Last Wednesday you voted on the best Rutgers passing connection. Here are the results with some thoughts below.
Poll
Best aerial combo in Rutgers Football history?
This poll is closed
-
23%
Nova-Carroo
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4%
Dodd to Sanu
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51%
Teel to Britt/Underwood/Brown/Graves etc.
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1%
Hart to Moses
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0%
Big Mac to Chunky Soup
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10%
Ray to Marco
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1%
Fortay to Guarantano/Brantley
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2%
Erney to Young
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0%
Eddie to Odell
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1%
Kosup to Twitty
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1%
Flingin’ Frank to Bucky
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2%
Savage to Brown
So for the results and our best explanation as to why the tally came in that way ...
- Teel to everybody got 51% of the vote, so perhaps it would have been more fair to do a Teel to Britt and/or a Teel to Underwood. On the other hand, should he be punished for completing passes for so many yards to so many different guys? The debate could go either way. Nevertheless, with so much of the vote, Mike Teel probably would have gotten the victory regardless. In 2007, the three year starter led the first offense in NCAA history to have a 3,000 yard passer, a 2,000 yard rusher, and two 1,000 yard receivers. Wow. And guess who was the offensive coordinator? John McNulty.
- Nova to Carroo. This tandem may have gotten a mini-boost from recency bias, but the connection that also played together in High School at Don Bosco Prep. The surprising 2014 season began just as exciting as 2013 with what would become a record setting tandem. Perhaps this tandem lost votes because Carroo made an otherwise challenged Chris Laviano even look good in 2015, a testament to Leonte’s individual talent. Nineteen TDs in two years is hard to argue.
- Ray to Marco. Lucas probably got a little bump here due to millennial fans either being just old enough to remember him play, or at minimum recognizing his face from TV. Nostalgia bias aside, Battaglia led all tight ends in the country in receptions, yards, and touchdowns in his final season on the banks on his way to 1st team All-American honors. Though NFL offensive coordinators weren’t ready for the new type of tight end, it does nothing to diminish his collegiate accomplishments. And on the other end, Lucas overcame stereotypes to make some starts as an NFL quarterback and have success.
But the poll might have been different if Teel didn’t get votes for fans of his multiple receivers ...
Notable: Mike McMahon to LJ Smith got one, and I mean just a single vote this week. Sure the teams they played on were bad, and maybe McMahon’s stats were a little better because the team was always behind (other than the 5-6 season that seemed like a miracle), but they both got drafted! McMahon was an NFL starter for a minute, while L.J. was a key piece on the Eagles teams that made a Super Bowl and were on the cusp several other times. Or maybe I should have done Carty to Smith?
Missing in action: Eddie McMichael got the donut in his connection to Tim Odell. Would Dave Dorn have gotten at least one tally? McMichael was a pretty good quarterback and I’m sure if this poll was placed somewhere that those who watched Rutgers football back to the 1970s saw it, would have gotten more love.
It was surprising no one mentioned Erney to Brian Cobb instead of young. Cobb was named honorable mention All-American in ‘86. And thanks to everyone’s proper spelling in the comments this week unlike ...
They left out the Barcelona Dragons on Jay Gruden's resume. Was our third-string QB, behind Scott Earny and Tony RIce.
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) January 10, 2016
Thanks for participating and look for another opportunity to vote this Wednesday. The category this week is to cast a ballot for who you had the most football speed in Rutgers Football program history! Let the debate begin!
And the hint for this week’s movie theme is it featured a cameo from a someone who also made one in Rocky IV. And about a zillion other people before it became popular.
For all those who continue to vote, comment, and shake off criticism ...