Gary Nova Experiment Proving Costly for Greg Schiano and Rutgers

I know quarterback Gary Nova is just a freshman.  I know it's going to take time, and I know that Mike Teel, arguably Rutgers' greatest quarterback, threw just two touchdown passes and 10 interceptions in his freshman year.  Teel led the Scarlet Knights to an 11-2 record the following season.

Young quarterbacks need to get experience but unfortunately for Rutgers, Nova has committed seven turnovers (five interceptions and two fumbles) in the last two games.  Both games were winnable.

Nova's not the only one making mistakes: Mark Harrison dropped a likely game winning pass against Louisville last week and 6'6" wide receiver Brandon Coleman seems to drop everything he gets his hands on.

Yes, everyone's making mistakes and it's not much of a stretch to imagine this team could be 8-0 and not 5-3 if they didn't give away games.

Two losses on the road, each by two points, and yesterday's 41-31 loss to West Virginia where Rutgers held a 10 point halftime lead were all contests that Rutgers had great chances to win. 

It seems clear that Nova is starting to struggle and with sophomore quarterback Chad Dodd on the bench, it's time to sit Nova down and let Dodd get back in the starting lineup.  It doesn't mean that Nova should be ex-communicated, it just means he's not ready to start and lead this team right now.

Last year it was simple center snaps that were the constant problem.  In 2010, Rutgers center Howard Barbieri regularly snapped the ball three to four feet over the quaterback's head every time Rutgers went into the shotgun formation.

This year one of the constant problems has been Gary Nova stepping back from center without the football.  It's happened four times in the last couple of games

It's hard to remember any other Rutgers quarterback ever making this kind of error. It just shouldn't happen.

It happened twice in yesterday's game and one time it resulted in a lost snap that fell into the hands of a West Virginia defensive lineman on the Rutgers five yard line.

Yes it's time to reinstall Chas Dodd at the quarterback position!

Schiano replaced Dodd in the second half of the Syracuse game with Nova when Dodd only completed 14 of 31 pass attempts.

Yesterday against West Virginia, Nova completed just 18 of 46 pass attempts and that was with the luxury of having a running game that Dodd never saw.

Greg Schiano is rolling the dice and it's not paying off.  Nova's not ready and it may have cost the team a win over West Virginia yesterday, a team that Rutgers hasn't beaten in its last 18 tries.

Nova's Mechanics are Horrible

Freshman mistakes are going to happen, they come with the territory but mechanical errors are inexcusable.

Nova is releasing the ball off his back foot on his short range passes.  It looks like he's pushing the ball and not throwing.

Dan Marino and Joe Namath could throw the ball of the back foot.  Gary Nova can't do this and he needs to step into all his throws and release the ball off the front foot.

It's really difficult to understand why the coaching staff hasn't pointed this out to Nova, but remember it was Rutgers' coaching staff that never knew Ray Rice could catch the ball out of the backfield, so what do expect?

Dodd Should Get To Start Against USF

Hopefully Greg Schiano will put Dodd back in the lineup on Nov. 5. when Rutgers hosts USF.  It's been two weeks in a row that Rutgers has missed the chance to become bowl eligible.

The Scarlet Knights finish with USF, Army, Cincinnati and at UConn.  All games are winnable if they keep the mistakes down to a minimum.

Nova needs to study the films and make the adjustments in practice, not in the games where his play is costing his team the chance to win important games.

He'll likely get another opportunity, that's what happened to Teel after the 2005 season and it's the way these things so often work out.

Rutgers might even find itself in the midst of a rather long quarterback controversy over the coming years, but now isn't the time to let Nova run this team.