Daddy Hoosier | October 29, 2020
The 17th Ranked Indiana Hoosiers travel to Piscataway, New Jersey Saturday to face an improved Rutgers team as they look to build on last week’s big win versus Penn State. Rutgers is a program headed in the right direction and IU is coming off a big high so it will be interesting to see how the Hoosiers respond in their first road test of the season.
Here’s a quick look at what to expect from the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
New Coaching
Greg Schiano returns for his second stint at Rutgers. Schiano coached the Scarlet Knights from 2001-2011 (Big East) where he had a combined record of 68-67. This is a little misleading however as he had a winning season 7 of his last 8 years and was 5-1 in Bowl games. (After dropping the first Schiano and Rutgers won five in a Bowls in a row.)
The New Jersey native left Rutgers to coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2012-13 were he finished with an overall record of 11-21. He was also the Associate Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator at Ohio State from 2016 to 2018.
Schiano is widely regarded as a very good coach and he already has Rutgers moving in the right direction. He brings in another New Jersey native in Sean Gleason to be his Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks Coach. Gleason is a young coach who has quickly developed a reputation for overseeing high-powered offenses, first at FBS Princeton then last year at Oklahoma State. In 2019 the Cowboys’ Offense ranked 22nd nationally with 453.9 yards per contest. Gleason runs the Spread but isn’t afraid to rush the ball and to bring a balanced attack.
Robb Smith reunites with Coach Schiano as Rutgers Defensive Coordinator in 2020. Smith was in Piscataway from 2009 to 2012 and then followed Schiano to Tampa to be the DC there in 2013. In recent years the Rutgers Defense has been ahead of the Offense and they played pretty well Saturday against Michigan State. Aaron Breitman of onthebanks.com states that Schiano and Smith value speed over size. Schiano told the press earlier this week that he likes to give exotic looks and move people around, especially on 3rd Downs. They’ll rotate a lot of bodies in and out in much the same way Indiana does.
Transfers
Schiano and company have brought in several transfers to help shore things up in the short term.
- Senior Defensive Lineman Malik Barrow - UCF (started)
- Sophomore Defensive Lineman Ireland Burke - Boston College
- Junior WR / KR Aron Cruickshank - Wisconsin
- Senior Defensive Lineman Michael Dwumfour - Michigan
- Senior Tight End Jovani Haskins - West Virginia
- Senior Quarterback Noah Vedral - Nebraska
- Senior Defensive Back Brendon White - Ohio State (2019 Rose Bowl MVP)
Indiana saw Quarterback Noah Vedral last year in Lincoln as he filled in for the injured Adrian Martinez. In that game Vedral was 14-16 for 201 yards while rushing it 7 times for 21 yards and two scores. Vedral won a tightly contested battle for the starting QB spot and is a definite upgrade at that position for the Scarlet Knights. He’s not a great passer but he is competent and can hurt you with his arm. He manages the game pretty well and is also a threat running the ball. Look for Rutgers to work in some designed QB runs as Indiana has struggled to slow down dual-threat type quarterbacks quite a bit in recent memory. Vedral seems quick to leave the pocket so some early pressure might go a long way toward disrupting his rhythm. Indiana defenders will have to maintain good eye discipline as Rutgers will do a fair amount of play-action.
Junior QB Johnny Langan will also likely get at least 3-5 snaps – when he is out there he is most likely looking to run but he did throw a pass versus MSU so that is on the table as well.
Junior Running Back Isaih Pacheco is arguably Rutgers’ best offensive weapon. He runs hard, has pretty good speed and his feet are always moving. He is also a serviceable receiver out of the backfield and actually lead the Knights with 5 receptions (37 yards) in Week One.
Senior Wide Receiver Bo Melton is there number one option in the air but OC Gleason was really trying to get Wisconsin Transfer Aron Cruickshank involved in some creative ways last Saturday. Such attempts didn’t completely click but look for this trend to continue in Week 2.
Defense
Defensively Rutgers was pretty impressive at Michigan State. Their front four more than held their own against the Spartans’ Offensive-Line. Senior Nosetackle Julius Turner really gave Michigan State fits by lining up directly over the ball but then slanting at almost a 45 degree angle.
Linebacker is probably the Scarlet Knights’ best position group. Senior Linebacker Tyshon Fogg had 14 tackles including 2 for a loss while Senior Olakunle Fatukasi had 10 tackles, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries – enough to earn the latter Co-Defensive Player of the Week Honors in the Big Ten.
There weren’t many noticeable schematic breakdowns in coverage for Rutgers last week, however there were some pretty big windows to throw into. Michigan State moved the ball effectively at times but when a team turns the ball over almost twice a quarter it’s hard to maintain in any kind of continuity.
Special Teams
The aforementioned WR Cruickshank is a pretty decent Kickoff Returner so Indiana’s Kickoff Team will have to be disciplined, stay in their lanes and wrap up or this guy could break one across midfield (or worse). Rutgers’ Sophomore place kicker Guy Fava is pretty good – he drilled a 43 yarder against MSU.
Prediction
The big question in this one is can the Indiana Offense take a big step forward from Week 1 to Week 2. If they can get on track and execute the Rutgers Offense may not have enough fire power to keep up. I don’t expect Indiana to run away with this one, especially early, but by the second half Indiana should be in control barring turnovers, penalties and silly mistakes.
Indiana 31 Rutgers 17
Originally published here:
Rutgers Scouting Report
Daddy Hoosier | October 29, 2020 The 17th Ranked Indiana Hoosiers travel to Piscataway, New Jersey Saturday to face an improved Rutgers team Saturday as they look to build on last week’s big …
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