Bleacher Report - Articles by Ed Jacko

2009 Big East Champion.....Rutgers!

Ed Jacko — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:38:07 -0400

Rutgers University will win the 2009 Big East football championship, and represent the league in a BCS bowl. There, I said it.

You want more? Try this on for size.

Rutgers will win that bowl game handily; it’s fourth in a row after going 0 for 137 years.

Alright, put the phone down. No need to send the men in white coats to come pick me up. I haven’t recently fallen down a flight of stairs headfirst, and I haven’t been refusing my meds. Rutgers will win the Big East this year, and for one reason….

It’s time.

The women’s basketball program at Rutgers has flirted with the National Championship from time to time, most recently losing in the 2007 final. They won the AIAW National Championship in 1982 by knocking off Texas, 83-77.

Even the men’s basketball team has provided some excitement on “The Banks,” although not much since that memorable undefeated ride to the Final Four in 1976.

The only National Championship on the men’s side of the ledger? The 1949 fencing team.

Oh, I’m sure that for the eight or nine fans in attendance, that day conjures up some mighty fine memories. But it’s not really the signature championship a University can hang its collective hats on.

No, that privilege, my good people, will fall into the hands of the Rutgers University football team. A team that struggled to find it’s identity for more than 100 years. A team that hosted the first college football game ever, and then took a 137 year nap.

Guess what? Rip Van Rutgers is awake, and he’s well rested.

O.K. So now you want more than hyperbole. More than just the ramblings of an over exuberant 1987 Rutgers grad who feels he deserves payback for being brought to the precipice of greatness with an opening day tie against No. 3 Florida in 1985, only to be brought back down to earth with a loss to Army the following week.

Let’s look at some recent Scarlet Knight success.

2006 has got to be considered a high water mark for the program. I doubt I would get much argument about that. 11-2, a bowl victory, a final ranking of No. 12. Not too shabby.

And what were the ingredients to the success that season? A stifling defense, a ball control offense, and a young quarterback with one main objective; don’t screw up.

For those of you who follow the Knights, I bet you’re getting goose bumps about now. Does that sound eerily familiar? Kind of like the team we have going into 2009? Yep.

Granted, there are differences. And, as some wise, old, grizzled coach murmured under his breath some years ago after hearing the lofty preseason ranking for his team,

“Preseason polls are crap! You still have to go out and play the games.”

Ah, sage advice, indeed.

The pieces, however, do seem to be in place for a very memorable year for Rutgers football.

The defense will again be stingy, perhaps more so than 2006. The line will be difficult to run on, the secondary will make life tough on receivers and quarterbacks, and the linebackers will be flat out nasty.

Oh, I could get more specific about the individual players, or the defensive schemes and blitz packages that will be flying all around the stadium, but that’s what all those preseason publications like Athlon, the Sporting News and Phil Steele are for.

As for the offense, a quarterback needs too, and will, emerge. That may sound like a tall order, but remember what I said about 2006. We only need someone behind center who doesn’t screw up.

I realize that may sound a bit more simplistic than it really is, but it is at least on the periphery of truth. Although Mike Teel left the school this past year as the all-time leader in just about every passing category, his role in 2006 was that of caretaker, not play maker.

Just take care of the ball, manage the clock. I think that worked out fairly well.

We’ve all heard this a thousand times….offense wins games, but defense wins championships.

The pieces are in place. The coach has brought in the kind of player that succeeds not only on the field, but also in life. The fans are as rabid as they have been at any point over the past 140 years.

The stadium expansion is moving along nicely. The Big East is without a clear favorite, and the Scarlet Knights will field the most talent that has ever graced the banks of the Raritan.

Oh, and one more thing…

It’s time.

College Football: Crime and...Non-Punishment?

Ed Jacko — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:41:58 -0400

Ohio State Defensive Back Charged with Assault

San Jose State Linebacker Sentenced for Misdemeanor Battery Charge

Tennessee Punter Pleads Guilty to Drunk Driving

Seven Georgia Players Arrested Since End of 2007 Season

Louisville Receiver Dismissed After Second Arrest

This is just a sampling of the headlines I noticed while perusing the online sports sites in search of my daily fix of college football news. Did I say sports sites? Looks more like the daily crime blotter of your local morning paper.

I’m not naïve. I understand that student athletes are just like us—they make mistakes, they succumb to peer pressure, and they occasionally do something so far out of the accepted behavior of society that it warrants arrest.

But there is still that one major difference that separates them from us—they are student athletes. Apparently, that fact is enough to make some of them feel that they are entitled to privileges the rest of the student body—and the rest of the country, for that matter—are not.

Before anyone accuses me of unfairly targeting student athletes, let’s look at some statistics. In a study which covered three years, and 107 colleges and universities participating at all levels of college athletics, one number stands out: 19.

Although male student athletes accounted for only three percent of the population at the included institutes, they were accused in 19 percent of the sexual assaults that took place on campus—and yes, I said accused, not convicted.

That leads us to the next interesting, if not repulsive, statistic. In the general population, 80 percent of those accused of sexual assault are convicted. Of the professional and college athletes put on trial for the same offense, the rate of conviction drops to 38 percent.

While the lion’s share of the blame has to fall squarely on the shoulders of those who commit the crimes, they are by no means the only responsible parties.

A system created on the belief that the ends justify the means has led to a breakdown in morality and blurred the line between acceptable and unacceptable behavior at far too many campuses.

Just win, baby! Just win.

There was a time when a number of improprieties committed by a potential college athlete during his high school career were enough to put an end to his/her recruitment.

Not any more.

Now coaches gladly accept such societal malcontents with open arms, stating, “I just want to give this fine young man a second chance.”

Problem is, it’s usually the third, or fourth, or fifth chance. Of course, if you lean over far enough, and cup your hand around your ear just right, you may also hear, “I don’t give a crap how many convenience stores this kid knocked over, as long as I get my damned National Championship out of him.”

One of the most appalling cases of student athlete coddling involved a football player at Nebraska back in the nineties, Christian Peter.

His All-American Honorable Mention senior season ended with some pretty amazing statistics—124 tackles, 20 tackles for a loss, nine sacks, eight arrests, and four convictions, the most serious for sexual assault. Bravo!

But Peter’s stomach-churning behavior is perhaps not the most egregious part of this story. Nebraska’s response to his antics is even better—a one-game suspension.

That game? An exhibition prior to the 1993 season.

But I would be remiss if I did not add one more tidbit to the story. Christian Peter was honored by Nebraska as a member of their 2006 Hall of Fame class.

Reaching for that barf bag yet? Good. You should be.

I know that coaches will continue to recruit athletes with questionable pasts. I realize that winning teams bring an enormous amount of exposure to a University.

I also know this: High school athletes who dream that their talent will take them to a professional career loaded with cash and devoid of responsibility must also understand some stark truths.

One in 17 high school football players will go on to play in college. One in 50 college players will get drafted by the pros.

That means that eight high school football players out of 10,000, less than one tenth of one percent, will eventually hear their name called on draft day.

Those players need to be told that that number, as ridiculously small as it is, drops to zero if their behavior is less than acceptable.

College Football: Vacations, Pre-Season Publications, and Anticipation

Ed Jacko — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:22:38 -0400

They say a watched pot never boils. I’m beginning to believe this saying transcends into the world of sports.

It seems that the more excited I get about the upcoming college football season, the farther away it gets.

It’s not as though I haven’t done my best to keep busy. In fact, I just got back from a family vacation in Disney. Great time had by all.

The trip was a celebration of my twentieth wedding anniversary. My wife and I honeymooned there back in 1988. I still remember calling her mom from Germany, in EPCOT, on a pay phone; this was long before the advent of cell phones.

But I digress. Let’s get back to the subject at hand—college football, and the anticipation thereof.

As any of you who have read my previous articles have likely extrapolated, I’m a die-hard Rutgers fan. Yes, I can now say that with pride.

But I am by no means a band wagon jumper. I’ve followed the Scarlet Knights through the ups and downs, and more downs, since the early Seventies.

Through the Eighties, while I was a student at Rutgers, my friends and I would attend home games religiously. I say religiously since I was usually praying that we wouldn’t get embarrassed by East Sheboygan Polytechnic School of Manicures and Back Hair Removal.

But, as any Cubs fan can attest, every year had the potential to be "our year". It had been that hope that kept me coming back year after year.

And now, good readers, that hope has evolved into anticipation. It’s no longer a question of whether it will be a good year, but how good a year it will be.

And so, here I sit, at the beautiful Jersey Shore, flipping through a stack of football annuals that would choke a Rhino.

Do I really need fifteen separate anticipatory Team Breakdowns begging the question, “How does Rutgers replace Ray Rice?” Obviously not.

And yet, when I stop at the WaWa for hoagies on the way to the beach tomorrow, I will invariably scan the magazine rack, seeing if I somehow missed another college football preview mag.

Whether you’re a lifelong Florida State fan, or just started following the Engineers of Lehigh because your daughter will be starting classes there in the fall, don’t tell me you’re not doing the same thing.

It’s okay, no need to be embarrassed. It’s who we are. Perhaps our wives would prefer we were equally passionate about our marriages, or finishing the wallpapering in the guest bathroom, but at least we are passionate about something.

We’re talking Christmas in July here, people.

This is the time of year when we all go to bed with visions of conference championships, BCS bowls and national championships dancing in our heads.

So let the bathroom remodeling go for another month or so. Get one of the kids to clean out the pool filter.

There are more college football preview magazines, annuals and pre-season conference previews than there are bowl games.

And now, with the addition of two more bowls beginning next year, chances are better than ever that your particular team will be playing a thirteenth game.

College football 2008—so close, and yet so far.

Greg Schiano, Joe Paterno, and the Bloggers Who Cried “Wolf”

Ed Jacko — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:19:04 -0400

“The architect must be a prophet... a prophet in the true sense of the term... if he can't see at least ten years ahead don't call him an architect." - Frank Lloyd Wright

Greg Schiano is an architect of sorts. I think we can all agree that the project he took on at Rutgers University in December of 2000 qualifies him as such.

And that, my good readers, brings me to the point of this article—Greg Schiano will not be leaving the Scarlet Knights to become the head football coach at Penn State.

An architect’s job does not end at the drawing board. It does not end as the foundation is laid on a building of his design. No, the architect stays with a project until the last brick is placed, and, usually, long after that.

You see, a building, to an architect, is like a child. Do we abandon our child when they take their first step? When they learn to drive? When they leave the comfort of the nest for college? Obviously, the answer to all these questions is a resounding, “no!”

Greg Schiano has laid the groundwork at Rutgers, but, in his eyes, the work has just begun. Penn State is his dream job? Where exactly did this rumor start? Okay, he admires what Joe Paterno has done for the world of College Football.

Who doesn’t? I think Paterno’s name is synonymous with the sport. Does that mean there is an assistant coaching position waiting for me in Happy Valley? Hardly.

Every article or blog regarding the subject always mention “sources close to the situation” that indicate Greg Schiano is the man destined to take over for Joe Paterno. If we are looking for sources, how about the two men themselves?

I have yet to hear Mr. Paterno mention Schiano as a replacement. As for coach Schiano, he has stated time and again that Rutgers is his dream job.

Now, you may be thinking that he has to say that, since he is, after all, currently employed by the State University of New Jersey. The fact is, however, that he spoke of coming home, and creating a champion at Rutgers, long before the job was his.

I can understand loyalty to your current employer, but loyalty to someone who hasn’t offered you a job yet? To a football team that had gone 131 years, mostly ignominiously, without a championship of any sort? It doesn’t make sense.

Yes, Joe Paterno is nearing the end of a remarkable career at Penn State. And, yes, Greg Schiano is a talented, young, hungry coach who has a tie to Penn State (graduate assistant from 1990-91, backfield coach from 1991-95). But he also was a graduate assistant at Rutgers, and built a dominating defense at the University of Miami prior to his arrival on The Banks.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Greg Schiano is a man of integrity. We have all been impressed with the young men who have recently cast their lot to become members of the 2009 Rutgers recruiting class.

Don’t you think that sitting in the living rooms of those young men, with their anxious parents close by, the question of Schiano’s future at Rutgers has not been brought up? Scholar athletes today are an intelligent group.

The boys who hope to become men while at Rutgers have done their homework. They read the blogs, they listen to the rumors. I trust that while Greg Schiano addressed those rumors, he spoke from his heart.

Frank Lloyd Wright didn’t design homes for others, then move into one designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Likewise, Greg Schiano is not looking to move into the “home” built by Joe Paterno. He will stay with Rutgers until the project is completed. In the eyes of most architects, that day never comes.

“Rutgers is where I am going to be, and Rutgers is where I want to be." - Greg Schiano

Rutgers Football: Recruiting Success Turning Heads

Ed Jacko — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:56:28 -0400

Rutgers University has turned some heads lately with the quality recruits that have spurned bigger name programs to join the Scarlet Knights. Of course, that hasn’t always been the case.

You only have to go back as far as 2005 to find yourself in a time when most high-profile recruits would have repeated the infamous words first uttered by a Tennessee sportswriter in 1979 prior to the Volunteers game against the Knights: “What’s a Rutgers?”

By the way, the State University of New Jersey went on to win that game 13–7.

Desmond Scott, the second-rated all-purpose back in the country, became the latest big name to do his part in making sure that question is never asked again by declaring his intention to play for the Knights starting in the fall of 2009.

What baffled fans and experts alike in this case was that Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano plucked Scott from smack dab in the middle of ACC recruiting territory—a coup that would've been all but impossible a few short years ago.

It seems Schiano is determined to widen the boundaries of what he terms “the State of Rutgers.” What a difference a few short years have made.

The room that greeted Coach Schiano on that December day back in 2000, as he was introduced as the next sacrificial lamb to be led to the slaughter, as so many of his predecessors had been, had more empty seats than full. A smattering of reporters, mostly there by demand and not desire, applauded politely as he promised a day when Rutgers football would be competitive in the Big East.

The applause turned to chuckles as he talked of Bowl Championships and, gasp—National Championships. “Perhaps the fumes from the refineries had gotten to him as he traveled up the New Jersey Turnpike,” some thought.

Whatever the catalyst—the aforementioned fumes, or perhaps the knowledge of how to wake a “sleeping giant,” as Rutgers had been referred to many times in the past—it seems Greg Schiano has found the secret to reviving football fortunes on the banks of the ol' Raritan.

Don’t go after every four and five-star recruit (not that Rutgers would've had a shot at any of them a few years ago). Find those “diamonds in the rough.” Sign those two and three-star guys who made it to Division I college football more on heart and guts than flashy skills.

Over the years Schiano has become a master of taking the “good” and making them “great.” The star of last year’s team, Ray Rice, a last-minute recruit landed only because of a coaching change at Syracuse, was a three-star out of New Rochelle, New York.

Did anyone predict he would have the monster career he had with the Knights? I doubt it.

Look at the 2008 roster. Mike Teel, a two-star recruit out of Don Bosco Prep in Wyckoff, and Tiquan Underwood, a two-star athlete from Notre Dame High in Lawrenceville, are poised to lead what may be the most potent offense in the Big East this year.

Just luck? I don’t believe so.

Anyone can squeeze eight, nine, or ten wins a year out of a team loaded with prep All-Americans. Try doing it with undersized, All-County kids from Piscataway or Hightstown.

Coach Schiano has created a contender by recruiting to fill needs, not marquees. As Mike Larrow, a defensive end who recently committed to the Knights, said, “Rutgers was the best fit for me.”

With each successful season, more and more potential recruits, the superstars and the “diamonds in the rough,” will cast their lots with Rutgers, hoping to be that final piece of the puzzle, the piece that brings a National Championship home to Piscataway.