Nonchalant (Adjective, French Origin, Pronunciation non-shuh-lant) - Coolly unconcerned, indifferent, unexcited; casual. This is the nicest word that can be used to describe the Rutgers offense yesterday. Better choices would be uncaring, worthless, terrible, disgusting, awful, or pathetic. The Knights narrowly avoided a fourth quarter meltdown, defeating one of the worst FBS teams, in the form of Florida International, 23-15.

The Scarlet Knights entered the day as 14 point favorites vs. its opponent from the Sun Belt Conference and would have lost the game were it not for a revitalized Rutgers defense that returned two interceptions for touchdowns, which, sadly enough, is twice as many as the offense put on the board. The defense, until yesterday, hasn't been doing its part either. After the game, senior defense end George Johnson stated, "We still got a big chip on our shoulders, though. We're going to carry it all season, to play the way we have to."

Whether or not the criticisms that the defense had received after the first two weeks was the jump start the the unit needed, or they were just woefully unprepared for the first two weeks is of no importance. The bigger issue is whether or not yesterday's performance (5 sacks, 2 interceptions, 42 yds rushing allowed, 2TDs scored) can be replicated for the remainder of the season. If Rutgers has any hope of salvaging the season, it will have to be the defense that carries the team.

The fact that a Rutgers defense is the strongest part of the team is nothing new, but the fact that this year's offense is so woefully anemic is a pain point for most fans. Another sub-par rushing performance (160 yards on 41 attempts) is not the least bit surprising after the first two games. Through three games, the Knights have amassed just 455 yards on the ground on 118 attempts, for a paltry 3.85 yds/carry. This from an offensive line that returned all five starters. Does anyone expect a line that can't muster 200 yards on the ground vs. Florida International (and barely did so vs. Howard, needing a late burst from true freshman De'Antwan Williams in garbage time) to suddenly turn it around vs. Pitt in a few weeks? Coach Schiano, who is still tinkering with the offensive line in week three, admitted after the game that, "we're trying to find the best five." Where are we looking? Didn't we have the best five after last year's seven game winning streak to close the season? How about this spring? Were we still looking at training camp in August? Is this a result of Kyle Flood's promotion? It's time for the coaching staff to go back to square one and teach basic blocking.

Rutgers has been fortunate enough to open the season with a very weak schedule (save for Cincinnati) or this season could be a lot worse. The next two games are at Maryland, which lost to Sun Bowl conference member Middle Tennessee State yesterday, next Saturday and vs. FCS Texas Southern at home on October 10th. Time is running out on the this team to turn it around. The defense appeared to have remedied its issues yesterday, but it's still only one game. They won't be able to keep it up if the line doesn't come together and regain the ability to sustain drives, burn clock and keep the defense off the field.

Irrelevant. That's another word that can be used to describe the Rutgers offense right now. Let's hope the offense can right the ship and this word won't be used to describe the Rutgers 2009 football season.

Scarlet Knight fans can breathe easy again this week as the Florida International Golden Panthers come to town for what should be a snooze fest. The biggest question heading into the game has to be "Will the highly touted Rutgers offensive line, anchored by junior/early first round draft pick Anthony Davis dominate the Panthers defensive front seven or will they get man-handled by the Golden Panthers defensive line worse than Liberace walking the streets of Greenwich Village in New York?" Unfortunately, the Knights did their best impression of the latter in parts of the first two games.

Rutgers will and cover (they are 14 point favorites) the spread but need to do a lot more than that. FIU made the jump to FBS in 2005 lost their opener at Alabama 40-14. Second year head coach Mario Cristobal (and former Schiano assistant) will make this team respectable in the coming years, but he's not there yet.

The Knights need to make a statement with their running game. They were shut down by Cincy and racked up 245 vs. Howard but needed a late burst from De'Antwan Williams to do so. It would be nice to see one back get into a rhythm early and have 150 yards by halftime. The running game needs to be perceived as a serious threat before the schedule picks up when conference play resumes.

The teacher vs. student story line will be interesting as will the Tim Brown - Anthony Gaitor story line. Gaitor will line up at corner back across the line of scrimmage from Brown. The two were high school teammates at Miami Northwestern High School.

This is also a big stage for the Rutgers defense (currently ranked last in the Big East), especially the lineman, who have been inconsistent at best when it comes to putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Sometimes defenses have swarming pass rushes and lack in coverage of the wide receivers. Other times, the coverage is great but pass rush is weak. First year co-defensive coordinators Ed Pinkham and Bob Fraser have implemented a strategy thus far where 11 players take the field and just stand around. It seems that defenders have been told not to make contact with opponents until they have gained at least 8 yards.

Let's hope the Knights are firing on all cylinders tomorrow and bring some confidence on the road to Maryland next week.