It was a bright and sunny late summer weekend. Football and late season baseball were robustly in the air. High school, college and pro football were finally going to be in full swing with the start of the Ivy League and NESCAC schedules. Baseball had under 20 games to go and the NL Wild Card and all three divisions were still not clinched, while in the AL, only Boston and Cleveland had clinched playoff spots.
So there was a lot going on this weekend. Friday night, local high school Jonathan Dayton was soundly beaten by arch rival David Brearley from nearby Kenilworth. The JDHS Bulldogs may have a lot of enthusiasm, but they are decidedly short on talent. This road loss was 40-0.
While I have seen a significant number of students running for cross-country, that is not a strong sport at Dayton. It is soccer that produces the best teams annually, followed by baseball. With a smaller student body associated with a Group I school, there are only so many players who can participate. Soccer seems to be a year-round sport at the youth levels, which translates into better players, no matter the size of the student body. Youth football is a fall event, and while there seemingly is significant participation, it hasn’t translated into more talented players at the big school level.
Unfortunately for Dayton, the beatings will continue. There is always hope that there is one team on the schedule they could compete with. Sadly, my alma mater, Highland Park High School, was that school. HPHS gave up varsity football two weeks ago.
Saturday arrived and it was time to see Rutgers travel to Lawrence, Kansas to take on the University of Kansas Jayhawks. Rutgers scheduled this game because the competition level would favor Rutgers. As it said, football is played at Kansas merely to occupy time until basketball begins.
Kansas teams have been perennial doormats in the Big 12 Conference. They were everyone’s favorite Homecoming opponent. An almost guaranteed W on the schedule. Epitomizing the futility of Kansas football, they lost in the season opener, at home, to a FCS team, Nicholls State— a team even Kansas was pretty sure to beat.
Then something bizarre happened. Kansas traveled to Central Michigan—and WON!! That snapped a 46 game road losing streak, second only to that of Idaho State, which lost 48 in a row away from home.
Suddenly, Kansas players believed in themselves. They had learned how to win. And who would be coming to campus but dear old RU. Rutgers prepped for the trip to the Heartland by getting crushed by powerhouse Ohio State in Columbus.
Some prep that was. Rutgers was overwhelmed in every aspect of the game—Kansas, with freshman running back Pooka Williams and a reactive defense, demoralized the Scarlet Knights. Williams had been held out of the Nicholls State game, or Kansas would now be 3-0.
The players on Kansas looked to be FBS caliber athletes. Rutgers looked like a team that could beat lesser lights as it did with Texas State.
Rutgers still has to play Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Penn State. The results will be one-sided. Indiana and Northwestern should handle RU easily. If Rutgers can turn things around a bit, maybe the Knights can contend with Illinois and Maryland. This week’s contest with Buffalo, which on paper looked winnable 3 weeks ago, looks far from victory now.
Head Coach Chris Ash has not brought his team to a level that RU fans want or expect. The usual statements of how it takes time to rebuild, plus the extended contract Ash has are wearing thin.
Where are the athletes who can measure up to the elite teams and make the games at least competitive? What kind of recruiting is Rutgers doing? Why are they repeatedly the worst in the Big 10? What happened to the progress from last year when the Knights actually won games against Big 10 foes Purdue, Illinois and Maryland? Was the hype about a bowl game this year just that—hype?
Maybe it’s the lack of depth caused by the arrests of team members for credit card fraud-related charges. Perhaps the savior QB, freshman Artur Sitkowski is not as good as heralded. Or could it be the ugly white helmets that Ash has opted for?
Whatever the causes, they have to be straightened out by the start of next season, as I have written off this one. RU needs to recruit the type of players that they were famous for under former coach Greg Schiano—hard-nosed, 4 to 5 star players with speed and strength who come to RU with the ability to play on Sundays in the NFL.
I don’t know that Ash is the man to accomplish this herculean task. To have Schiano return would raise the same issues that came about when he all but had the head job at the University of Tennessee.
If I were an alumnus, I would either be at wits end or give up football on Saturdays like others will and the attendance at High Points Solutions Stadium will further decline.
One would think that something has got to give. After all, hope springs eternal—even for Rutgers.
The top teams in the FBS ranks won—Alabama dominated Ole Miss, Georgia and Clemson all won handily. Ohio State took care of a good TCU squad on Saturday night in Arlington, Texas. Oklahoma was victorious over Iowa State on the road, but only by 10 points. Wisconsin lost at home to BYU on a missed field goal. USC lost to a subpar Texas team.
In the Big 10, Illinois, Maryland, Northwestern, Purdue and Nebraska all lost—returning alum and Cornhuskers Head Coach Scott Frost is now 0-2 in his Nebraska coaching record. Indiana won and is 3-0. Michigan also won handily, as did Penn State. Iowa won over in-state rival Northern Iowa and Minnesota triumphed. The conference is not very strong outside of the top tier, which highlights how inept RU is.
The Ivy League did not do great—Holy Cross upset Yale and Brown and Cornell also lost.
In the NESCAC, the three Maine schools lost their openers to Williams, Amherst and Trinity. Wesleyan and Tufts also were victors.
#24 Franklin and Marshall is now 3-0, with a solid road win at Mc Daniel. Mc Daniel’s tough defense held he high-flying Diplomats offense in check for much of the game. Up next at Shadek Stadium is Susquehanna. The River Hawks were defeated by Muhlenberg after upsetting perennial Centennial Conference champion Johns Hopkins the previous week. F&M then travel to Allentown on September 29 in a critical showdown. Ursinus is also 3-0 and Moravian and Dickinson are 1-1 in the conference along with Hopkins.
Sunday was a warm, sunny day, with precious few clouds in the sky. Arriving to a mostly full parking lot at 10:30 a.m. (I wonder how many fans had arrived when gates opened at 8:00 a,m.?), the pastrami sandwich, pickles, Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray soda and an enormous jelly donut were a perfect lunch before the New York Jets took on the Miami Dolphins.
Being a Jets fan, I should have known better than to feel good. After baking outside Met Life Stadium. I roasted until the sun mercifully went behind the lights and signage at the top of the upper deck. That should have forewarned me how the day would go.
The euphoria which came with the resounding triumph in Detroit on Monday night courtesy of rookie QB Sam Darnold’s maiden appearance fostered delusions of a 3-0 start after the Jets beat the Dolphins then traveled to Cleveland and defeated the Browns.
Everything clicked in Detroit on Monday night. Not everything worked as well on Sunday in East Rutherford. The Jets had their share of opportunities based upon sacks and fumbles by Miami QB Ryan Tannehill. The first indication that this would be a long day was when Tannehill rumbled around the right side of the offensive line for a first down early in the first quarter. Interceptions and miscues by the Jets and Darnold, along with some bad play by DB Buster Skrine blunted any traction the Jets tried to obtain.
Nonetheless, as the first half closed, the Jets moved the ball downfield with alacrity, but stayed in the middle of the field, reaching the one yard line as time expired. The Jets overcame the dismal 20-0 deficit through the leadership of Darnold, who ended up passing for 324 yards, 1 TD’s and 2 INT. The defense sacked Tannehill 4 times although the poor offensive line play of the Jets led to Miami recording 3 sacks and stifling the running attack.
I still liked most of Darnold’s performance. He and Quincy Enunwa are a solid, go to tandem. I thought that WR Terrelle Pryor cause the interception in the end zone by not running his pattern correctly. Darnold did muss an open Enunwa in the end zone and a non-call of pass interference in the end zone didn’t help.
In my estimation, New York should have won 23-20. Darnold has a tremendous upside in terms of his ability. The team has some significant defensive secondary and offensive line mistakes to correct before this Thursday night in Cleveland.
I did not expect miracles this season. Barring injury, Darnold is going to be a force in the league if surrounded by the right talent and if he learns from his mistakes. Unlike Rutgers, the Jets have some players who will help Darnold grow and mature. Even if former Jets’ QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is torching the NFL for Tampa Bay while James Winston is suspended, Darnold is the real deal. Having the Giants take Saquan Barkley, allowing Darnold to fall to the third spot in the 2018 Draft was a godsend.
For now, as a long time Jets fan, I feel good even with a disheartening loss to a division opponent. There will be plenty of other opportunities for wins—Buffalo is atrocious and New England might just be a little bit vulnerable this season.
Of course, this initial wave of optimism can evaporate quickly. After all, this is the New York Jets I am writing about. Even coming home to a sweltering house because a circuit board wire on the A/C condenser was no longer properly working could not take away my positive feeling from a game that the Jets should have won.
This is despite the September swoon of the New York Yankees. Losers of 11 of their last 19 games, the two games they lost on Saturday and Sunday should not have turned out that way. New York nearly slugged its way back from an 8-1 deficit Saturday, only to lose 8-7. Sunday they wasted a 5 inning, 1 run performance by Lance Lynn, as an unsteady Dellin Betances showed the strain of a finger injury and too much use occasioned by closer Aroldis Chapman still being sidelined with an injury.
Getting Didi Gregorius back has helped somewhat—his 2 homers on Saturday broke the team record for homers by a shortstop, which he set last season. Aaron Judge has started to play the field and his return to the lineup is imminent, though not soon enough. Hopefully he has healed sufficiently that he will not injure himself further.
A healthy Chapman is the other key ingredient. For if they are to stave off the hard-charging Oakland A’s for home field in the Wild Card game, Chapman must be at his best to reduce the strain on the overworked bullpen. The addition of Andrew Mc Cutchen has helped the lineup, introducing some needed power and allowing aging Brett Gardner to rest. Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar continue their rookie assault. The trio of J.A. Happ, Luis Severino and Masahiro
Tanaka will produce quality starts.
Tanaka will produce quality starts.
Still, I suppose that Oakland can make up the 1 1/2 deficit over the next 12 games. Or will the Yankees do enough to right the ship and stave off the A’s? That remains to be seen.
The Yankees losses and the Rutgers defeat were stinging. I took the Jets loss well.
After all, I wouldn’t want to be a New York Giants fan right about now…Besides, the A/C is working again and I have a nice parking lot tan…
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