[onthewhat]

What are the leans in this one?

[EaglesPhan36]

I like Fresno and the points. But I don't know squat.

[mtneer1212]

A lot of people are on Fresno - the line has moved from 6 to 4. I'm going to fade the public and take the Jersey Scarlet Knights.

[SportsG]

I took Frsno st ML, they will win out right

[LT Profits]

Under

[Brock Landers]

Rutgers without Ray Rice is not a team i'd want to bet on, Teel is NOT a good QB. Need to see what kind of RB they bring.

[onthewhat]

Gotta go with Fresno here

[nisarg]

Rutgers without Ray Rice is not a team i'd want to bet on, Teel is NOT a good QB. Need to see what kind of RB they bring.

that's so true man, I go to rutgers well graduated this year but, you can depend on jeremy ito to kick the winning field goal rather than depending on teel passing the ball even for a rush.

[ritehook]

I'm on Rut.

Biased against teams, esp early in season, crossing 3 time zones. (Tho USC make a monkey of me with that idea!)

BTW, what exactly are "rutgers?" Some kind of Britsh suspenders? I heard that Schiano wants school to change name to Univerity of New Jersey.

(Nah, better keep it as Rutgers. Imagine the fun Jay Leno would have with UNJ?)

[bearmz]

For the fifth time in school history, Rutgers opens the season vs. a ranked opponent as No. 25 Fresno State visits Rutgers Stadium for the first meeting between the two schools. The Scarlet Knights return 15 starters and 49 letter winners from last season’s 8-5 squad that finished with a 52-30 victory in the International Bowl vs. Ball State.
Fresno State returns 15 starters and 50 lettermen from last year’s 9-4 team that ended the season with a 40-28 victory over Georgia Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl.
Rutgers is 70-59-9 all-time in season openers, including a 5-2 mark under Schiano. Rutgers has proven to be a tough place to play under Greg Schiano, who has won 11 of 13 non-conference home games since the 2003 season. The game at Rutgers is the furthest east the Bulldogs have ever played a game.

Fresno State is 2-4 in road opening games under Pat Hill, with wins at Colorado and Washington and losses at Colorado, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Tennessee. All of the losses were to ranked teams.

Biggest Challenge for the Dogs
Fresno State must overcome a long travel day on Saturday. The team left the Fresno State campus at 8 a.m. PT and arrived at the team hotel at 7:45 p.m. ET. The team had a short layover in Wichita, Kans., where the plane stopped to refuel but no one was allowed to leave the plane. The Dogs stretched upon reaching the hotel and head coach Pat Hill is keeping the players hydrated to avoid jet lag or cramping during the game. This is one of two trips to the eastern time zone this season. Fresno State plays at Toledo Sept. 20.

Fresno State has been picked the favorite by the WAC football coaches while Boise State has been selected to win this year's title by the media as announced today at the league’s football preview being held in Salt Lake City. Nevada was picked third in both of the polls.


Most preseason polls have Rutgers ranked anywhere from fourth to sixth in the Big East.

Protecting the Quarterback
Under the direction of assistant head coach/offensive line coach Kyle Flood, Rutgers has allowed just 18 sacks over the last two seasons - the fewest amount in the nation. The Scarlet Knights return two starters
on the offensive line in 2008. Sophomore Anthony Davis moves from right guard to left tackle and junior center Ryan Blaszczyk returns to man the middle of the Scarlet Knight offensive line.

Junior WR Kenny Britt and senior WR Tiquan Underwood return as the nation’s second leading wide receiver tandem in 2008. Last season, the two players both went over the 1,000-yard mark in receiving.

Senior QB Mike Teel set a school record with 20 touchdown passes in 2007. He also finished second in single-season school history with 3,147 yards passing. The senior from Oakland, N.J. is 21-8 as Rutgers’ starting quarterback. He has started 26 consecutive games under center. Teel accomplished that feat last season despite injuries to his throwing hand. He had 203 completions, which ranked fourth in single-season history, six 300-yard passing games, and directed an offense that was the first in NCAA history to have a 3,000-yard passer, 2,000-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season.


Rutgers has recorded 31 defensive/special teams touchdowns since Greg Schiano took over as head coach in 2001.

Since Greg Schiano took over as defensive coordinator for the Scarlet Knights, Rutgers’ defense has limited the opposition to less than 100 yards rushing 14 times, including three games with negative
yards rushing. Nine times during Schiano’s tenure as defensive coordinator, the Rutgers defense has yielded less than 200 yards of total offense to an opponent.
Several Scarlet Knights on National Award
Watch Lists
Once again in 2008, several members
of the Rutgers Football team are among the
nation’s elite at their respective position.
Bednarik Award Watch List
Courtney Greene, DB
Jamaal Westerman, DE
Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List
Courtney Greene, DB
Davey O’Brien Award Watch List
Mike Teel, QB
Jim Thorpe Award Watch List
Courtney Greene, DB
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Watch List
Mike Teel, QB
Maxwell Award Watch List
Kenny Britt, WR
Tiquan Underwood, WR
Outland Trophy Watch List
Anthony Davis, OT
Rimington Trophy Watch List
Ryan Blaszczyk, C
Ted Hendricks Award Watch List
Jamaal Westerman, DE

For the second straight season, Rutgers will start twins at cornerback as Jason and Devin McCourty will help anchor one of the nation’s stingiest pass defenses. Jason, a senior, led Rutgers with 12
pass breakups in 2007. Devin, a redshirt junior, ranked first on the squad with two interceptions a year ago
and also blocked three kicks on special teams.
Along with the return of FS Courtney Greene, Rutgers returns three starters from last season’s fifth-ranked pass defense in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Rutgers yielded just 170.6 yards per game through the air in
2007.

FSU enters the 2008 campaign ranked 25th in the USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll.

The Bulldogs are led offensively by three-year quarterback Tom Brandstater, MVP of the Humanitarian Bowl. He threw for 2,654 yards and 15 touchdowns with just five interceptions. Brandstater also
completed 63 percent of his passes.

Fresno State utilizes a three-member backfield, with a sophomore and two juniors sharing the load. They each recorded a 100-yard game and combined for 25 touchdowns last season. FSU also looks to its All-WAC tight end Bear Pascoe to contribute with the offensive load. Pascoe recorded 553 yards and
four touchdowns.

The Fresno State defense took the hardest hit due to graduation as the squad lost WAC Defensive Player of the Year linebacker Marcus Riley and All-WAC defensive end Tyler Clutts. Juniors Damion Owens, Moses Harris and Marvin Haynes will provide depth and experience for the defense from the secondary.

The Scarlet Knights have an experienced quarterback in Mike Teel, playmakers in Tiquan Underwood and Kenny Britt, and stability on the coaching staff. They have speed on defense and, thanks to all those recruiting classes, depth.

Friday August 29, 2008, 9:12 PM
The only expectations that Manny Abreu says he is worried about living up to in Rutgers' opener on Monday against Fresno State are his own.
Rated the nation's No. 2 weakside linebacker by one recruiting service as a senior at Union Hill High School two years ago, Abreu will make his first career start -- doing so at the strongside position.
That means an immediate test, because Fresno State features All-American candidate Bear Pascoe at tight end.
At 6-3 and 245 pounds, the redshirt freshman brings much-needed size and athleticism to the linebacking unit. But he also symbolizes what the group is all about for Rutgers this year: plenty promising but woefully inexperienced.
Middle linebacker Ryan D'Imperio, a 6-3, 240-pound junior, has just one career start. Senior Kevin Malast, who holds down the weak side, is in his second season as a starter.
Abreu appeared in just two games before suffering a season-ending hip injury last year. D'Imperio, who broke his leg in several places last spring, made it back to appear in 11 of the 13 games, though he was clearly not healed. He and Malast are at least somewhat proven commodities.
Overall, the linebacking corps offers the potential to be as good as any in Schiano's eight years as head coach. There is even proven depth with backups Damaso Munoz, a starter at middle linebacker last year, and up-and-coming sophomore Antonio Lowery.

There are reportedly 14 NFL scouts signed up to attend Monday's Fresno State-Rutgers game at Rutgers Stadium, ESPNU's Graham Watson writes.
Watson says the scouts are there to see these Knnights: Mike Teel, Jamaal Westerman, Kenny Britt, Tiquan Underwood, Kevin Brock, Courtney Greene and Jason McCourty. There are five pro prospects for Fresno State including QB Tom Brandstater.

SPECIAL TEAMS
There’s a new special teams coach (Chris Rippon), a new place-kicker (San San Te) and a new punter (Teddy Dellaganna). Te has shown promise, but he’s a redshirt freshman trying to replace Jeremy Ito, the greatest place-kicker in school history. The punt and kickoff return games should be excellent.
RUNNING BACKS
How many players does it take to replace Ray Rice? Four, apparently. Rutgers is still searching for a tailback to replace the most productive runner in school history, with Mason Robinson and Kordell Young currently running 1 and 1A and redshirt freshmen Jourdan Brooks and Joe Martinek behind them. Jack Corcoran could be a major weapon at fullback this year, especially in the passing game.
A year after Rice accounted for 44.2 percent of Rutgers' offensive plays, Brown wouldn't be surprised if the Scarlet Knights' attack is balanced in such a way that no running back touches the ball more than 15 times a game.
"What you'd like to have in one running back, we have it in three or four," Brown said. "Every guy has different attributes that they bring to the table. As a running backs coach I'm in a great situation because at any time we can throw somebody out there and, as long as they're prepared, they're going to produce."

offensive line
The good news is that one of the best offensive linemen in school history — sophomore Anthony Davis — is anchoring the unit at the all-important left tackle spot. The not-so-good news: Center Ryan Blaszczyk is the only lineman returning to the same position he played last year and the right side — guard Caleb Ruch and tackle Mike Gilmartin — is manned by players who have combined for one college start. The bar has been set at an all-time high by the previous two lines and this one is a work in progress, with a serious shortage of experienced depth.

First it was Sameeh McDonald and John Glass graduating after the 2005 season. Then Darnell Stapleton and Cam Stephenson left two years ago. And now Jeremy Zuttah, Pedro Sosa and Mike Fladell are no longer on the roster.
This year's unit is less experienced than it's been in a few years. Blaszczyk, a 6-4, 295 redshirt junior center, is the only player to start the same position (center) as a year ago. Davis, 6-6, 316 sophomore, moved from guard to left tackle. He also weighs 50 pounds less than a year ago this time.
Other starters line up to be right guard Caleb Ruch, 6-4, 285 redshirt freshman; right tackle Mike Gilmartin, 6-5, 290 fifth-year senior; and left guard Kevin Haslam, 6-7, 295 redshirt junior.



In the Trenches ...
6-5, 298 lbs……….. 6-3, 290 lbs.
Rutgers O-Line….. ………..Fresno State O-Line
……..Vs…………………….. ……..vs.
Fresno State D-Line ………..Rutgers D-Line
6-2 263 lbs. 6-3,……. 260 lbs.

Greg Schiano Weekly Press Conference Quotes
On the possibility of throwing the ball more:
“We have a senior quarterback, so we’re certainly more apt to throw the ball this year than Mike’s first year as a starter. But as I said before, having an experienced quarterback, it’s not just about throwing the ball, it’s about running the offense, getting in and out of the right plays, we feel more comfortable with that stuff.”
On Fresno State’s offense:
“You talk about balance, they’re balanced. Over 200 from both sides, over the course of 13 games, that’s balanced. From knowing Pat, they’re going to do what he does. He was an offensive line coach before he became a head coach, so he believes in what he believes. What you have to do is try to figure out what the new offensive coordinator [Doug Nussmeier] is going to add to that. I know that they are going to come and lead up with that fullback and try to smash you, and that’s what we’re going to see and they are going to see that from us. It’s the other things, the periphery things, that you have to be ready for. Special plays, formations, different things, maybe there will be option, maybe gun zone. We prepare for it anyway in the preseason, and even if they haven’t shown a lot of it, you know something different will show its head.”
On Rutgers’ defensive line:
“We’re building that as we go. I think Charlie Noonan had his best period of play over this camp. He continues to get better. Blair Bines is getting ready, but he’s going to be forced to play maybe before he’s ready to play, but that’s the way it goes. I think we’re ok at the ends, we have Jon Freeny and Gary Watts, it’s the inside where you wonder what it’s going to be.”
On Rutgers’ offensive line:
“I think these young guys will be good. Caleb Ruch has never played in a college football game, so Fresno State will be his first, and that will be interesting. I believe he’s ready, he’s worked very hard to get himself ready, to understand what it is to play every down on a Division I level. Now that’s in practice, so now he has to do it in a game. Howard Barbieri has established himself as someone we can count on. Kevin Haslam I believe will be back and will be ok. From a health standpoint, I think Anthony Davis will be ok. So I think we’ll have our top six guys ready to go, and if we have to go deeper than that, we’ll have to do some shuffling of the deck.”

Incentive:
In Fresno State's case, winning the opener is imperative if the Bulldogs -- who do not receive an automatic BCS bid for winning the Western Athletic Conference -- want to maintain a chance of being this season's BCS party crasher. The two previous WAC schools to do so -- Hawaii last year and Boise State in 2006 -- needed unbeaten regular seasons to earn their at-large BCS bowl invitation.
A loss Monday virtually eliminates the Bulldogs from BCS at-large bowl contention. Rutgers, meanwhile, can lose Monday and still earn an automatic BCS bid by winning the Big East.

Fresno State will bring a solid offensive line when it comes to Piscataway Monday afternoon. Three seniors anchor the Bulldogs' front five.

Left defensive end George Johnson, the 6-4, 260-pound junior from Glassboro has had high expectations during his first two seasons at Rutgers but has yet to live up to them. Two seasons have produced only 4½ sacks. "He's just getting better this year," right defensive end Jamaal Westerman said.
In addition to Johnson and fifth-year senior Westerman, Rutgers also returns 6-4, 240-pound senior Pete Tverdov at defensive tackle. At the other defensive tackle spot will be 6-4, 250-pound sophomore Alex Silvestro from Paulsboro High School. regardless of who's rotating in and out of the two defensive tackle spots, Rutgers will live -- or die -- by the production of its defensive ends. Westerman has had eight sacks each of the past two years and currently sits in fifth place on the school's all-time list with 20. Four of Johnson’s 4½ career sacks came last season after a talk in Schiano's office.
That’s one small DL.

Fresno:
The key for the Bulldogs will be how they replace a number of impact players in their defensive front seven and improve on their rush defense. Only three starters in the front seven return. Gone from 2007 are linebacker Marcus Riley, the WAC Defensive Player of the Year, defensive lineman Tyler Clutts (first-team All-WAC) and Charles Tolbert, a two-year starter on the line.
"On defense, our biggest question is our linebacker corps," Hill said. "We've got a lot of new faces there. Our secondary comes back pretty much intact. The defensive line loses two players, but I feel pretty good about six or eight players there."
Only Utah State, which allowed 196.2 rushing yards per game, finished lower than Fresno State (181.3) last season. The Bulldogs allowed a conference-worst 5.0 yards per carry.


With the Bulldogs unveiling a new offensive coordinator, Schiano can only take his best educated guess as to what Fresno State will scheme when the teams square off at Rutgers Stadium
Unfortunately for Rutgers, there's no way of determining Nussmeier's system since he's never actually had his own offense to run. Only small tendencies, such as the way St. Louis rolled its quarterbacks out of the pocket, could be gleaned from studying Nussmeier's background.
"It all depends on the relationship with the head coach," said Schiano, who doesn't expect Fresno State to shy away from what Hill believes in, which means a balanced Pro style offense is his best guess for what's in store.
With nine offensive starters returning,( lost first-team All-WAC center Ryan Wendell )
including fifth-year senior and third-year starting quarterback Tom Brandstater, Nussmeier certainly has no shortage of options in his arsenal. While the 6-5, 225-pound Brandstater doesn't necessarily fit the mold of a dual-threat quarterback, Schiano said he's mobile enough to escape the pocket.

Most Blocked Kicks in the NCAA since 2002
1. Texas 39
2. Fresno State 38

Freshman running back Ryan Mathews was one of the top freshman running backs in the
nation in 2007. Of the top 75 running backs in the NCAA statistics, his per carry average ranks as the 10th-best. He did this despite missing two full games and parts of two others.
2007 Fresno State Rushing Totals
………….GP-GS Att Yards Avg. TD
Mathews .11-1 145 866 6.0 14
Miller ……10-8 132 609 4.6 7
Harding …13-0 114 449 3.9 4
Totals …..34-9 391 1,924 4.9 25

Fresno Watch List:
Walter Camp, O'Brien Watch List:
Tom Brandstater, QB, Senior, Fresno State
John Mackey Award
Senior TE Bear Pascoe

Since I couldn’t find the All WAC preseason team I used theice guy’s
PHIL STEELE’S 2008 ALL-WAC TEAM
1st TEAM OFFENSE
TE Bear Pascoe, Fresno St
OG Cole Popovich, Fresno St
2nd TEAM OFFENSE
RB Ryan Mathews, Fresno St
OT Bobby Lepori, Fresno St
3rd TEAM OFFENSE
QB Tom Brandstater, Fresno St
OL Kenny Avon, Fresno St
HONORABLE MENTION
RB Lonyae Miller, Fresno St
WR Chastin West, Fresno St
1st TEAM DEFENSE
DT Jon Monga, Fresno St
KR AJ Jefferson, Fresno St
2nd TEAM DEFENSE
LB Ben Jacobs, Fresno St
PHIL STEELE’S 2008 ALL-BIG EAST TEAM
1st TEAM OFFENSE
WR Kenny Britt, Rutgers
OT Anthony Davis, Rutgers
2nd TEAM OFFENSE
WR Tiquan Underwood, Rutgers
3rd TEAM OFFENSE
TE Kevin Brock, Rutgers
C Ryan Blaszczyk, Rutgers
HONORABLE MENTION
QB Mike Teel, Rutgers
1st TEAM DEFENSE
FS Courtney Greene, Rutgers
2nd TEAM DEFENSE
DE Jamaal Westerman, Rutgers
3rd TEAM DEFENSE
DE George Johnson, Rutgers
LB Manny Abreu, Rutgers
CB Devin McCourty, Rutgers
SS Joe Lefeged, Rutgers
HONORABLE MENTION
CB Jason McCourty, Rutgers

OL problems for Rutgers, but line coach Flood is one of the best and Fresno’s rebuilding its front 7 which allowed 5yds/c in ‘07.
Rut loses 44% of their offense in Rice, yet return Teel and 2 dynamite Wrs. Teel did struggle in ‘06, so how much was Rice’s presence the key to his numbers in ‘07?
Fresno rolled up 200+ ryds vs. GT in their bowl game LY and are facing a rebuilding D outside of the 3 returning Dbs.
Fresno’s also traveling cross country for this game, but as stated earlier, more incentive to win.
Lean to Fresno, using the incentive factor as the key.

GL

[mtneer1212]

Rutgers does have great receivers this year.... can Teel get them the ball? Can someone run the ball? We shall see.

[ritehook]

Interesting.

Both head coaches, Hill & Schiano, are among the top in getting a lot out of their players. Should be a great game.

I'm still on the Knights

[treece]

bearmz, i am not reading that pal.

[I LUV (.) (.)]

fresno

[I LUV (.) (.)]

Rutgers are 1-5 ats last 6 at home,and Fresno st is 6-3 last 9

[I LUV (.) (.)]

This year the Bulldogs return 17 starters,including Qb Tom Brandstater,three of their topfour rushers,their top three receivers,four offensive linemen,and five of the starting defensive back seven.FresnoSt looks good here guys.

[LT Profits]

All you need to know about the Big East this year is the performances of Pittsburgh, Louisville and Syracuse this week. Well OK, Syracuse may have been expected, but the other two were pathetic.

[hawk 5]

I need Fresno to win outright to complete a 3 team parlay.

[jjgold]

Rutgers lost a top flight NFL running back that will be playing Sunday for the Ravens and he has to be missed. Rutgers has a top flight receiving core with a very experienced QB but I am going with Fresno here.

[manny24]

remember what happened last year when the knights played connecticut? they got doubled up on (38-19 but it wasn't ever looking good for rutgers). more of the same here boys.

[Richkas]

I like Rutgers

Lean on the over

[Wilforth]

Under

You made an excellent case for the Under in your frontpage post and it appears that's the best play in this game.

[ICE-BLOOD]

rutgers:
no ray rice
2 real good receivers
teel with good experience at this point
rutgers home
nice weather
rutgers will show off their passing game

[CBBPhenom]

Like Fresno St. ML here, somebody messed up with this line.

[Steeltown]

rutgers:
no ray rice
2 real good receivers
teel with good experience at this point
rutgers home
nice weather
rutgers will show off their passing game

Exactly! Running backs are a dime a dozen. If your passing game is good and your offensive coordinator mixes it up right, running backs are easy to plug in. M ost overrated position in football.

[minet123]

I took Fresno but I am part of the public

[ICE-BLOOD]

rutgers wants to be a top 25 program every year
schiano realizes he needs a solid passing game to do this
not too sure what to expect from fresno coming east
matthews/brandstater might put up numbers

[fiveteamer]

****, if they can't even come close against UCONN...

[Tigers1230]

Well, I have been out of betting since my Tigers blew it in basketball but am back in action for football. Hit a nice parlay with Colorado and the 2nd half under last night. Looking at Fresno ML & Under (best bet of the game, agree w/LT). I hate the Big East and believe they are one of the most overrated conferences.

[Brock Landers]

i think it comes down to a FG, thus..take the points

[bearmz]

Treece, I don't understand your comment.
If its on the length, I'm just trying to put out as much as possible to cover all angles and maybe answer a question. This info is from local and official sites. It's really trying to help someone form an opinion on a side or total.
I did not put on the menus, though.
Whatever you're post meant, GL

[crackerjack]

bearmz, I enjoyed your post. Length is fine...the more info the better when capping games. I think treece meant he doesn't know how to read...

[masr]

Going w/ Scarlet Knights -3.5 here

[ChuteBoxe]

The Scarlet Knights of Rutgers ride off into the New Brunswick sunset tonight, IMO. (-3 @ -115) here.

[Cloak & Dagger]

Rutgers without Ray Rice is not a team i'd want to bet on, Teel is NOT a good QB. Need to see what kind of RB they bring.

man...that guy scored 24 rushing TD last year

so he is in the NFL eh?