Scarlet Knights try to bounce back from Buffalo debacle
Even local radio host Mike Francesa has noticed how bad things have become for this Rutgers football team.
While college football is anything but a big deal in the New York area, Francesa took off on the Scarlet Knights on his app-cast Sunday.
“If you’re Rutgers, how do you show your face? I’m serious, how do you show your face? You’re playing Buffalo,” said Francesa, noting the embarrassment of a 42-13 shellacking at the hands of Buffalo. “And you give up 35 points and 350 yards in the first half? In your building? Are you serious? The score was 35-6 at the half. Buffalo called the dogs off.
“They played this game like gentlemen. They were gracious. They could’ve scored 70. If you’re Rutgers, what is going on?”
The Knights, following a win over Texas State, have been outscored 149-30 in three straight losses and come into this week’s home game against Indiana, the second game of a three-game homestand, as 15-point underdogs against the 3-1 Hoosiers.
“When I look at Saturday’s game, really, the last two weeks, for us to improve and change the results on Saturday, we have to stop beating ourselves,” coach Chris Ash told his regular Monday media conference.
“We’ve had too many mental errors. We’ve had too many penalties. We’ve been careless with the football. As it was the case in the Kansas game, you can’t do those things and win games and we have to clean those things up. I, as the head coach, have to get that stuff fixed.
“We have to get more mental toughness out of our players in this program. Mental toughness, to do our job consistently in A game, regardless of the opponent, the location, the score, and Saturday we had some uncharacteristic mistakes for some players that have played really good football around here in the past. My opinion, you know, us as coaches, we need to coach things better and us as players, we need to play things better on Saturday.”
The defense is a mess, the offense forced a change in quarterbacks last week as both Artur Sitkowski and Gio Rescigno have taken snaps in three straight games (never a good sign).
“I gotta do a lot more,” Sitkowski said after the Buffalo loss. “I have to play a lot better, I’ll tell you that. I owe this coaching staff a lot more. And I owe these players a lot more.”
Now, it’s Indiana, which defeated Florida International, Virginia and Ball State before falling, at home, to No. 24 Michigan State this past Saturday. The Hoosiers routed the Scarlet Knights 41-0 in Bloomington last season.
The odds makers think something like that can happen again.
“They are off to good start,” said Ash. “Good football team, and we are going to have to play a lot better when they come into our stadium here on Saturday. There have been some really competitive games between Indiana and Rutgers; last year obviously was not one of them. But we have to play better, and again do some of the things I’m talking about, not beat ourselves, mental toughness, execution, to be able to have a chance to win that game.”
The Knights’ nonconference schedule is over and all that remains are eight Big Ten contests.
Not a rosy picture.
