Always looking for a good reason to use the term "dumpster fire." Thanks to Texas, and now Rutgers, there's been ample opportunity to do so this week.
Pat Forde of Yahoo! writes on the stench coming out of New Jersey.
On Nov. 19, 2012, Rutgers and Maryland formally accepted somewhat surprising invitations to join the Big Ten conference.
On that day, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany looked like Julia Roberts marrying Lyle Lovett, and John McCain selecting Sarah Palin as a running mate. Nobody could quite see the attraction.
Not yet three years after a day that will live in Big Ten infamy, the Rutgers part of the expansion equation looks even worse than it did then. Far worse. Of all the realignment maneuvers of the past five years, adding the Scarlet Knights is liking signing up for a lifetime case of poison ivy rash.
This has been an absolute debacle.
Delany has done a lot of smart things in his long tenure as Big Ten commish. He added Penn State, which was a boon until the Sandusky scandal brought down Joe Paterno and sent the school through a painful period of crisis. He added Nebraska, and that has gone well. He helped create the Big Ten Network, which has been a revenue geyser. He has served the conference well.
But the Rutgers decision goes alongside decades of resistance to a football playoff as the two major splotches on Delany’s resume. He eventually bowed to public pressure and came around to the playoff concept. He might be well-served to evict the stumblebums from New Jersey next, before they can do further damage to the conference’s prestige and reputation.
And this:
The president of Rutgers’ faculty union told NJ.com on Wednesday that the three-game suspension is “a slap on the wrist.” It’s hard to disagree with that assessment.
The Rutgers report shows the extent to which Flood went to avoid detection in his dealings with the professor: meeting off-campus; communicating only through private emails; and trying to swear others in the know about the grade-change scheme to secrecy. Not the actions of a man who says he simply didn’t know the rule about contacting a professor, and thus made an honest mistake. Nobody goes to those cloak-and-dagger lengths to keep something out of public view if they think they’re not doing something wrong.
The great cosmic joke of the whole situation is the fact that Flood stuck his neck out for a player who is no longer on the team – and not for academic reasons. Junior cornerback Nadir Barnwell was one of six players kicked off the team earlier this month after being charged with various crimes. Barnwell and three others are charged with assault, and two Scarlet Knights are charged with home invasions.
A few Thursday links:
-- This reporter talked to a bunch of SEC coaches anonymously about other SEC teams. Here are their takes on the SEC East.
After three consecutive 11-win seasons, South Carolina sputtered to a 7-6 record last season, losing four games in the fourth quarter – mainly because the defense blew leads. Are the Gamecocks closer to another seven-win season or can they rebound to win 10?
“Defensively, they’ve changed some things up with Jon Hoke as defensive coordinator,” one coach said. “They’ve got to be better with their technique and execution of the defensive calls.
“They’ve got some talented players, even though they get guys Georgia and Alabama don’t want. They do a good job of evaluating talent. But they’ve got to play better on defense and give the offense a chance.”
One coach isn’t sure South Carolina has good enough quarterback play to contend in the East, but he does like the Head Ball Coach.
“Steve Spurrier is as good of an offensive mind as you’ll find in the country,” the coach said. “Ultimately for South Carolina to win, they’ve got to play good team ball, make the defense play on the long end of the field and produce on offense.”
One coach doesn’t think the Gamecocks have the talent of a few years ago.
“I’m not sure they’ve recruited as well in recent years as they did earlier,” he said. “They used to get the top player in South Carolina almost every year. Now they’re struggling to get the best players in their backyard. I’m not sure Steve Spurrier recruits as hard as he used to.”
-- Jeff Schultz of the AJC says Georgia Tech has something Georgia doesn't: Comfort at the quarterback position.
Never mind that Georgia has a great tailback (Nick Chubb) and a better defense than Tech. The Jackets have something the Dogs don’t – a quality and dependable starting quarterback (Justin Thomas) who has the mind to get his team’s offense into the right play and the ability to make the play work.
It doesn’t matter that the two programs run different offenses. Success in any scheme starts and ends with the quarterback, and right now we only know that Thomas can make plays to win games. We don’t know that with Greyson Lambert, who has largely been protected with a running game and conservative play-calling, and we certainly don’t know it with back up Brice Ramsey, who has played only two offensive series.
Tech runs the option. Know what? Two games into the season, Tech also has the more efficient passing game. It’s obviously a small sampling size, but here are the numbers:
• Thomas: 10 for 13 (76.9 completion percentage), 151 yards (11.6 per attempt), 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions (250.6 college efficiency rating).
• Georgia’s Greyson Lambert: 19 for 33 (57.6), 257 yards (7.8 per attempt), 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions (143 rating).
-- Georgia's new OC says he's not panicking over the QB situation.
Brian Schottenheimer hadn’t met with the media since Georgia’s season began, since Greyson Lambert was named the starting quarterback, and since Schottenheimer’s offense had a solid start in Game 1 before sputtering the next week. So when media members were informed Wednesday evening that “a coach” was coming to meet with them, the best guess was Schottenheimer was coming. It was correct.
Schottenheimer, Georgia’s first-year offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, acknowledged that the passing game had to improve, explained why Lambert won the job in the preseason, and why he is keeping it for now. And he tried to project an overall calm about things.
“We’re not panicking,” Schottenheimer said. “That game’s behind us. We didn’t play very well offensively, especially in the passing game. But we found a way to win. I think that’s a positive. We’ve moved on, we’re getting ready for South Carolina, which is gonna be another challenge. Another group that’s gonna load the box. We know that.”
-- And we close with a suggestion from subscriber rick1984, the Turnpike Troubadours:
LW
