Fanshots

Mike Rice rappels down a building in Jersey City. Video courtesy of Matt Hladik.

2

Mike Rice rappels down a building in Jersey City. Video courtesy of Matt Hladik.

He had a great visit,...He really enjoyed hanging with Jerome [Seagears] and Wally [Judge]. He was...

+

He had a great visit,...He really enjoyed hanging with Jerome [Seagears] and Wally [Judge]. He was impressed with the talent Rutgers has."

DC Assault Coach Damon Handon tells Adam Zagoria about Rutgers target Roddy Peters.

Rutgers' MidKnight Madness October 12th

+

At 9:30, Rutgers will host another MidKnight Madness. Last year was a ton of fun, with a lay-up line, a slam dunk contest and Mike Rice dancing to Vanilla Ice. Can they top it this year? One can only imagine.

Mike Larrow returns

+

If the Rutgers defense is looking for a boost after a shootout against Arkansas, the return of defensive end Mike Larrow can't hurt. Larrow started at strong side end throughout the first half of 2011 before getting injured, and looked pretty good in the process. He was then suspended for the first four games of 2012 due to an off-field incident. This definitely helps the depth at defensive end, where Marvin Booker has missed time on the weak side due to injury, and Myles Jackson has been taking his place. Larrow has the talent to start; the question is how long it will take him to get back to full speed. Update: Flood reportedly said today that Booker is close to returning as well.

Michael Burton out for the season

+

On the day we learned about Paul Canevari's transfer destination (see link), the unfortunate news has come out that starting fullback Michael Burton is out for the rest of the season with a leg injury. This is a considerable loss. Burton is a great blocker, and a legitimate threat as a passer and a runner. One would figure that his reps will be split between backup TE Paul Carrezola and backup FB Sam Bergen. FB and TE are already rather thin, so this leaves very little margin for error left. It's not too late for Canevari or TE Malcolm Bush to rescind their transfers, is it?

Personnel changes against Arkansas

6

I don't pretend to have elite football knowledge for starters, and it's hard to pick up on these things in real time when it's the natural tendency of the viewer to just follow the ball. However, the Targum has a good analysis of some personnel changes that Rutgers used against Arkansas - which in all fairness, a few commentators have mentioned in the comments here, and elsewhere as well. One change was more of a use of a 3-4. I noticed the three-man fronts, but assumed Rutgers was just using dime and quarter looks - Snyder was out there a fair bit, and Greene was in coverage, but just didn't put two and two together. Similarly, safety Lorenzo Waters was pulled late, as Rutgers wanted to get a more experienced and coverage-oriented look on the field with backups Wayne Warren and Mason Robinson.

"Rutgers: Coach [Mike] Rice was the last home visit I had. It was probably the best one of them...

+

"Rutgers: Coach [Mike] Rice was the last home visit I had. It was probably the best one of them all. It was a lot different than the rest of the visits. One of the things Coach Rice talked to me about was how I could do something special by staying home and coming to Rutgers."

2013 PF/SF Tyler Roberson talks to Adam Zagoria about his top six. Lists Rutgers, Syracuse, Villanova, SMU, Kansas, and Kentucky.

Mike Silver's faulty hit piece on Greg Schiano

10

There's a fair bit about how Greg Schiano is a control freak, which is not exactly news to anyone. At all. I don't see how that corresponds with him being a jerk though. With Schiano, it was his way or the high way, and that can be polarizing. There are plenty of people can't stand him, and plenty of people who swear by him. With a lot of the latter camp, we've seen his personal touch. This isn't a Randy Edsall devoid of personal ethics. Greg Schiano is fundamentally a good man. To suggest that being a control freak led to intentionally trying to injure Eli Manning is ridiculous. How stupid do you have to be to even believe that? Schiano was trying to force a fumble, plain and simple. The game was still within one score. It's absurd that this even has to be explained to people. Maybe he shouldn't have done it, but there was clearly a method to the madness. Probably the worst part of Silver's piece was quoting that egotistical, whiny blowhard John Feinstein, who has zero credibility on this issue. There was a miscommunication a few years back at a game regarding a pregame routine, and to John Feinstein this is a cardinal sin because he likes to hear himself talk, and Tim Pernetti fired him from a color commentary job. Yes, really. edit: Sorry, fixed a pretty bad typo in the subject of this post.

Proposed Big East football divisions

1

ESPN's Brett McMurphy has the story today, although his reporting is tainted by including a laughable lowball "ceiling" for a Big East television deal that is actually the floor.

Piscataway's Nadir Barnwell staying home at Rutgers

9

Rutgers needs to add depth at corner with a ton of senior defensive backs graduating this season. Assuming Logan Ryan returns, there are a few promising underclassmen, but the numbers are a bit thin there - which is why the news that Nadir Barnwell has chosen to stay home at Rutgers over numerous SEC and Big Ten offers comes as very welcome. It's a position of need, Barnwell adds much needed star power to this class, and he's one of two big Middlesex County recruits this season along with Metuchen guard Dorian Miller. The only possible response to this commit is pure elation.