What's up with Kordell Young? Walk-on Ken Gordon has left the team, but several new ones have joined. Sargeant also has some notes about Blair Bines getting reps at fullback (what's up with Morales?)
I don't really agree with Tom Luicci's complaints about the running game to this point. Rutgers ranks 85th in rushing yards, but a major reason why is that they haven't ran the ball all that much, and they started off against two good teams. When they have ran the ball, 3.9 YPC vs. Fresno State and UNC is not the end of the world. The problem has less to do with ineffectiveness and more about gameplanning. Rutgers needs to commit to being a run-first team again. It also looks like Rob Cervini is playing option QB for the scout team this week.
Yesterday, I answered questions from the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician.
At least someone still believes in Rutgers.
IN RUTGERS' FOOTSTEPS
Mario Cristobal, the Golden Panthers' coach, has been part of something similar several states to the north.
''It is so much like Rutgers, it's scary,'' Cristobal said.
Cristobal, a former UM player and assistant coach, was part of Greg Schiano's rebuilding efforts at Rutgers from 2001-03. Rutgers had a foundation in place before Schiano, unlike FIU, so the Golden Panthers' ascent can't be expected to be as rapid. No matter.
''I remember being in a Rutgers coaching outfit at a practice right here in a high school stadium, watching practice with guys from N.C. State and Florida and all that,'' said Cristobal, whose schedule next year includes Florida and Alabama. 'They'd all say the same stuff: `Why doesn't this place commit to building a program?' It's got all the ingredients. It's just never had a guy like [Garcia] running the show. It's never had discipline. It's never tried to recruit before.
With Rutgers playing in Annapolis, it's a homecoming of sorts for Jourdan Brooks, Joe Lefeged, and Morgan Carter who are all from Maryland and Virginia.
Baltimore's RB rotation on Sunday is still up in the air.
Running back Willis McGahee (arthroscopic left knee surgery) participated fully in practice today, but coach John Harbaugh wouldn't rule out a tailback-by-committee approach, which could involve rookie Ray Rice and fullback Le'Ron McClain. "We're going to use all of our good players and put them in positions where they do what they do well," Harbaugh said. "So we're going to put our running backs out there and let them play.
I forgot that John Maddox played for Navy. He's the son of well-known Rivals poster "BigWill".
Is the Star-Ledger in trouble? Regardless of how angry Rutgers fans may be at the paper, it would be terrible if the Ledger folded. Their sports section is usually good, never mind everyone who would be out of a job.
Hey, some actual good news!
New Jersey is gaining highly educated, high-income workers in their peak employment years, but losing lower-income residents who aren't working and find it too expensive to live in the state, according to a Princeton University study that researched New Jersey's migration trends this decade.
The report's data indicates the state is retaining and attracting college graduates and people with advanced college degrees. Also, the number of "half-millionaires," or households making at least $500,000 a year, has grown from 26,000 in 2002 to 44,000 in 2006 despite a higher income tax rate that took effect in 2004 for the state's top earners.