Rutgers Football: Knights Seek Revenge Against Syracuse After Debacle in 2009

The Rutgers offensive line gave up nine sacks as they suffered a disappointing loss to what looked like an inferior team on paper.

Sound familiar?  Of course it does, but this is actually a brief description of what happened when Rutgers visited Syracuse last season.

Rutgers headed into the contest 7-2, with Syracuse just 3-7. 

A consistent Big East bottom-dweller, Syracuse stood no chance against a Rutgers unit that was clicking on all cylinders and had just earned a national ranking of 25. 

At least that was the thought process many fans shared heading into this Big East showdown. 

The reality was that quarterback Tom Savage was getting hit on just about every offensive snap, delivering one of the worst stat lines of his career (7/17, 66 yards, two interceptions, zero touchdowns).

While the defense was not as bad as the score sheet indicated, it simply could not overcome all of the deficiencies of its offensive counterparts. 

This is another statement that has been indicative of this Rutgers football season on numerous occasions.

With the back story spelled out, this is going to be quite a challenge for the Scarlet Knights.

Both teams look completely different than they did last season.  Rutgers is just 4-4 and worse is that they are only 1-2 in Big East play.  Syracuse heads in 6-3, with a 3-2 Big East record, including a key win over perennial powerhouse West Virginia.

Syracuse QB Ryan Nassib started the season off on a tear and while he has come back to reality a bit in the past couple of games, he still has an impressive 1,563 passing yards and 15 touchdowns on the season.

A big part of this success has been Nassib essentially playing catch with third-year wide receiver Van Chew, in a majority of the Orange games this season.

Van Chew is on pace for a 1,000-yard, 10-touchdown season, so both cornerback Brandon Bing and strong safety Joe Lefeged should have their hands full in this one.

The quarterback situation at Rutgers has not been controversial recently, but true freshman Chas Dodd’s hot hand has certainly cooled off since engineering two impressive comeback victories.

In his past two starts, Dodd has only 201 yards and one interception with no touchdowns.  Both were losses for the Knights, but one would be hard pressed to place the blame on Dodd for the team’s poor performance against Pittsburgh.

Right now, it seems unlikely that Rutgers will finish better than 6-6 this season, so if Rutgers drops its third game in a row, expect Tom Savage to get another shot as the starter next week.

Nevertheless, do not count RU out of this game, as their makeshift offensive line only let up two sacks against USF, although both came at the worst possible times.

They would have won had offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca not called a mind-numbingly bad screen play from their own 1-yard line, resulting in a safety. 

Fans can only hope Ciarrocca is sent packing by the end of the season at the latest, but that’s a story for another day.

The point to take home here, is that the Knights will likely go with a conservative game plan on offense. 

Head coach Greg Schiano acknowledged that Syracuse blitzes “about 60 percent of the time.” So, he will look to keep Dodd upright at all costs.  

Furthermore, the Syracuse defense is ranked an impressive 16th in the nation, allowing a mere 18.7 points a game to opposing squads.

Therefore, expect wide receivers Jeremy Deering and Mohamed Sanu to get a healthy number of touches from under center in the Wildcat formation.

Rutgers will also not hesitate to let Sanu throw the ball, as he has two throwing touchdowns this season, each of which was over 20 yards long. 

One should not even rule out the possibility of DC Jefferson or Tom Savage throwing a pass or two, as their best bet of scoring points in this one will likely be trick plays. 

Finally, fans have been praying for Greg Schiano to utilize "The Rocket" De'Antwan Williams and, in a must-win situation where starter Joe Martinek is still beat up, Schiano may finally answer those prayers.   

In the end, expect Rutgers to come out fired up as they were against USF, still looking for their first win in the post-Eric LeGrand era.