Pre-Snap Read: Michigan State vs Rutgers
By Jim Comparoni
SpartanMag.com
Piscataway, NJ - Three weeks ago, we had two programs - Michigan State and Miami - that we thought might be headed in opposite directions. And that turned out to be true.
Two weeks ago, a beaming Michigan State team was facing a hungry, angry, dangerous Nebraska team that needed to win more than the Spartans did. Michigan State played hard. Nebraska played just as hard, if not harder, just like we thought they would. But the Huskers didn’t play cleanly. Michigan State survived.
Last week, Michigan State faced a tricky Western Kentucky test and learned some lessons while passing a challenging little quiz. Along the way, we learned that Payton Thorne was back to his accurate, efficient self. And Jayden Reed is still Jayden Reed. And Jalen Nailor packs difference-making potential, despite not getting a touch a week prior.
This week, Coach Mel Tucker is continuing his campaign of angry diligence. Find something to be cranky about and correct it. Never rest. Remain relentless.
He’s done a great job of instilling tunnel vision with this No. 11-ranked Michigan State team (5-0). Fans are talking about the possibility of being 7-0 heading into an Oct. 30 showdown with Michigan. But waiting in the tunnel before all that is a collision with a team that embarrassed Michigan State in Tucker’s debut as a Spartan coach, Rutgers.
Michigan State gifted Rutgers with seven turnovers last year, and Rutgers earned some of them. Michigan State was beaten by a better team on that day. Now Michigan State has natural incentive as athletes to prove to Rutgers that they didn’t beat Michigan State at their best last year.
“It was a tough game to be a part of and really a tough game to see unfold,” said Thorne, who didn’t play in the game. “I’m not really too concerned about last year’s game. I remember it and we acknowledge it but we have a very different team this year.”
Michigan State wants to maintain its momentum and build on it. The Spartans look and seem like a focused, confident team with no sense of entitlement. That’s the best way to stay unbeaten when approaching a winnable game.
Rutgers began a season 3-0 for the first time since 2012, but got off to a poor start against Michigan, falling behind 20-3.
Rutgers came roaring back, trailed 20-13 midway through the fourth quarter, but was derailed by a false start inside the 10-yard line when the Scarlet Knights seems moments away from tying the game. Rutgers settled for a short field goal attempt, which the Knights missed.
Next possession, Rutgers was stopped on fourth-and-short. Michigan survived. Rutgers had reason to feel good about itself.
Rutgers played well, stopped Michigan’s running attack, rushed for 196 yards of its own, but probably took some bumps and bruises along the way. The Wolverines attempted 38 running plays in the game. Those can leave a mark, even when you’re stopping them.
A week later, Rutgers looked a step slower against Ohio State. The Buckeyes have a way of making a lot of teams look slow, but Rutgers looked like a Division III team at times against Ohio State, falling behind 24-0 in the first quarter and 31-6 two minutes into the second quarter.
Is Michigan State catching Rutgers at a good time? Those were a pair of physical games for the Knights, to their bodies and psyches.
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano was asked earlier this week if he feels he needs to monitor his team’s confidence after a pair of losses, especially a decisive TKO loss at the hands of Ohio State.
Long pause.
“I don’t know,” Schiano said.
Well, that was refreshingly honest, and possibly revealing.
Then he said this:
“I think they have shown in the short time we’ve been together that they can step up and play with just about anybody,” Schiano said. “But we haven’t done it over four quarters against the best teams we’ve played. That’s really our challenge.
“I know it’s corny and it’s coachspeak, but I happen to believe 100 percent that this is a one-game season. So we have to figure out, how are we going to win the Michigan State game and be 1-0 in that season.”
Then he took a deep breath and rubbed the stubble on his face when he said.
“I’m probably not looking as spiffy as I should because it’s been a little bit of a tough stretch here,” he said. “But it’s all about one thing: winning against Michigan State. We put everything we’ve got into it.”
Michigan State wants to continue on, achieve 6-0, and then get grumpy about the next challenge.
Rutgers wants to prove it can reside in the top half of the Big Ten East, ahead of Michigan State.
Motivation levels remain sky high. It’s going to be another double-mouthpiece game.
FINAL ANALYSIS FIRST
Rutgers bothered Michigan State with a solid, strong, athletic, tricky defensive front last year. Many of those components are still in pace.
A lot of attention has been given to MSU’s improved ability to avoid turnovers this year, and the problems the Spartans had with turnovers against the Knights last year.
That remains a big deal in this game and any game.
Right next to that, Michigan State needs to prove it can handle Rutgers’ tilted defensive tackle and its odd 30 front.
Rutgers’ d-line is good, not great. But they are just unorthodox enough to cause problems for some teams, like they did against Michigan. Michigan led the nation in rushing heading into that game, but Rutgers held the Wolverines to 112 maddening yards.
Michigan State needs to solve the defensive front first and foremost, to get the run game going, and then open up the passing attack with good down-and-distance situations against a soft, sometimes-slow secondary.
Rutgers’ secondary isn’t so bad when they get you in third-and-long, get into press coverage and send blitzes at you. They love that on third down. They are a completely different defense on first down.
But if you can establish the run, and get them thinking about the run on first-and-10, and hit up their softish zone coverages with play action passes, then it can be recess time against that secondary.
But you have to handle their defensive front, first. Crack that formula and you can ace the rest of the test.
Rutgers has a decent tailback, a decent WR with special teams ability, a faulty place kicker, an uneven offensive line, good linebackers who hit hard but maybe aren’t all that fast, and a mixed back of DBs. If they get into a rhythm and get fired up - as was the case in the second half against Michigan and Syracuse - they can give you some headaches.
But at a few positions, they still look like Rutgers. You know what I mean. I’ve said the same thing a few times over the years about some Indiana, Purdue and Northwestern teams. Rutgers has some of those mid-major traits. Their QB is a fiesty competitor, can facilitate elements of the option pretty well, but really struggles to throw with any consistency from the pocket, downfield. He’s inaccurate. He’s extremely limited.
The RB is pretty good, kind of an Elijah Collins type of good.
But their offensive linemen are slowish when they try to pull. Their defensive backs allow too much separation at times. Team speed isn’t that great in certain areas.
They are a pretty good team. They just have little areas here and there where they look like they are in quicksand.
Michigan State is not great. Michigan State has been playing good, sharp football this year, and is closing in on becoming a dependable team. Games like this are when you earn a dependable label, and harness a level of consistency by taking care of business in winnable games.
We need to see Michigan State do it a few more times before we can be as confident in this team as we were with some of Mark Dantonio’s championship contenders. That’s why this is such a good, intriguing little test. Rutgers is better than Northwestern, but not quite as good as Nebraska.
Michigan State stole victory against Nebraska by avoiding mistakes and playing great special teams. Michigan State won’t need as many magic tricks to win this game, but 60 minutes of good, solid meat and potatoes blocking and tackling should do the trick, if Michigan State is up to it.
The good news is that Rutgers’ lack of explosiveness at the QB position makes for less thin-ice precariousness than Michigan State experienced against Miami, Nebraska and even Western Kentucky. As long as Rutgers doesn’t find success with some sort of unorthodox option play, like they did against Michigan in the third quarter, the Spartans should be able to stay a step ahead in this one - provided that the turnover bug remains inoculated.
RUTGERS SO FAR
W Temple, 61-14
W at Syracuse, 17-7
W Delaware, 45-13
L at Michigan, 20-13
L Ohio State, 52-13
THE STATS: RUTGERS DEFENSE
* Rutgers is No. 11 in the Big Ten in yards allowed per play (Michigan State is No. 9).
* Rutgers is No. 10 in the Big Ten in yards allowed per rush (Michigan State is No. 6).
* Rutgers is No. 13 in the Big Ten in yards allowed per pass play (Michigan State is No. 7).
* Rutgers has 14 sacks on the year, No. 6 in the Big Ten (Michigan State is No. 3 with 18).
* Rutgers has allowed only six sacks all year, No. 2 in the Big Ten. But they don’t do much pocket passing, and the QB is a nervous nelly when he does. (Michigan State is No. 6, having allowed eight sacks).
THE STATS: RUTGERS OFFENSE
* Rutgers is No. 11 in the Big Ten in yards per play (Michigan State is No. 2).
* Rutgers is No. 9 in the Big Ten in yards per rush (Michigan State is No. 4 at 5.6)
* Rutgers is No. 10 in the Big Ten in yards per pass attempt (Michigan State is No. 4)
THINGS TO KNOW
* Rutgers is aggressive early in the game. They try to gain momentum with tricks and gimmicks and deep shots.
* Rutgers went deep on the first play vs OSU (drew pass interfence).[Schiano was asked why they didn’t do it more often. He said, “That’s a fair question.” Look for more deep shots in this game.]
* Rutgers attempted a throw back lateral vs OSU last year.
* Rutgers faked punt at the end of its first possession against OSU with up-back Matt Alaimo a former QB and former Michigan State QB recruiting target, throwing an INC.
* Rutgers tried a trick play on fourth-and-one against Michigan, with the RB getting under center at the last second while the QB acted like he was having trouble getting the signals. RB mishandled the snap, UM reduced to tight Bear front and stuffed it.
*Against Michigan, Rutgers went deep to WR Aron Cruickshank on the opening drive on a play that only ended up going for 24 yards, but it was a deep read.
* Next play: they tried a misdirection, fake toss and look for another deep shot right away, but the WR got held up on his route and QB had to check down.
AGAINST OHIO STATE
* OSU hit two explosive plays on offense (an inside run that went untouched for a 40-plus yard TD; and a crossing route that turned the corner and surprisingly went the distance against a vacant, slowish secondary) and then OSU returned a short INT for a TD and thing was 24-0 in the first quarter.
AGAINST MICHIGAN
* Michigan ran it down Rutgers’ throat on the opening drive, but didn’t do much on the ground for the rest of the game. Michigan had 15 rushes for 64 yards on the opening drive, which went for a TD. But Michigan needed four inside run plays to cover the final five yards, and the game kind of started to change right then.
Michigan netted only 48 yards rushing the rest of the day.
Michigan Running Backs vs Rutgers:
Blake Corum 21 rushes, 68 yards (3.2, long of 13)
Hassan Haskins 12 rushes, 41 yards (3.4, long of 11)
GAME WITHIN THE GAME: Key Matchup
NT Julius Turner (No. 50) was a big problem for Michigan State center Matt Allen last year. Allen didn’t play the rest of the season due to injury. Did he try to play hurt that day? We don’t know. But we know he needs to play better this time.
Sometimes, some players just match up well against others. Horses for courses. Turner has given more than one center problems through the years, and it’s probably a good bet he will be a problem for Michigan State in this game.
Turner isn’t a big guy (6-0, 275, Sr.) but he’s like a stump. He’s hard to move. He comes at you with that sideways tilt and usually transitions it into a two-gapping approach. He was HM All-Big Ten last year.
If Allen is struggling against him again, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Nick Samac gets the call.
Samac has mainly played with the second unit, as a complete unit, when seeing action this year. He hasn’t played a lot with DJ Duplain and Kevin Jarvis at the guard positions in games, but Michigan State might need to explore that mix in this game.
Samac has been pretty good this year, but not great. Not good enough to overtake Allen. But this week might call for more pitches out of the bullpen from Samac. Or perhaps Allen will gain a level of retribution. Keep an eye on it.
RUTGERS STYLE OF PLAY: OFFENSE
* Rutgers’ record is pretty good, but other than finding a rhythm in the second half on the ground against Michigan, the Knights’ offense hasn’t been good this year. I’m expecting MSU’s defense to stay sound against Rutgers’ little options and misdirection plays and their occasional deep shot and I’m expecting the Spartan defense to have a pretty good day.
Rutgers’ QB is extremely limited when trying to throw from the pocket. He’s a gamer. He tries to make up for it with some option keepers, and some roll-out passing, but he’s limited.
The WRs are okay, but not great. One of their top two WRs, Bo Melton, went down with a midsection injury last week. Schiano was noncommittal and whether he will be available this weekend.
Rutgers’ tight ends are also limited. Jovani Haskins turned in a 30-yard TD reception against Syracuse, on an X’s and O’s scheme. More on that in a moment.
Vedrals throws short, short, short and occasionally deep. He seems to lack confidence, or freedom, to throw anything between 8 and 20 yards downfield. HOWEVER, Rutgers has been able to draw up little scoring ploys in the red zone through the air - one against Syracuse and one against Michigan.
Against Syracuse, they got TE Haskins (No. 5) open on a seam route against cover-three. Rutgers occupied the left CB with an outside WR.
Initially I assumed Vedral did a good job of moving the centerfield safety to the right with his eyes and then throwing back to the left seam. But in watching it again, Vedral MIGHT have glanced a bit to the right, but nothing extraordinary. I think the safety just got caught watching the paint dry a little bit.
And the Syracuse LB did not reroute the tight end as he headed toward the seam. Bottle him up for a moment and get better awareness from the safety and that thing shouldn’t be as oen as it was.
MSU’s red zone defense has been good this year against good offenses. On the rare occasion when Rutgers penetrates the red zone, Michigan State needs to continue to rise and shine
Against Michigan, Rutgers hit a little inside wheel route to the RB for a TD, causing confusion with a power read option play action look and a jet sweep fake. The key to that is that Rutgers had established success with power read option prior to that play and Michigan was biting on power read action, to the point of losing the RB out of the backfield for the internal wheel.
Some of you may remember the problems Michigan State has had in the past on defense against wheel routes. That doesn’t apply as much anymore. The wheel used to be a weakness of MSU’s press quarters zone but Michigan State doesn’t play much press quarters zone anymore .
Rutgers doesn’t have a lot of firepower on offense, and an opponent needs to keep it that way if and when they happen to sneak into the red zone.
WHAT DID RUTGERS’ OFFENSE DO WELL AGAINST MICHIGAN?
Rutgers found success in the third quarter with a power read option, and built off of it with other tangents and elements.
Rutgers had success by putting two tight ends to one side of the formation and pulling the weakside guard to the two-TE side. From there, Rutgers left the play-side defensive end unblocked and optioned him.
QB made the read and either kept the ball up the gut, or handed it off outside. Rutgers began getting little chunk gains of 5, 9, 15, 5 yards.
Pretty soon, they began working RPO and play action passes off of it.
I went back and watched that game for a third time last night to try to detect exactly when Rutgers “found” that play. It wasn’t until the second drive of the third quarter.
I don’t think it was a case of Rutgers saving the play for the second half. I didn’t see them use it much against Syracuse. I think they just happened upon a play and then stuck with it. Michigan’s defense is good, but their coordinator is a young coach with an NFL background and might have had trouble coming up with answers.
Seriously, this one play - and some other tangents off of it - turned a 20-3 game into a 20-10 game, then a 20-13 game, and it was about to be 20-20 with 7 minutes to go if Rutgers hadn’t stalled themselves with a false start at the 7-yard line on second-and-medium. (Then they missed a field goal).
Rutgers got the ball back with about 5 minutes to play but was stopped on third-and-one and fourth-and-two.
But Rutgers kind of did it wrong.
On third-and-one, they didn’t run the play as an option. They ran it as point-of attack power. They pulled the backside guard toward the two-TE side and tried to put a hat on a hat rather than optioning the play-side defensive end. They had run this play earlier for a few yards, but they didn’t seem to trust the option at crunch time, maybe expecting safeties to be more aggressive in helping.
Anyway, Michigan’s sophomore DT (No. 94) stood firm against a double team at the point of attack, and Michigan’s replacement MLB shot the gap quickly for a firm tackle for loss.
On fourth-and-two, Rutgers went with too many tight ends, on both ends of the line, made it easier for Michigan to crowd the box. Rutgers went with its jumbo QB, 235-pound Johnny Langan, on that play and in my opinion he is less of a threat to execute a handoff and more of an obvious keeper threat. He kept it and Michigan stopped him.
A week later, Ohio State destroyed that power read option play right away by sending the unblocked defensive end right into the pulling guard, and scraping hard with speed to attack the mesh while also winning the edge.
Soon, Rutgers was down 24-0 and the power read option game was kind of out consideration.
Rutgers will undoubtedly present Michigan State with this power read option look to the two-TE side. Michigan State has had time to work against it. I would expect Michigan State to be solid against it. It will be interesting to see how Michigan State asks its unblocked defensive ends to play against this look. Do they take on the pulling guard, or go out with the tight ends like Michigan’s did for awhile, or try to play the meshpoint like Michgan’s did for awhile?
RUTGERS’ RUNNING GAME:
* Vs Syracuse: 42 rushes for 107 yards in gains (57 yards in losses) for a net of 50 yards rushing 1.2 per carry.
* But against Michigan’s vaunted defense, Rutgers rushed 42 times for 196 yards (4.7 per).
Figure that one out. (I just did. They got it going in the second half with power read option).
* Against OSU: Rutgers rushed for 111 yards on 31 carries. Their top RB, Isaih Pacheco, had only six carries for eight yards. QB Vedral had eight carries for 34 yards.
RUTGERS PERSONNEL
QB NOAH VEDRAL (6-1, 200, Sr., Wahoo, Neb.)
* Nebraska transfer.
* Last year against Michigan State, he was 18 of 29 for 169 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.
* Had no interceptions in the first four games. Threw three picks last weekend, including one returned for a TD.
* Started seven of Rutgers’ nine games last year.
* Feisty QB with some phone booth quickness. Has some Lewerke type of quickness on downhill keepers but not the Martinez speed to make you worried about him going 60 yards on you.
* Last year vs Michigan: 29-43 381 yards passing, 3 TDs, 1 INT. All career highs. I have no idea how he managed that. He shows none of the passing ability right now to put up numbers like that.
In going over the highlights from a year ago, he had 100 yards on two deep balls, 61 of which came on a severe Michigan bust. There had to have been a lot of busts because this guy can’t do that.
* But he is a creative, energetic player. His overhand lateral after crossing the line of scrimmage at Michigan in the first quarter was a right-brained play.
* Weak on intermediate routes. They don’t trust him to throw intermediate routes (based on all the all-curl route combinations) and he doesn’t seem to trust himself.
* They have a lot of plays where he pumps and looks deep, or some other gimmicks when trying to look deep, but he often looks deep and checks it down short.
* He consistently misses the intended receivers, usually high - including the one that resulted in the pick six against Ohio State.
VEDRAL VS MICHIGAN THIS YEAR:
* He was 18 of 31 for 156 yards with 1 TD and 0 INTs against Michigan with a long of just 24 yards (to Cruickshank).
* 11 rushes, 46 yards (4.2) against Michigan).
VEDRAL vs SYRACUSE
22 of 28 for 145 with 1 TD.
That’s an average of just 5.1 yards per pass attempt. (Penn State’s defense leads the Big Ten in allowing 5.4 yards per pass attempt. Syracuse’s defense, statistically, was better than Penn State’s league-leading average, even though Vedral was 22 of 28. It was short, short, short.
* Vedral averaged 6.6 yards per completion. I think that’s one of the lowest averages I’ve ever seen. But he avoided mistakes and hit the one open receiver for the TD and got the win.
VEDRAL vs OHIO STATE
16 of 26 for 152 yards with 1 TD and 3 INTs
* INT second possession vs OSU (pick six).
Bad INT on double slants vs off coverage. He hesitated before he threw and I’m not sure why. The window looked clear to me, then missed high.
- Seems to know his limitations. Doesn’t push the envelope on third down, is willing to check it down.
- Slow release. Too long of an arm circle on his release.
- INC too high on third-and-five out route in 3Q vs Syracuse.
21 QB/TE JOHNNY LANGAN (6-3, 235, Jr., Wayne, NJ)
* Tyler Hunt type of athlete. Former QB.
* They use him on short yardage designed keepers. Kind of built like Tim Tebow for that role.
* Plays some tight end. Had a reception for a gain of 2 last week on a naked half roll.
RUNNING BACKS
RB 1 ISAIH PACHECO (5-11, 215, Vineland, NJ)
* Is averaging 3.8 yards per carry this year, averaged 4.4 per carry last year.
* Last year he rushed for 61 yards on 19 carries against Michigan State.
+ 20 carries for 107 yards (5.4) against Michigan.
* Has had seven 100-yard rushing game.
* Good RB, capable of going the distance if you screw up and give him a big crease. Good RB but I wouldn’t say he’s a difference-maker.
RB Kyle Monangai (5-9, 195, Fr., Roseland, NJ/Don Bosco Prep).
* 5.5 three-star recruit, ranked No. 26 in New Jersey.
* 5 rushes, 22 yards (4.4) against Michigan.
+ Powerful leg drive on a short guy.
* Good receiver, and they go to him as a primary receiver on little swing passes.
+ 11-yard TD on a buck sweep at Syracuse. LG and RG pulled. LG slow, but managed to kick a guy out. RG slow and RB kind of ran him over to get to the end zone without any resistance. This TD was slow vs slower (Syracuse). RB is solid, though.
+ Had two rushing TDs against Temple.
4 RB Aaron Young (5-10, 205, Soph., Coatesville, Pa.)
* Former Michigan State commitment.
* Three catches, 35 yards against Michigan.
* Has 16 carries for 60 yards on the year (3.8 per)
* Has 5 catches on the year, with a long of 21 yards.
QB Vedral is Rutgers’ second-leading rusher with 138 yards (3.5 per).
Short-yardage QB Johnny Langan has two rushing TDs.
RECEIVERS
Leading Receivers:
Bo Melton 24 catches
Aaron Cruickshank 17 catches
Shameen Jones 11 catches
Brandon Sanders 11 catches
WR 2 ARON CRUICKSHANK (5-10, 170, Brooklyn, NY)
* Was a three-star recruit
* Wisconsin transfer. Was an impact return man at Wisconsin.
* Had 37 receptions last year.
* Has game-breaking talent but Vedral doesn’t have great skill to utilize it consistently.
++ 75-yard TD pass against Ohio State, catching it at 10 yards on a short slant off an RPO read. OSU blitzed a CB and the remaining safety didn’t pick up Cruickshank soon enough. Cruickshank turned the corner and was gone down the sideline.
* Rutgers went deep to him on the first play against Ohio State, drew a pass interference.
+ Deep back shoulder fade on third and long on opening drive vs Michigan gain of 25.
* 4 catches, 32 yards against Michigan, including the 25-yarder and three short ones. Got the ball to him on an RPO “now” route (looks like what used to be called a WR screen) for three yards to move the chains in the 2Q last week.
* 4 catches for 22 yards against Syracuse (with a long of 7).
WR 18 BO MELTON (5-11, 195, Sr., Mays Landing, NJ)
* Went down and was in street clothes in the second half last week.
* is questionable for this game. If he’s unavailable, a choppy passing attack loses considerable RPMs.
* Was honorable mention All-Big Ten last year by coaches while leading team with 47 catches.
* 4 catches for 26 yards against Michigan.
* Team-high 8 catches for 43 yards (with a long of 9) against Syracuse).
* Six catches and 125 yards against Delaware.
* Six catches including a 40-yard TD against Temple.
WR 17 SHAMEEN JONES (6-2, 185, Sr., Bronx, NY)
* Was a 5.6 three-star recruit, ranked No. 6 in New York.
* Has 11 catches for 75 yards (6.8 per).
* Had two catches and three rushing attempts against OSU.
* Had two catches against Michigan.
* Had 34 catches last year.
TIGHT ENDS
* They aren’t good blockers on their own, but with the way they can stretch you out horizontally on Rutgers’ power read option, they have some effectiveness.
* I’ve not seen Rutgers use the TEs much in their passing attack, which is a surprise considering how often Vedral wants to throw short.
TE 5 JOVANI HASKINS (6-6, 250, Sr., Bergenfield, NJ)
* Has only three catches on the year, all against Syracuse.
* Had six catches last year.
* Was a four-star recruit, ranked in the Top 10 in New Jersey
* Signed with Miami, transferred to West Virginia and now Rutgers.
* Big lumbering type of TE but made a big play at Syracuse:
+ 30-yard TD vs Syracuse late in the 3Q to put Rutgers up 14-7. As a split out slot WR, he ran a seam route against cover-three. Syracuse didn’t reroute him. Vedral did a nice job of glancing to his right and moving the middle safety. Left CB was occupied to the outside.
* Tight ends Alaimo and Haskins graded out as Rutgers’ best run blockers against Michigan, at 65.2 and 62.3 (C+).
TE 10 Matt Alaimo (6-5, 245, Jr. Paramus, NJ)
* Former QB prospect whom Michigan State recruited for awhile.
- Terrible in pass protection while allowing a sack to Syracuse in the third quarter.
* Has only one catch on the year.
OFFENSIVE LINE
* Mediocre offensive line. Pass protection isn't bad, partly because they rarely pass from the pocket.
The norm:
* LG isn’t mobile, but they try to pull him anyway.
* The C/RG tandem beaten by a stunt on a third-and-one for no gain on an inside zone at Syracuse. Next play: (fourth-and-short stopped when the left tackle didn’t gap hinge when the LG pulled on a power. LB happened to be blitzing into that gap).
* LG beaten by a one-gapping DT on third-and-one in the 3Q against Syracuse. (Picked up fourth-and-one with Wildcat QB Langan keeping on an inside plunge).
OFFENSIVE LINE
LT 71 RAIQWON O’NEAL (6-4, 305, Jr., Conway, SC)
* Honorable mention All-Big Ten (media) last year.
* This is his third year as a starter.
* Questionable with an injury.
LT 69 BRENDAN BORDNER (6-5, 305, Sr., Columbus, Ohio)
* Graded out at 72.2 in pass pro last week (B-minus).
- Graded out at 52.0 by PFF in pass pro against Michigan (D).
+ On the 24-yard deep go route to Cruikshank on the opening drive against Michigan, he had pass pro against Aden Hutchinson. Hutchinson came with a bull rush. Pierce barely withstood the pressure and the pocket was caving when Vedral released. Vedral didn’t have much time to throw on that one but didn’t need much; it was one read and let it fly deep.
LG 54 CEDRICE PAILLANT (6-4, 310, Jr., New Rochelle, NY)
- Did not look good as a pull guard on a front side pin and pull.
- Graded out at 30.1 (failing) in pass pro last week by PFF.
* Graded out 65 (functional/C) in run blocking last week.
* Graded out at 77.8 in pass pro vs Michigan (B).
* Started seven games last year.
C 66 NICK KRIMIN (6-5, 315, Sr., South Amboy, NJ)
- looked slow as an attempted pull guard on a pin and pull in the 1Q.
* Graded out at 64.9 in pass pro last week against OSU (C).
* Graded out at a team-best 81.8 (B+) in pass pro against Michigan.
- Graded out 54.8 by PFF in run blocking against Michigan (D).
- Plays a little high after the snap, which got him in trouble against a Syracuse stunt when he got bashed from the side and allowed a TFL.
51 RG TROY RAINER Fr RG 6-4, 315, Fr., Bridgeport, Conn
* Started vs Michigan, first career start did not play last year.
- Graded out at 34.1 by PFF in pass pro last week (Fail).
- Graded out at 42.2 by PFF in run blocking last week (Fail).
+ Graded out 77.8 by PFF in pass pro against Michigan (B)
- Graded out a team-worst 43.1 in run blocking vs Michigan (Fail).
(58 RG David Nwaogwugwu Soph., 6-5, 310, Jr., Bronx, NY)
* Transfer from Temple. Started two games for Temple last year.
RT 72 HOLLIN PIERCE (6-8, 325, Fr., Trenton, NJ/Fork Union Prep)
* Was a no-star recruit coming out of Fork Union Military Academy. Oops.
+ Graded out at a team-best 82.6 in pass pro last week (B+).
* Functional in run blocking last week at 69.7, the best of the starters (C+)
- Graded out 35.9 in pass pro by PFF against Michigan (Fail).
GAME WITHIN THE GAME: Rutgers’ Defensive Approach
* Will Rutgers be as conservative, passive and respectful on defense this week as they were against Ohio State? They were afraid of OSU’s big play ability and tried to play bend-but-don’t break with soft zone coverages. Problem is, they broke anyway - early and often.
Will they show that much respect to Michigan State? MSU has a good amount of skilled talent to be concerned about if you’re Rutgers. But last week’s ploy worked so poorly that I wouldn’t be surprise if they scrapped it and challenged their guys to get after it with more man-to-man and pressures this week.
* On defense, Rutgers has been conservative on defense against Michigan and Rutgers on first and second down.
RUTGERS DEFENSE OBSERVATIONS AND TRAITS
* Rutgers’ rush defense is the big mystery. They stacked up Michigan pretty well, and stuffed Syracuse. OSU put up 206 yards rushing but that’s OSU.
- Rutgers allowed a 44-yard run to OSU on OSU’s second play of the game. On a counter behind OSU’s RG and H pull. Rutgers LBs were flowing fast to the backfield, play-side LB got hooked, MLB got cut off by down blocking play side tackle. Safety was charging down hard got kicked out by pulling H-back. With LBs in tight and getting erased and that safety coming down hard and getting kicked out there was no one over the top to pursue. Other safety was influenced out of the play by the fly sweep fake the other way.
* Syracuse rushed for 109 yards in gains (42 losses) for a net of 67. Syracuse averaged 2.2 yards per carry. Their top tailback averaged 4.2 yards on 13 carries.
* OSU rushed for 208 yards on 37 carries (5.6 per).
* When Rutgers subs on defense, they get noticeably slow. 32-yard TD to OSU’s Garrett Wilson on a shallow crosser made the defense look slow in turning the corner and getting up the sideline. Playing quarters zone, there’s no way a shallow crosser should get out, untouched, like that. They had a couple of back-ups on the field as it was a few plays into the drive.
* On third down, they become aggressive. They will stand everyone up in a “chaos” look and threaten anywhere from four to seven rushers.
DEFENSIVE LINE
* Solid guys across the board, but they don’t have any plus pass rushers.
DE 97 MIKE TVERDOV
* A slightly watered-down Jacub Panasiuk type.
+/- Good job crashing inside to get some penetration but missed a tackle as a 25-yard TD run got out for Syracuse in the third quarter. Linebackers and safeties got caught in the wash and seemed passive, uncertain.
50 DT JULIUS TURNER (6-0, 275, Sr., Meridian, Miss.)
* Two-star recruit, also visited Louisiana Tech.
* Honorable mention All-Big Ten last year by coaches and media.
* Team captain.
* Tilt nose tackle
* Ejected late in the 1H vs Michigan for late hit targeting on the QB.
* Not bad vs double teams
* 1.5 sacks vs Delaware.
* 1 sack against Syracuse.
* Had a TFL against Temple.
* Had eight tackles against Michigan State in 2019, with a sack.
* Spends most of the day two-gapping the center off of that tilt angle and is hard to move, and then he changes it up with a one-gapping slant and creates problems with that (like he did with a TFL against Michigan in the red zone).
* He’s a quality player, but his body type is the type of thing you find on the Rutgers roster. His size and stature isn’t perfect for the position, but he makes it work. Rutgers has had to recruit some “defective” players like this, but some of them work out extremely well. They don’t have a lot of “defective” recruits, but that’s part of the deal when recruiting near the bottom of the Big Ten for a few years. This guy is good. But Rutgers has some defects at QB, and with some of their speed on defense.
(45 NT Jamree Kromah, 6-4, 275, Jr.)
* Played the second half vs Michigan and wasn’t bad.
92 DT MAYAN AHANOTU (6-4, 285, Jr., Tampa)
* Solid player.
+ Sack caused a fumble in the fourth quarter at Syracuse and was a huge play in cementing victory. He did it with a bull rush, put the left guard on his heels. Poor pass pro by the Syracuse guy on that one.
88 Ifeanyi Maijeh, 6-2, 280, Sr., Far Rockaway, NY
* Two-star recruit offered by Temple, Maine, New Hampshire.
* Quality player when he turns it on.
* Started seven games last year for Temple.
* Two TFLs vs Syracuse.
* Not bad as two-gapper.
+ Good job two-gapping the UM LG Keegan, setting him back a yard and gumming up a third-and-one inside zone late in the quarter for a stoppage, helping Rutgers gain momentum.
DE 26 CJ ONYECHI (6-1, 250, Sr., West Orange NJ)
* Three-star recruit, No. 28 in New Jersey.
* Lively player. Lays out, gives effort. Kind of runs around like a big running back.
* Started five games last year. Had a TFL against Michigan State last year.
* Had a sack against Delaware.
(DE 58 Mohamed Toure, 6-2, 235, Soph., Pleasantville, NJ)
* 3-star recruit, ranked No. 31 in New Jersey.
* Inconsistent, but flashes ability and toughness when he wants to.
Average take-off, kind of got swallowed up by the OSU LT on a third down in the first half.
+ Good movement vs OSU TE in the red zone in the 1H last week on an inside zone, bounced the play.
* Stand-up DE.
* Not great at the point of attack as a stand-up DE.
+ Sack vs Syracuse on a third-and-10, four man rush, he stunted inside and the Orange center was late in seeing him. Rutgers played cover-three zone behind it.
+ Pretty solid setting the edge vs a Michigan pull guard on a buck sweep in the 2Q, stacked it up for no gain.
* Had six tackles against Michigan.
* Had a sack against Rutgers and a TFL against Temple.
LINEBACKERS
* Solid, hefty, maybe a little slow. No. 3 is very tough vs blockers.
MIKE LB TYSHON FOGG 6-2, 245, Sr., Baltimore
* Started the first five games this year. Like a lot of the players on this defense, looks like he is carrying about 5 to 10 unnecessary pounds.
- Looked kind of weak tippy-toeing into Michigan RB Haskins and failing to make a tackle when he had chest and two arms on him on the opening drive.
* Thick guy, maybe too thick.
* I seem to remember him being quicker and more forceful last year.
MIKE LB 9 Tyreek Maddox-Williams (6-2 ,235, Sr, Philadelphia)
* Could get the start over Fogg this week.
* Good in pass defense. Graded out 85.1 in that category against OSU.
+ Made a nice 4-yard TFL in the 1Q last week, shot the gap behind the tilted DT to stop OSU RB Henderson.
* 39 tackles last year, one start.
WLB 3 OLAKUNLE FATUKASI (6-2, 240, Far Rockaway, NY)
* Heavy legged, hits hard.
* Can really take on blockers with pop. I’ve seen him bash some offensive line pullers. That’s good for business.
* Butkus Award Semifinalist (one of 16).
* Led Big Ten in tackles with 101 last year, which is a free entry to first-team All-Big Ten by the media.
* Was second-Team All-Big Ten by the coaches.
* Had eight tackles against Michigan.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
* Not impressive at safety when converging to support the run defense, or with open-field tackling. They seem slowish and uncertain.
PASS DEFENSE
* They will make errors more frequently than most teams. For example, LB 3 Fatukasi and DB 5 Abraham had a miscommunication on a 2TE switch release on the first play of Michigan’s second drive, and a TE was wide open for a gain of 24. I've seen open windows in their coverage pretty frequently, too open. And they don't converge quickly.
* Syracuse QBs were 19 of 32 for 191 yards with 0 TDs and 1 INT (last play of the game).
* Ohio State’s CJ Stroud was 17 of 23 for 330 yards with 5 TDs and 0 INTs.
* Michigan’s QB McNamara capitalized on some open areas in the first half, but was inaccurate in the second half.
SS 0 CHRISTIAN IZIEN (5-10, 200, Jr., Far Rockaway, NY)
* Honorable Mention All-Big Ten by coaches and media.
* Had four interceptions last year and three fumble recoveries.
+ Good open field tackle out of man-to-man coverage on a third-and-eight in the second quarter against Syracuse, but he didn’t look like he had plus speed while converging. Another thick-legged guy. Maybe too thick.
FS 2 AVERY YOUNG (6-1, 205, Jr., Coatesville, Pa.)
* Not much of an opinion on him but he made a nice aggressive downhill tackle on UM RB Haskins for a third-and-1 stoppage in the third quarter.
* Was honorable mention All-Big Ten by media last year.
* Forced three fumbles last year.
CB 24 PATRICE RENE (6-2, 205, Sr., Ottawa, Ontario)
* Was a four-star recruit ranked No. 7 player in Virginia while attending prep school there.
* Grad transfer from North Carolina.
* Had six starts for UNC last year.
* Looked thick and slow when getting beat by WR Roman Wilson on a simple RPO slant for 39 yards during Michigan’s second drive. Rene gave him a big cushion and then looked slow for a cornerback when trying to chase him from behind.
CB 5 KESSAWN ABRAHAM, 5-10, 185, Jr., Brooklyn
* Two-star recruit with offers from Rutger and Stony Brook.
* First-year starter.
+ Good play in the 1H vs OSU, defeating a WR block and making a tackle.
+ Good open field tackle on a waggle throwback to the TE vs Michigan to force a punt in the 2Q.
CB 21 TREY AVERY (5-11, 190, Sr., Baltimore)
* Three-star recruit, No. 29 in Maryland, signed with Ohio State. But enrolled at Toledo in 2016. Then transferred to Rutgers in 2017.
Transferred to Rutgers in 2017.
* Mixed bag with this guy.
* good coverage on slot fade vs Michigan for a pass break-up, forcing a field goal and holding UM to a 17-3 lead.
* Third team All-Big Ten last year
* Transfer from Toledo
* 18 career starts at Rutgers.
* Michigan really targeted him in the first half. Safety help is so deep, not much help.
- Playing the slot, allowed a 51-yard deep go route against Syracuse. In man-to-man, he was really heavy on his heels as he got into his hip turn, and slow coming out of his hip turn.
* Loafed during a 25-yard TD run by Syracuse.
+ Had a pass break up vs Michigan TE (who had split out as a WR) on a comeback vs off coverage. QB McNamara was late with the ball, TE was waiting, 21 came up and knocked it away. Opening drive.
- Allowed a lot of separation on a square-in to UM WR Cornelius Johnson in quarters zone for about 20 yards. Easy throw for QB McNamara.
- Allowed a cushion and then wasn’t quick enough to react to UM WR Sanristil on a crossing route at the end of the first half that went for 51 yards with :13 left in the first half. That resulted in a field goal and a 20-3 halftime lead.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Michigan’s AJ Henning had a 29-yard punt return against Rutgers.
Rutgers’ Aaron Cruickshank was Big Ten returner of the year last year. He’s a threat. Coghlin needs to keep banging ‘em.
He had one punt return for 8 yards against Michigan. Aaron Young was the primary punt returner last year, and was a pretty good one.
Rutgers punter averaged 40.5 on two punts against Michigan. (Michigan punted five times).
Rutgers kicker Valentine Ambrosio missed a short field goal in the fourth quarter against Michigan that would have cut the lead to 20-16.
He missed a 29-yard FG in the fourth quarter at Syracuse.
Had an extra point blocked last week; low snap was part of the problem.
* Rutgers blocked a punt at Syracuse. Nearly blocked another one late in the third quarter.
ADD IT ALL UP
* Michigan State has the edge at QB, Michigan State has a better offensive line. MSU’s defense has had some shaky statistical moments this year but I think this is game in which MSU’s stats and averages SHOULD get well. Rutgers does some herky-jerky interesting things with the read option game and with some RPOs. Not the easiest task in the world for Michigan State, but that’s life in the Big Ten. I expect Michigan State to continue to hit hard, play square with all 11 men and continue to harness a level of same-pageness that has improved throughout the year (even while giving up a lot of yards last week).
Michigan State might not be as much of a bend-but-don’t-break team against Rutgers. It will be interesting to see if Michigan State comes out of that softish zone philosophy against this Rutgers team that is not threatening with intermediate passing. Or do you play soft, take away the deep shot and MAKE them throw the intermediate pass? Good question. You’ll learn when I learn.
Rutgers’ defensive interior can be firm and tricky. Michigan State MUST show it can handle Rutgers’ unique look.
Pass protection shouldn’t be a big problem, other than third-and-long. Thorne should have time to throw. He should have big, open windows on first down if Michigan State can establish the run.
Rutgers’ secondary is shaky. Michigan State can match up well there, attacking No. 21. He earned some postseason awards last year, but teams are attacking him this year.
As long as Michigan State avoids turnovers, I think MSU’s B game is 10 points better than Rutgers’ B game. But it will take some knucklebusting and bloody noses to get there. It’s not a cakewalk. It’s a double mouthpiece Big Ten game. MSU’s chin should be strong enough for this. Rutgers just doesnt’ have enough punches.
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