We knew that Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood would be good at receiver, but if there were any lingering doubts about Mike Teel, there shouldn't be.
"It's tough, because Teel is basically the offensive coordinator playing quarterback," said nose tackle Pete Tverdov. "You're not going to trick him. When you combine that with two great wide receivers, it makes it extremely difficult to stop them."
That was the case early on when the starters from both sides squared off at Rutgers Stadium during the Scarlet Knights' three-hour scrimmage in the sweltering heat (it measured 98 degrees on the FieldTurf), even though Teel didn't have any semblance of a running game to keep the defense honest.
Still, he was 5-for-6 for 84 yards on the first series against the starting defense, capping the drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Britt. He was then 4-for-4 for 39 yards on the second series, which wound up as a 70-yard touchdown drive.
Running backs? Still shakier than I'd like.
Neither Kordell Young nor Jourdan Brooks stood out and Mason Robinson - who broke a Zaire Kitchen tackle, scored a touchdown and did - bruised his hip and will likely be out a couple days.
Doubly so, because the offensive line appears to have pass protection down, but is struggling to open running lanes.
The offensive line appears to be solid.
Okay, let's qualify that: In pass protection it does. As a run blocking unit, it remains to be seen how good this group will be. Teel was pleased with the pass protection he had in the scrimmage, saying the line "picked up all the stunts and blitzes and everything they threw at them." What has to be determined is how much the ineffectiveness of the running game so far is due to the line or inexperienced backs.By the way, LT Anthony Davis is becoming scary good. At a svelte 316 pounds, his athleticism is really beginning to show now.
I visualize Luicci panting every time he writes about Davis.
It looks like Chris Paul-Etienne, a major wild card entering camp, may be emerging at the QB position.
Paul-Etienne might've taken his biggest step yet Wednesday, completing his first six passes for 103 yards and driving Rutgers' second-team offense down the field twice for touchdowns.
"I felt it was important that as an offense we got 7s instead of 3s,'' said the 6-3, 190-pound quarterback, who capped the second scoring march with a 10-yard dart to tight end Craig McGovern.
Paul-Etienne, who appeared to move ahead of Dom Natale and Rutgers' two true freshman with his strong play, conceded that his first two years were stunted by an inability to fully grasp the offensive system.
D.C. Jefferson also inaugurated four years of Kyle Boller/Jeff George comparisons by showing off his absolute howitzer of an arm. Ideally, CPE will take the reins for the next few years, because i can't imagine Jefferson or Savage playing early in their careers.
In the thank heavens department, Sargeant also reports that D'Imperio has finally taken a strong lead over Munoz in the race for MLB. I still cannot fathom that it was a fair competition to begin with. One other positive note was about Jack Corcoran's improvement of a blocker, so read that entry and give traditional media much needed traffic. Apparently Teddy Dellaganna is not fumbling every other snap at punter now, either.
Rutgers - the fifth nastiest place to play?!?!?!?
The first known student section gathered—fully clothed—on Nov. 6, 1869, in New Brunswick, N.J., to watch Princeton play Rutgers in the first college football game. Half the crowd of 100 was Rutgers students, who set themselves apart from the citizenry by wearing scarlet scarves wrapped around their heads like turbans. Crowd coordination was born. The November 1869 issue of The Targum, Rutgers' school paper, describes a game that was full of "headlong running, wild shouting and frantic kicking" led by two men named Big Mike and Large. The students sat along a wooden fence in silence, stunned by the brutality, until Big Mike and Large crashed into their perch. Suddenly they were roused into laughter and cheers, when a horrified Rutgers professor stood, waved his umbrella toward the two teams on the field and bellowed, "You will come to no Christian end!"
I'm sure our Jock Jams/boomer rock blaring over the PA, mis-timed chants, and frequent calls of "down in front" have opponents shaking in their boots.
Want to buy a Greg Schiano bobblehead? You're in luck. (That really doesn't look anything like him.)
Some camp notes from UNC.