Rutgers moves past bungling Bulls, 31-0

New Brunswick, NJ - For a team coming off a big win over former conference bully West Virginia to crack the Top 25 last week, the Bulls played more like an FBS newcomer coming into town to collect a big paycheck (read about our FBS opener, Western Kentucky at Tennessee).  When RU (7-2, 2-2) took a 21-0 lead in the second half on a 26-yard TD from Tom Savage to a wide-open Tim Brown, one fan said to his friends, "This team is inept," and along with thousands of other Rutgers fans, bolted for the exit ramps.  Even the home team fans lost interest to watch their team win in a laugher, 31-0.  It was a laugher because that what Guest Game Analyst Charlie Roberts and I did most of the night at the expense of the bumbling Bulls (6-3,2-3).  Charlie also got a good laugh at RU's avoidance of running any instant replays on the big screen when the Knights stumbled themselves, and believe us they had their share, but not as consistently as South Florida. The Knights failed to score on several earlier opportunities which could have sealed this game very early.  The Bulls never showed up to play.

       The Knights young offense improved though as Frosh QB Tom Savage passed for 194 yards, Frosh WR Mohamed Sanu snatched five balls for 105 yards and a TD, and soph RB Joe Martinek gained 128 yards rushing, his first 100+ game versus a Big East opponent.  His 37-yard run in the fourth finalized the score, 31-0.  On the other side of the ball, the late season curse over Head Coach Jim Leavitt's teams which starts strong and finishes with  tailspins already started to take shape.  Their Frosh QB, the much-heralded B.J. Daniels who took over early in the season for injured Matt Grothe and won his first game over Florida State in Tallahassee, was just downright horrible.  When he would pull out one good play, it was followed by a turnover or a big loss in yards.  As good as the score looks on paper for Rutgers with the defense pitching a shutout ( our third witnessed this season), much of the final outcome can be attributed to the ineptitude of the bungling Bulls. The USF defense missed many tackles and left RU receivers wide-open despite Savage's penchant for focusing on one receiver per play.  They fumbled, stumbled, and were humbled after a big build-up for what was expected to be a competitive Big East battle.   They should have stayed in sunny Florida as opposed to the cold, wind-swept Rutgers Stadium on a Thursday night.

     The Bulls go home to recoil against struggling Louisville.  The Knights find the other Big East bottom-dweller up in Syracuse, and we head to Huntington WV now for a C-USA game between Southern Miss and Marshall.  We're hoping that we don't see the Bulls play again this season when we travel north of the border to the International Bowl, but they'll probably be there by default when it comes down the the final Big East standings.