Scarlet Over Black As Rutgers Beats Army: Do The Wins Stop Here?

(Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Earlier this evening, Rutgers recorded their fifth win of 2009 by defeating FBS cellar-dweller Army , 27-10.

Hope you DVR’ed that sucker, because it might be the last chance to see a Rutgers victory this season.

Yup.

I Schiano you not—The Scarlet Knights could easily drop each of their next five matchups, which are all against Big East opponents.

You might be thinking, “did you eat one too many Fat Sandwiches and has the grease paralyzed your brain?”

Well, honestly, chowing down on a Fat Darrell does sound pretty good right about now, but the truth is I haven’t had one in years.

However, one thing I have eaten recently is a nice, healthy dose of reality.

And the reality is that the 2009 Rutgers Scarlet Knights are not the team they were expected to be this year, and it’s not even close.

They are not good enough to win the Big East.

They are not one of the top teams in the Big East.

They are not anchored by a veteran offensive line, nor are they led by a mature defensive unit.

What are they then?

Well, by all standards they would be classified as a mediocre team who has won the games they were supposed to win and lost the games they were expected to compete in.

To illustrate RU’s mediocrity to date, I present two high-level statistics: The records of teams played and the point differential in wins and losses.

Rutgers’s five victories came against Howard, FIU, Maryland, Texas Southern, and Army. Combined, these teams have an aggregate record of 10-23, or a winning percentage of .303. Rutgers outscored these opponents 171-45.

By looking solely at the box scores, you would think Rutgers was a top ten team with those point totals, scoring roughly eighty percent of the total points in those five contests.

But the most telling statistic here is the winning percentage of these teams, which is putrid. Also, no team Rutgers has beaten has more than three wins.

So it’s not like Rutgers is racking up victories against quality opponents.  It’s quite the contrary—RU has been feasting on cupcakes.

But everyone plays cupcakes!

This is true, but not everyone plays as many as RU has played this year. Even so, cupcakes rarely bring out the best of any team. (They only make you, your stats, and your record inflated and fat).

Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, teams with a combined record of 12-1 and a ridiculous winning percentage of .923, beat the Rutgers rather routinely.  They outscored them 71-32, although the Pitt game was only decided by a touchdown.

Well, an argument can be made that Cincy and Pitt (currently ranked No. 5 and No. 20 nationally) might be the top two teams in the Big East this year, so who is to say they won’t beat the rest of the league like they beat Rutgers.

Fair enough. They might.

But the thing that should concern Rutgers and create doubt about the rest of 2009 is how Rutgers has looked against inferior opponents. 

The offensive struggles.  The defense gives up big plays and is inconsistent in tackling.  The running game is only mildly effective. 

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?