Rutgers Preview
October 09, 2003 09:53 AM | General
October 9, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez will be the first to tell you that Rutgers is a completely different football team this year.
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| West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez is convinced Rutgers is a much improved football team in 2003. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
The Knights have already begun the process of putting their painful recent history behind them and come into Saturday’s game against WVU with a 3-2 record. It is the first time since 1998 that Rutgers enters a West Virginia game with a winning record and the first time since 1991 that Rutgers comes to Morgantown with a better than .500 mark.
A big reason for the turnaround is the play of the Scarlet Knights offense. Last year Rutgers had a miserable time moving the football, averaging just 214 yards per game. The Knights’ running game was non-existent, averaging just 51.7 yards per game and 1.5 yards per rush.
“They’ve got an entirely new system and I think it fits their personnel,” said Rodriguez of Craig Ver Steeg’s West Coast offense. “It not only suits their personnel but it also matches what they do defensively.”
This year tailback Justise Hairtson (6-1, 210, Fr.) and fullback Brian Leonard (6-2, 230, So.) have helped Rutgers more than double its rushing output through five games. Hairston has managed 356 yards on 89 carries for an average of 71.2 yards per game. Hairston has already scored six rushing touchdowns – one more than the entire Rutgers team had last year.
“Both Leonard and Hairston are quality backs who run hard and they’re being a lot more patient with their run game,” said Rodriguez. “Sometimes it takes patience to get things going and they’ve been able to do that.”
Leonard is a threat both running and catching the ball out of the backfield. He shows 260 yards on 47 carries for an average of 5.5 yards per rush, and has also caught 14 passes for 193 yards including a long reception of 72 yards.
“He creates a conflict because when they run the isolation play you just can’t disregard the fullback running out into the flat,” said Rodriguez. “That’s one of the best things they do offensively where they’re going to run the flood route and lead the fullback out into the flat and he is going to make some people miss.”
Having a more effective running game and the threat of throwing the ball to Leonard out of the backfield has helped sophomore Ryan Hart (6-2, 195, So.) get more comfortable at quarterback. Hart came on at the end of last year as a freshman and has picked up where he left off.
He is on pace to challenge the school’s single-season passing record of 2,546 yards set by Scott Erney in 1989. Through five games this year, Hart has passed for 1,063 yards which ranks him fourth behind Pitt’s Rod Rutherford, Temple’s Mike McGann and Miami’s Brock Berlin among Big East passers.
“He’s clearly their guy,” said Rodriguez of Hart. “He started playing more after our game because I think he took care of the football for the most part, he understands their system, and he throws the ball well.”
Hart has thrown seven touchdown passes including one last week against Virginia Tech, and has completed 57.7 percent of his pass attempts this season. Hart has thrown a Big East-high eight interceptions, though, including four last week in a loss to the Hokies.
Junior Tres Moses (5-10, 190, Jr.) leads an improved wide receiver corps with 22 catches for 229 yards and three touchdowns. Moses is also a big-time threat returning punts, averaging a Big East-best 16.1 yards per return.
Sophomore Shawn Tucker (6-2, 180, So.) has been effective in the passing game too catching 17 balls for 291 yards and two touchdowns.
Enabling Hart to find more time is an improving offensive line featuring three 300-pounders in left guard Brian Duffy (6-5, 315, Sr.), right guard John Glass (6-5, 320, Jr.) and right tackle Ron Green (6-6, 320, Jr.).
Tight end Ray Pilch (6-3, 240, Jr.) is also used primarily as a blocker.
“They have a nice package to keep people off balance,” said Rodriguez, “plus they’ve recruited well. They have some guys that we tried to recruit from up there and down in Florida. They’ve done a good job recruiting and gotten some players that a lot of people wanted to get.”
Despite giving up more yards per game than last year’s team that finished last in the Big East, Rodriguez maintains that Rutgers defense is also better.
The core of the Rutgers defense centers on a young and athletic linebacker corps comprised of Berkeley Hutchinson (6-3, 245, So.), Will Gilkison (6-2, 230, So.) and William Beckford (6-1, 220, So.).
Gilkison and Beckford have combined for 59 tackles, 2.5 sacks and six tackles for losses.
Junior strong safety Jarvis Johnson (5-11, 195, Jr.) leads the team with 44 tackles. He also picked off his first pass of the season against Virginia Tech and returned the ball 47 yards for a touchdown.
Defensive end Raheem Orr (6-4, 260, Sr.), the younger brother of former Mountaineer defensive back Tommy Orr, ranks second on the team with 38 tackles. Orr leads the team with 10 tackles for losses and 5.5 sacks.
Senior cornerback Nate Jones (5-10, 180, Sr.) has had a productive career as both a defender and kick returner, and shows 36 tackles and two interceptions this season.
He teams in the secondary with cornerback Brandon Haw (6-0, 185, Sr.) and free safety Jason Nugent (6-1, 210, So.).
Rutgers has some size on the defensive line with tackles Gary Gibson (6-4, 290, Sr.) and Luis Rivas (6-4, 275, So.) weighing 275 pounds or more.
Piana Lukabu (6-3, 235, Jr.) will line up opposite Orr at the other defensive end position.
“They’re a Miami team defensively,” said Rodriguez. “They try to put the most speed on the field that they can and their schemes are similar in some respects.”
Punter Joe Radigan (6-5, 240, So.) is averaging 38.5 yards per punt and kicker Justin Musiek (5-11, 190, So.) splits time with Mike Cortese and Ryan Sands.
The Scarlet Knights have victories over Buffalo (24-10), Army (36-21) and Navy (48-27), and losses to Michigan State (44-28) and Virginia Tech (48-22).
Rutgers’ 22 points scored against the Hokies last week were the most by a Scarlet Knights team in Big East play during the Greg Schiano era. Rutgers is looking to snap its Big East-record 23-game losing streak in conference play Saturday against West Virginia.
Rutgers’ last Big East win came at home against Syracuse in 1999.
West Virginia (1-4), meanwhile, is looking to snap a three-game losing streak that began at home against Cincinnati.
“These last few weeks haven’t been fun,” said Rodriguez. “We haven’t had a win in a long time and we need to get back to having some fun so those few hours Saturday night when you’re around your family you’re not miserable.”
Plenty of good tickets still remain and can be purchased by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME, or by logging onto www.wvugame.com. Weather.com’s extended forecast is calling for partly cloudy skies and temperatures near the 70s for Saturday’s game.
Kickoff is set for noon and the game will be televised by ESPN Plus as the Big East game of the week.
Briefly ...
“We’re working more on third downs then we ever have,” said Rodriguez. “It’s not that we aren’t aware of it, it’s just a matter of fixing it. That’s easier said than done sometimes.”
