I was spending all day getting the house and my mom's house ready for Thanksgiving....just getting around to this...
1. First time to Rutgers for a game. This now completes my tour of all current Big Ten Stadiums. Drove 20 minutes to the train station, caught train to New Brunswick (25 minutes) and then shuttle to the stadium (about 10 minutes). Most convenient trip ever for a PSU game. Only downside is I had to sit near a guy who insisted on not using his headphones so he could listen to his music on his phone. That is really effing annoying.
2. The stadium is actually not that bad. About half the size of the Beav. Great sight lines. Rutgers did a "Rutgers Boardwalk" theme - not sure if it's there every week, but this is what you have to do when you can't field a highly competetive team. They had food trucks, a couple of rides for kids, beer tents. The only thing really missing was "Watch the Tram Car Please" announcements. It was a pretty good idea on their part. Got to talk to a nice PSU couple from Richmond who made the trip. Not one RU fan, young or old, said anything negative to me or anyone else I saw. I fully expected some crap from someone. But...nothing. Inside or outside the stadium.
3. Give Rutgers credit in the first quarter. They really did play with spirit. Not sure why PSU seemed to sleep walk in the first quarter, with the exception of a couple of big plays. Sometimes, games go like that.
4. The Rutgers QB has absolutely no touch on his long passes. None. Slats and crossing patterns - the kid is pretty good. But ask him to pinpoint the ball on a deep route, and he is toast.
5. Defensively, Diaz again played a soft middle in the first quarter. Not really sure why he keeps relying on that. IF Rutgers had a slight better offensive line, they would have made more hay on passes in the middle. Offensively, I don't really think Yurcich called a good game early on. I did not get the impression he was really pushing the offensive to be aggressive. That said, Rutgers defensive secondary was tight.
6. Defensively- only 9 yards given up in the 2nd quarter - that is amazing. No matter who you play. Carter is starting to really push to develop and I would be hard pressed to believe he should not be on the Freshman All American team. He should certainly be pre-season All Big Ten next year. It was good that the defensive picked up where the offense could not, at first. Kobe King has really come on the last few games. The secondary of PSU also played really tight. Linebackers were flying to the ball, and D-line held their own after the first quarter. Assuming Diaz comes back next year, he will have some great talent to work with and develop. I do think he comes back for at least one year.
7. To me, the turning point of the game was Amor's long punt which required Rutgers to start on their own 1 yard line. Up until then, a good portion of the game had been played leaning towards the PSU side of the field. (Big plays not withstanding). Dixon's pick and the subsequent TD really put Rutgers in a hole at 21-10.
8. I went to the concourse at halftime, and there was a line of cars leaving the stadium. I asked one guy why and he said this is typical for Rutgers fans - they know their team does not have the talent and depth for the second half. He was correct.
9. Weirdly enough, Rutgers does some light and smoke show during halftime, when the punters and kickers are warming up - so they warm up in the dark.
10. Even at 28-10, I did not really feel PSU had control of the game. They controlled the score, but not the game.
11. The second half was just a bloodbath. Rutgers really had nothing to offer to withstand PSU. They don't have the talent, or depth. But, to the credit of their defense, they did hold off PSU a couple of times near the end zone forcing FGs and not TDs. I was impressed with their effort at the goal line.
12. Congrats to the Rutgers punter - breaking two NCAA records in one game against PSU. I guess we will be the answer to a trivia question.
13. The game was to be a sellout, but some guy behind me said that Rutgers gave away a bunch of tickets to high schools, but hardly anyone showed up. I thought it was about 75% full at kick. By the end of the game, it was only PSU fans, the Rutgers band and parents of Rutgers players. Even from my seat in the upper level, I could hear the Rutgers defense calling out signals.
14. Someone teach Drew Allar to slide. Please.
15. All in all, it was a big win, although for most of the game, it did not feel like PSU really controlled things.
16. 9-2 and a chance for 10 wins next week. Who would have thought? I do think PSU was both helped and hurt by the conference schedule. Having the two toughest teams so close to each other, while having a weak opening and weak ending to the schedule makes people not really appreciate this team is pretty good. If the schedule had been different with either OSU or Michigan later in the season, PSU might have been able to work out some kinks, especially with a new defensive coordinator, and perhaps one of those games turns out differently. But you get what you get.
17. I will assume Manny Diaz's hair did not move in the wind.
FTG.
1. First time to Rutgers for a game. This now completes my tour of all current Big Ten Stadiums. Drove 20 minutes to the train station, caught train to New Brunswick (25 minutes) and then shuttle to the stadium (about 10 minutes). Most convenient trip ever for a PSU game. Only downside is I had to sit near a guy who insisted on not using his headphones so he could listen to his music on his phone. That is really effing annoying.
2. The stadium is actually not that bad. About half the size of the Beav. Great sight lines. Rutgers did a "Rutgers Boardwalk" theme - not sure if it's there every week, but this is what you have to do when you can't field a highly competetive team. They had food trucks, a couple of rides for kids, beer tents. The only thing really missing was "Watch the Tram Car Please" announcements. It was a pretty good idea on their part. Got to talk to a nice PSU couple from Richmond who made the trip. Not one RU fan, young or old, said anything negative to me or anyone else I saw. I fully expected some crap from someone. But...nothing. Inside or outside the stadium.
3. Give Rutgers credit in the first quarter. They really did play with spirit. Not sure why PSU seemed to sleep walk in the first quarter, with the exception of a couple of big plays. Sometimes, games go like that.
4. The Rutgers QB has absolutely no touch on his long passes. None. Slats and crossing patterns - the kid is pretty good. But ask him to pinpoint the ball on a deep route, and he is toast.
5. Defensively, Diaz again played a soft middle in the first quarter. Not really sure why he keeps relying on that. IF Rutgers had a slight better offensive line, they would have made more hay on passes in the middle. Offensively, I don't really think Yurcich called a good game early on. I did not get the impression he was really pushing the offensive to be aggressive. That said, Rutgers defensive secondary was tight.
6. Defensively- only 9 yards given up in the 2nd quarter - that is amazing. No matter who you play. Carter is starting to really push to develop and I would be hard pressed to believe he should not be on the Freshman All American team. He should certainly be pre-season All Big Ten next year. It was good that the defensive picked up where the offense could not, at first. Kobe King has really come on the last few games. The secondary of PSU also played really tight. Linebackers were flying to the ball, and D-line held their own after the first quarter. Assuming Diaz comes back next year, he will have some great talent to work with and develop. I do think he comes back for at least one year.
7. To me, the turning point of the game was Amor's long punt which required Rutgers to start on their own 1 yard line. Up until then, a good portion of the game had been played leaning towards the PSU side of the field. (Big plays not withstanding). Dixon's pick and the subsequent TD really put Rutgers in a hole at 21-10.
8. I went to the concourse at halftime, and there was a line of cars leaving the stadium. I asked one guy why and he said this is typical for Rutgers fans - they know their team does not have the talent and depth for the second half. He was correct.
9. Weirdly enough, Rutgers does some light and smoke show during halftime, when the punters and kickers are warming up - so they warm up in the dark.
10. Even at 28-10, I did not really feel PSU had control of the game. They controlled the score, but not the game.
11. The second half was just a bloodbath. Rutgers really had nothing to offer to withstand PSU. They don't have the talent, or depth. But, to the credit of their defense, they did hold off PSU a couple of times near the end zone forcing FGs and not TDs. I was impressed with their effort at the goal line.
12. Congrats to the Rutgers punter - breaking two NCAA records in one game against PSU. I guess we will be the answer to a trivia question.
13. The game was to be a sellout, but some guy behind me said that Rutgers gave away a bunch of tickets to high schools, but hardly anyone showed up. I thought it was about 75% full at kick. By the end of the game, it was only PSU fans, the Rutgers band and parents of Rutgers players. Even from my seat in the upper level, I could hear the Rutgers defense calling out signals.
14. Someone teach Drew Allar to slide. Please.
15. All in all, it was a big win, although for most of the game, it did not feel like PSU really controlled things.
16. 9-2 and a chance for 10 wins next week. Who would have thought? I do think PSU was both helped and hurt by the conference schedule. Having the two toughest teams so close to each other, while having a weak opening and weak ending to the schedule makes people not really appreciate this team is pretty good. If the schedule had been different with either OSU or Michigan later in the season, PSU might have been able to work out some kinks, especially with a new defensive coordinator, and perhaps one of those games turns out differently. But you get what you get.
17. I will assume Manny Diaz's hair did not move in the wind.
FTG.
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