is that it
can only go up from here.
Quarterbacks
Rutgers could not settle on a QB all season, and as a result
got just 11 TD passes in 12 games with two different QBs sharing a bulk of the
playing time. Giovanni Rescigno, a sophomore, played in 7 games, while Chris
Laviano, a junior, played in 7 as well. Freshman Tylin Oden got into 6 games,
and completed just 1/8 passes for his trouble. Rescigno was the slightly better
QB between he and Laviano, but it was just barely, and by simple logistical math.
Rescigno completed 52.8% of his passes, while Laviano completed just 48.3%.
Rescigno passed for 889 yards, while Laviano went for just 748. Neither QB went
over 6 yards per attempt all season, which is abysmal. Laviano was better in
TD/INT ratio with 5/2, while Rescigno was 5/5. Basically, this position
imploded this season, and a replacement must be found in recruiting that can
put it right again.
Grade: F
Running Backs
The good news about the run game is that it could have been
worse…much worse. With that said, it was not great either. Junior Robert Martin
led the team with just 625 yards rushing and only 2 TDs on 12 carries per game.
He was closely followed by senior Justin Goodwin, who finshed with 517 yards,
but he only ran for one score, averaging just 43 yards per game. As a unit,
Rutgers backs averaged 144 yards per game. This was not a great number, but it
was made much worse when you realize just how bad the passing game was.
Grade: D
Receivers
With no reliable passers, this group suffered badly. The
team leader in receptions finished with just 39 catches, and that was promising
freshman Jawuan Harris. Harris finished with 481 yards with a 12.33 yards per
catch average, but scored only 3 times al season. He averaged just 3.3 catches
per game. He needs to see the ball more, and I believe if he does, he can
become a star in this league. Andre Patton caught 33 balls as a senior, and
fellow senior Janarion Grant, who was supposed to be the star of this unit,
finished with just 20 receptions after playing in only 4 games. This unit loses
a ton of depth due to attrition after this fall, so you will see several new
faces next season.
Grade: D-
Defensive Line
For what it is worth, the line did not perform horribly in
2016. Pressure came from two sources in Julian Pinnix-Odrick (10 TFLs) and
Darnell Davis (8 TFLs). Jon Bateky and Sebastian Joseph showed some flashes
from time to time, and five other DLs made tackles behind the line this season,
which is promising when Rutgers will lose only two of those players. The
Knights recorded 1.75 sacks per game, led by Pinnix-Odrick, which shows some
talent up front on defense. The main issue this unit had was not in getting
into the backfield to apply pressure, but in stopping the run, as Rutgers
allowed 264.17 yards rushing per game.
Grade: C-
Linebackers
Trevor Morris, a sophomore, has had to step up and lead this
defense as a young player, and that is no easy task. He recorded 102 tackles
this season, and got completely abused most days. Deonte Roberts, also a
sophomore, compiled 95 total tackles on the season. Tyreek Maddox-Williams
recorded 47 tackles, and productivity fell off from that point. Because of the
inability to stuff running lanes by the line, the young LBs were forced into
action, and largely failed to stop anything before it was a 5 to 7 yard gain. Morris
and Roberts are stars in the making, but they need some help.
Grade: D
Defensive Backs
This unit showed some promise, as they allowed just 186.5
yards passing per game. Of course, when teams are running at will and running
up the score, why pass? Sophomore Blessuan Austin became a shutdown star with
14 pass break ups on the season, which is highly promising. Only sophomore
Isaiah Wharton had as many as five otherwise, which is not. Senior Anthony
Cioffi was the only DB to pick off multiple passes on the season, and even then
he only recorded two. Again, as teams ran at will against the Scarlet Knights,
there were fewer opportunities to make plays in the passing game. As such,
Rutgers recorded just 8 INTs all season as a team. Cioffi also led all DBs in
tackles with 63, and the bad news is that he leaves the team as a graduate.
Grade: D
Special Teams
Junior PK David Bonagura had limited opportunites in 2016,
and did not make the most of those at times. He connected on 10/14 PKs on the
year, and also managed to miss two PATs.
Those numbers do not scream reliability. Even worse was the play of
Punter Michael Cintron, who was just awful in 2016. He averaged just 37.89
yards per punt, while punting a whopping 7.9 punts per game. Janorian Grant was
highly successful in his 4 games returning kickoffs, averaging over 32 yards
per return. The same cannot be said for Justin Goodwin, who averaged just 18.4
yards per return. That is a diametric difference. Grant also averaged 16 yards
per punt return, but Jawuan Harris averaged only 3.73 per return, again, a
gaping difference.
Overall
Basically, Chris Ash has to tear down the house and rebuild
almost every aspect of this football team. The honeymoon is over, and now he
knows what must be done. Rutgers is a basic disaster of a program right now,
and a complete rebuild is all that can be done. It was hard to find any one
area where the Scarlet Knights really excelled this season. They averaged just
15.7 points per game on offense, so I suggest that they start working there.
Successes: Very
few indeed. Other than some moderate success in pass defense, there was not
anything worth writing home about.
Needs: Everything.
Rutgers needs a QB in the worst way, they need a reliable run game, and the
line pretty much must be rebuilt from end to end. Defensively, stopping the run
in2017 has to be a priority, because that was where most of the damage against
them was done. Special teams are a wreck as well.
2017 Non-Conference
Opponents: Washington, Eastern Michigan, Morgan State…Washington should
crush Rutgers once again, but there are opportunities against an improving EMU
club. The Morgan State game is an absolute win. Going 2-1 against this rather
weak lineup (Washington being the exception) is not out of the line of
possibilities.
No comments:
Post a Comment