Rutgers did a lot of things right to bring its season back on track, scoring touchdowns on its first four possessions along the way to a 34-14 victory over Louisville at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. On the Scarlet Knights first possession, Tom Savage connected with Tim Brown on a key 20 yard pass play to set the tone as well as a one yard Joe Martinek TD plunge. One of the major contributing factors of success of both Tom Savage and Tim Brown this season is the development of a chemistry element between the two. Over the past few games, you can clearly see Savage throwing the ball into spaces based on where he anticipates the wide out to move, cut and handle coverage packages on the field. While Brown seems to becoming more opportunistic by identifying holes and gaps in tight space knowing that his QB has the ability and confidence to deliver the ball into him successfully.

A slightly different wrinkle from the offense that we saw in the first half was the use of Tom Savage in the option package which he ran on two occasions, once for a touchdown, during an impressive 87 yard 16 play drive early in the second quarter to put RU up 14-0.

Mohamed Sanu, stole the show though with a nearly complete game performance (he did fumble a punt) going 148 yards and two TD’s on 18 carries. Sanu showed the ability to bull and stiff arm his way through would be tacklers running out of the emerging wildcat set for much of the day. Sanu is a truly gifted athlete with the size, speed, cutting ability and vision required to run the Wildcat. Given that though, just about everyone in attendance yesterday knew he was going to be the ball carrier each time he lined up behind center. He just didn’t seem to be able to sell the fake reverses to D’Antwan Williams very well although he did just miss Tim Brown on one downfield throw in single coverage. With time, he will learn to run the Wildcat with the same kind of success that I’m sure Schiano had once envisioned for Jabu Lovelace running out of his own run-gun set which will truly encompass the vast spectrum of his talents.

Other News and Notes:
• Once again the Rutgers offense failed to put a complete game together. After scoring on four consecutive drives to start the game, Rutgers next six drives end in six punts and a total 20 yards before the game is put away in the fourth quarter on Sanu’s 33 yard run out of the wildcat
• Zaire Kitchen’s devastating shoulder to the helmet hit on Louiville’s Doug Beaumont in the 3rd quarter was the result of the inherent violent nature of the game rather then an unsportsmanlike helmet to helmet hit as called by the referees.
• Overall the O-line had a strong performance vs Louisville. However, Kevin Haslam was helped off the field following a 4th quarter Joe Martinek run and appeared to be heavily favoring his left leg. It was not clear what the cause of the injury was but he was replaced for the remainder of the game by Des Stapleton.
• Up Next: Well, our wishes for a WVU loss vs Pitt did not come true last night and it seems that the recharged Noel Devine along with thousands of ‘eers faithful will invade Piscataway next Saturday with a lot to play for. RU hasn’t played a regular season game of this magnitude since a certain December Saturday in 2006. Just like the Mountaineers exacted their revenge of sorts for the 2007 Backyard Brawl (And subsequent BCS title game birth), it’s time to get ours. With the exception of the visiting WVU section, each and every seat in Rutgers Stadium had better be filled with a scarlet wearing Rutgers Fan.

If Rutgers plans to show us more then just a “W” against the Black Knights on Friday, it must cure its schizophrenic offense by getting back to being a run first throw second team. That’s the same formula that worked so well during the 2006 season when Teel was a first year and unproven sophomore starter. I’m not saying that any one of four RB’s is Ray Rice but being able to collectively pound the ball inside with a sustained running game while showing a threat to break off the long run is the first step in solving this apparent identity crisis and opens up Savage to make his down field passes to Sanu, Brown and the chorus line of potential third WR options. O-line Injuries: Although the running game against Pitt produced only 38 yards on 20 carries, 29 of which came from Sanu via the wildcat, the o-line seemingly had it’s best of the year against BCS competition in terms of QB protection. Could this unit finally be coming together without the services of season opening starter Caleb Ruch and Desmond Wynn?

Will the rocket take off finally? Everyone else has pretty much beaten the drum on this one but it’s worth mentioning once again. The cover is off the Schiano’s new offensive sports car and the kid’s red shirt has been burned. Give the kid a chance against FBS competition and make him part of your running game for more then just fourth quarter mop up work.

Wildcat Offense: Whether this is just a gimmick conceived by Schiano and the OC’s or if there is a vision of having the wildcat become a strategic piece of the offense, I do not know. If it is the later, integrate it into the offense and use it consistently (the polar opposite of how it was intermittently used during the Pitt loss). Use it when you need a wrinkle play inside of the red zone but remember, run first, pass second. It’s time to end the gimmicks and regain a semblance of an identity for this offensive unit.

Penalty Mistakes: Although the penalty line from the box score of the Pitt game shows 6 penalties for 55 yards, it seemed very clear that we committed many of these penalties in key third down situations both on offense and defense that ended drives for us or extended drives for Pitt. This undisciplined play has got to stop if this team is going to go anywhere looking ahead to Connecticut, South Florida and West Virginia. The truth is we do not score a lot of points and every possession is precious.

Devin McCourty: Not enough has been said about Devin’s play on defense and special teams this year. The development of his game is one of the few positive stories that have developed this year. His line on Friday was 11 tackles, 1.0 for loss and a blocked punt. Look for # 21 all over the field at Michie Stadium on Friday.

Not much for the Scarlet Knights to gain from Saturday other then getting Savage back on track and getting tuned up for Friday’s match up against Pitt. The defense once again played the starring role (pitching a 42-0 shut out), allowing just 126 yards of offense and specifically minus 25 yards on the ground.

Beyond training camp very little has been said about the emergence of Tim Brown as the “go to” receiver in this group. If you didn’t think he was our guy before, you will now. In a second quarter reception over the middle, deuce put his hands out to snare a Savage pass and was immediately flipped in the air by multiple defenders. He still somehow managed to hold onto the ball as he crashed to the ground. Quietly, Timmy Brown is putting together an all Big East caliber year with 452 yards receiving including two 100 yard games.

Just how much of the underperforming running game can be attributed to uneven performances of Martinek and Brooks or poor line play is still uncertain. What I did notice on Saturday though was an o-line that just didn’t seem to have the forward surge to allows runners a few steps beyond the line of scrimmage before contact. Another point is that rather then holes it seems Martinek, Brooks and Williams have slots or cracks to run through which is much more difficult for straight line runners like Martinek and Brooks.

Tom Savage performed efficiently (14-21, 150 yds., 1TD) and once again did not commit any mistakes (turnovers). They got him throwing both from the pocket and short passes rolling right and he also threatened several times with the long ball once connecting with deuce on a 34 yard TD. I am completely satisfied with this performance, less for Tom’s 28 yard scramble in which he put his head down and barrelled directly into an oncoming linebacker for two additional yards at the end of the run. Tom you throw an absolutely great ball but you need to stop by Fred Hill Sr’s office sometime to get some tips on sliding. Please also stop watching Florida games.

Can we all agree that with Rocket’s performance against the two FCS opponents that he’s played against (31 carried for 221 yds., 1 TD) that he’s earned a call up to BCS play. His cutting, explosive running style is completely different then (and complementary to) Martinek and Brooks. Whereas Schiano likes to allocate blocks of time to these two, I think he can stick Rocket in the middle of a series as a change of pace back who can also break one off any time he touches the ball. He adds a completely different dimension to the running game. Why not make opposing teams prepare for three backs who have all eclipsed 100 yards in games this year?

A few other take aways from Saturday: Has anyone else seen the development of Devin McCourty this year into an outstanding gunner on punt coverage? He’s consistently been the first player downfield either tying up or delivering a punishing open field blow to the opposing return man. Speaking of open field tackling, on Saturday Khaseem Greene made up for some sloppy tacking by the defense on a play coming from across the field and about 10-15 yards behind the Texas Southern runner and just buried him along the sideline during a third quarter run.

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.

Some very encouraging news from the practice fields today.

• Ryan D’Imperio (leg), Blair Bines (ankle), Jonathan Freeny (ankle) and Tim Brown (ankle) all appear to be OK and practiced today to varying degrees
• Other good news…Scott Vallone and Justin Francis both appeared to pass the doing more then adequate jobs filling in for Bines and Freeny
• Some bad news…..Kordell Young just can’t seem to shake this knee thing. Has a few good days followed by a few bad ones. Hope to see that he can be more then just a roll player during the season. Only rest will tell.
• Rutgers is close to inking a deal to play a 2010 home gain against Army in the new Meadlands. The potential matchup would be the first college game at the new complex and could net Rutgers $2.7 million in the process.