All the walking wounded are apparently getting better. Some interesting updates there re: Witherspoon and Young. Schiano praised reserve DTs Evan Lampert and Scott Vallone after practice.
SK.com: Tim Pernetti will be on Mike Francesa's show when he broadcasts from Bar A on the Jersey Shore next week. Francesa's self-centeredness is only matched by his sheer volume, but he unfortunately still has a large following in the New York City market. They also have your weekly expansion pics fix up.
Rutgers doesn't have much at Tight End behind receiving specialist Shamar Graves. Dom Natale is taking charge, and the Targum posted a brief interview with Timmy Brown. It's officially a battle between Teddy Dellaganna and San Te for the kickoff job. No Kyle Sullivan?
Sean from Troy Nunes thinks that USC/Syracuse will be a better draw than Rutgers/Army at Giants Stadium. I think he's nuts here, even if SU is doing a lot better at that point. As if on cue, Tom Luicci has the relevant figures. 45,000 seems on the conservative side. We're getting a bigger guarantee than Syracuse, which basically confirms the obvious: Rutgers is a much, much better draw in Giants Stadium. The NMSC likely won't pay as much for future games, but I see the $2.5 million figure as a negotiating ploy: the budget is to the point where they have to consider ANY move that increases net revenue. Not do (everything has to be in the best interests of the program), but consider.
Beat Visitor: Cincy's Mardy Gilyard provides more bulletin board material.
LFBall: the Carter demotion will wreck Fred Hill's recruiting. You can't kill what's already dead. The days of Echenique and Rosario are long past; RU doesn't have any commits for the upcoming season. Tim Pernetti can roll over the contract as much as he wants, Hill is still a lame duck, which makes recruiting difficult, if not impossible. Half of us will be eying Siena's Fran McCaffery all season.
Per Brian Bennett, the Big East is still in discussions with other bowls. Emerald or EagleBank isn't going to cut it.
Brian Leonard rushed 7 times for 34 yards last night in the Bengals/Patriots game, which was an improvement over their first game. I haven't been able to find any highlights with him yet though. Tennessee plays tonight. Gary Brackett continues to beat the odds. Jamaal Westerman saw times on special teams in the Jet preseason opener against St. Louis, and now he's being worked in to nickel packages. Here's a thought: would Jamaal be starting over Vernon Gholston if the Jets didn't have to justify their investment in the former #6 overall pick?
Ledger op/ed: college tuition is way too high. Unlike similar pieces, this one correctly notes that a naked freeze wouldn't necessarily help without new sources of revenue.
MyCentralJersey.com has several pics up of the new RU Visitors Center in Piscataway.