If you had to give your team a grade at this juncture of the season, what would it be? What has your team excelled at? What do they need to work on? Any standout players? Have they lived up to exceptions or are they stinking it up? For Rutgers, I'm giving a D-. I wasn't expecting us to beat both Fresno and UNC, but I wasn't expecting us to lose to both of them either. And I sure as hell wasn't expecting that blowout on Thursday. We need to work on basically everything. Quarterback play has been predictable and wildly inconsistent. Teel is locking onto his receivers too often (maybe because the line isn't giving him enough time, but it's still no excuse) and he isn't going through his progressions. He's had some good streaks at the start of both games, but falters in the red zone and is making poor decisions with the football. Most fans want to see Chris Paul-Etienne starting, and I'm one of them. Teel isn't playing like a senior right now and he needs to be benched to get a dose of reality. CPE has the best arm on the team (aside from true frosh DC Jefferson) and is mobile as well. He should be the starter next year, so it only makes sense to get him some reps now. The running game has been OK. Kordell Young did average against Fresno, but hurt his knee and couldn't play against UNC. Mason Robinson isn't going to cut it; he should be moved to corner. He tip-toes around the line too much and can't push for extra yardage. Jourdan Brooks looked fantastic against UNC, which is no surprise. He's been described as "amazing" and "scary" by the coaching staff in practice. Only problem is he tends to fumble the ball and isn't quite up to snuff in terms of picking up blitzes (which is something Young excels at). Once Brooks gets it all together, watch out. He could be a great one. Possibly better than Ray Rice, and I'm not exaggerating. He has all the tools Ray had (ie: tremendous vision, patience, and cut back ability), but he's 6'1" 245 lbs and still runs a 4.5 forty. Ray didn't have that combination of size and speed. The ideal situation here would be to use both Kordell and Brooks for a thunder/lightning effect. Young's speed should be utilized on the outside. Wide outs have sucked for the most part and I'm not afraid to say it. Underwood has been running crappy routes and he's trying to do too much after the catch. He dances around trying to go for big gains instead of putting his head down and fighting for a first down. Those type of plays killed us against UNC. Britt has put up the numbers and is on pace for 1,200+ yards, but he's still without a TD. He hasn't put his full effort forth (ie: not going full extension on a deep pass in the Fresno game that he should have caught for a TD) and his routes have been less than desirable. I'm not worried about losing him early to the NFL now; he'll be forced to come back for his senior year if he keeps playing like that. At tight end, Brock hasn't been catching like he did last year. He probably has the best hands on the team, but it hasn't showed. Offensive line is a little disappointing, but it's a fairly young unit, so I guess you can't complain. They're not protecting Teel well enough, forcing him to throw under pressure, which is something he can't do. The left side of the line has been good in the run-game, but the right side has been very poor. As the season goes on, I think they'll improve significantly. Defensively, the secondary has sucked majorly. The line isn't getting enough penetration. The linebackers are playing decently, but are still not performing like they were expected to. Only player I've been impressed with on defense is DT Pete Tverdov. True freshman Scott Vallone will hopefully see some time against Navy next weekend. I guess that was probably a little boring for non-RU fans to read, but I needed to vent. How's your team doing? EDIT: Oh, and our OC will be fired after this season. No need to worry.
A- I think Georgia has lived up to expectations. The injuries at defensive tackle, offensive tackle, and fullback hurt pretty bad. I actually think Southerland has been missed more than Sturdivant or Owens (He should be back for the Tennessee game). The penalties are what's keeping the score from being an A+.
