Getting the offense going

Rutgers had its first full-throttle practice of the week Thursday, vowing to right the wrongs that plagued all three phases -- but particularly the offense -- during Monday's 24-7 loss to Fresno State.  The Knights also worked out Wednesday, but the session was closed to the media, so Thursday was our first chance to catch up with the players since Monday's game. 

It doesn't appear any major personnel changes will be made on either side of the ball, though Greg Schiano indicated Dennis Campbell could get another shot returning punts instead of Mason Robinson. 

But the Knights are going to have to do something in the passing game to compensate for opponents double-teaming Kenny Britt, which Fresno did on Monday and North Carolina will likely do next Thursday. Throwing the ball more to Kevin Brock is certainly an option, and Schiano first addressed the issue in Tuesday's day-after conference call. Schiano said yesterday Rutgers will also try to get the ball more to Tim Brown, Campbell, and Jack Corcoran in order to take some pressure -- and attention -- away from Britt and Tiquan Underwood. Friday's Trentonian will have a story on those options. 

The passing game was the most glaring -- and certainly the most surprising -- weakness, accounting for only 263 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Who gets the blame for that? The consensus from practice is that there's blame to go around -- some to the offensive line, which didn't give Mike Teel enough time to make a good throw on multiple occasions, some to Teel, who made a few uncharacteristically poor decisions and a few bad throws, and some to the receivers, each of whom dropped one or two catchable passes. 

So where do the Knights need to make the biggest improvement offensively? 

In the details, Schiano said. 

"(On) the details of angles of blocks, steps, we’re details away from making some big big plays," the coach said. "The reads, I can’t put it all on steops on reads, on trusting plays, whih is all football is in the details. You just have to execute the details and not worry about the results as much."

Schiano said on Tuesday's conference call that he had no worries about players hanging their heads, and indeed, the players I talked to all seemed to be in good spirits. They're frustrated, perhaps angry, with their performances from the Fresno game, but they don't seem to think the sky is falling. They just think they have some serious work to do, and some serious corrections to make before the Tar Heels come to town next week. 

"Overall the whole thing needs to get better," Teel said.  "I need to get better, the receivers have to get better.  ... I need to be sharper. Im a fifth year senior, I’ve been playing for three years. I can’t go out and play the way I did." 

As for Britt, the junior from Bayone said Monday's double teams were an annoyance, but an expected annoyance that the Knights prepared for extensively during training camp. 

"We expected it. That’s why we worked really hard over the summer," Britt said. "That’s why the (McCourty) twins and Greeney and those guys worked so hard over the summer. Coach Schiano had us double teamed the whole camp so we’d be used to it. "

Everyone in Piscataway has been saying the Knights were close to making things happen against Fresno. A step here, a block there, a reach there, the Knights say, and there would have been plenty more than seven points on the board. 

We'll get an idea  next Thursday of how many of those wrongs can be righted. 

Schiano: 'They're all correctable errors'

Greg Schiano says his team is close. 

The coach,  whose team suffered an embarrassing 24-7 loss to Fresno State on Monday in its season opener, told reporters on a conference call Tuesday that minor, correctable issues prevented the Scarlet Knights from making key plays against the Bulldogs. 

"If you watch the tape, (it was) one block here, maybe a poor choice there, we underthew one, we dropped one," Schiano said. "We protected very well except for one guy. It's not very far off. They're all correctable issues. Some of the mistakes were by guys who had not played a lot."

Two of the players who haven't played a lot are new starters on the right side of the offensive line: guard Caleb Ruch and tackle Mike Gilmartin. Schiano, though, said both players played fairly well. 

"We need to get better there," he said. "We will because it was both those guys' first substantial experience. But for a first go-around against a pretty good defense, I thought it was a good job. Now, we need to make sure that we correct those mistakes moving forward so we can be more productive." 

The Scarlet Knights' passing game -- expected to be among the best in the country -- stalled Monday, producing only 263 yards. Quarterback Mike Teel completed just 51 percent of his passes while throwing two interceptions and no touchdowns. The first interception -- on a ball he threw into triple coverage on a first-quarter flea-flicker -- was a bad decision, Schiano acknowledged. But Schiano said other than that play, Teel's decision-making wasn't the problem. 

"We underthrew one and we had to throw another one early," Schiano said. "We had Ti (Underwood) open on the first drive on the one rout. We had to throw it a little early because a guy was leaking off a block, so it didn't have time to truly develop and Ti would have to make an acrobatic catch. There was one time we had Ti on a post and he was behind his man and (Teel) overthrew it. Other than that, I thought we threw it well."

The Knights' best chance to score came in the first quarter when, with the ball on the four-yard line, tailback Mason Robinson was stopped after a one-yard gain, giving the ball back to the Bulldogs. Robinson appeared to have an opening on the outside to his right, but chose to go inside instead. Schiano said the plan was for Robinson to cut outside, but that he didn't blame the sophomore from Somerville for staying inside. 

"It was a little bit of frustration on that but personally, as a coach I never question the running back’s decision because I don’t have the whole defense chasing after me," Schiano said. "We try to educate them on their decisions but if you’re questioning a running back's eyes, then they lose confidence in their own eyes. We’ll educate them on it and keep educating them on it in practice, but once you get into the game you have to trust your eyes."

Rutgers, which hosts North Carolina Sept. 11, has a closed practice Wednesday, followed by a practice Thursday that is open to the media. 

Fresno State 24, Rutgers 7

Greg Schiano's day-after conference call is at 5, so I'll post something later on tonight. 

If you haven't read The Trentonian yet today, the paper has a game story, side bar and replay box. 

My apologies for the fact that earlier today, the stories didn't have paragraph breaks. I logged in and fixed them, so the stories should be readable now. 

Stick a fork in Rutgers

I thought Fresno certainly had a chance, but I had no idea it would be like this. 

Ryan Matthews scored his third touchdown of the game with 3:15 left, and the Bulldogs lead 24-7. Just about everyone in Rutgers gear is heading for the exits, while those in Bulldogs gear started singing "Na na  na, hey hey goodbye," as their Rutgers counterparts dejectedly exited the building. 

17-7 Bulldogs

With 6:46 left, the Bulldogs lead by 10 after a one-yard touchdown run by Ryan Matthews. Seyi Aijirotuto made another great play, leaping to make a grab on a pass from Brandstater. It looked like had he taken a different angle, Zaire Kitchen could have come in and broken up the pass, but he came in to far too soon, allowing Aijirotutu to make the grab. 

Rutgers Stadium, hoppin' 10 minutes ago, is just about silent except for the music coming from the marching band. Some fans, including many students, are heading for the exits. 

Knights on the board

Kordell Young scored from a yard out to make it 10-7 with 11:20 left. 

It was Young's first touchdown since Oct. 14, 2006 at Navy. 

Bad call?

Tough to see on the ESPN replay, but Tim Pernetti on the Rutgers radio broadcast is saying the block in the back call against Zaire Kitchen was a bad one, and that the Knights should be on the board.