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We’ve certainly heard a lot about the football team from Piscataway in the news in recent weeks, and to the school’s dismay, very little of it has been about their on-field performance.
September has been a nightmare for Rutgers off the field following the arrest and dismissal of several members of the football team. That’s not where the chaos began, though. Kyle Flood has been under investigation by the school, stemming from allegations that the head coach contacted an instructor of one of his student-athletes in the spring in regards to his academic standing. Flood was suspended Wednesday afternoon and will not coach the next three games for the Scarlet Knights.
Nadir Barnwell was the player involved in the incident in the spring, and is one of the players who has been dismissed from the team following his arrest in a separate criminal investigation that involved a home invasion in which five students were robbed at gunpoint and subsequently assaulted. Other current players charged include Ruhann Peele, Razohnn Gross, Delon Stephenson and Andre Boggs.
In addition to the aforementioned athletes, senior wide receiver Leonte Carroo — who’s thought of by many to be the team’s best player — was just charged and suspended indefinitely for allegedly slamming a woman into concrete during an altercation.
After all of these incidents, it would be a massive understatement to say that the team and athletic department is in a difficult position moving forward. Off the field, the university needs to make a decision in regards to Flood. Based solely on the incident involving the student-athlete’s academic standing, should the program retain Flood beyond the season. I think it’s highly unlikely and I for one would be shocked at any decision otherwise. Any respected school in the country wants first and foremost to maintain a flawless academic reputation and allegations that an instructor is being coerced into changing a student-athlete’s standing won’t be tolerated.
On the field, there’s no question that you should expect the team to struggle mightily. I stated before the season that I believed that five wins would be the ceiling for the team this season, but now I think that three is a more realistic number. The secondary, which wasn’t a vastly talented group from the beginning was just depleted by the dismissals, not to mention losing their captain and best player, who may have been the best two or three receivers in the Big Ten.
Rutgers beat up on Norfolk State in Week 1 and suffered a horrible loss to Washington State last weekend. Next up, a trip to Happy Valley on Saturday for a grudge match against the Nittany Lions. This game could be the perfect distraction for the team. The game features two teams that really don’t like each other and Rutgers will be looking for a payback win after Penn State stole last year’s game from the Scarlet Knights in the fourth quarter.
Both teams will show up and be ready to play, but the sheer lack of talent on the visitors’ side will prove be the difference. Recent events in Piscataway will also fuel the home crowd and will make it extremely difficult for Rutgers at Beaver Stadium. As for this week’s prediction, I have very little doubt that Penn State will pull away in the second half. I’ve questioned James Franklin‘s abilities as a game day coach, but he’s a great motivator and his talented group will get it done in the end.
How will the team perform the rest of the season? I have no expectations for this team without Carroo and the players in their secondary. There are still a lot of questions at quarterback. There’s talent on the roster, but they simply won’t have enough playmakers or depth. The only positive takeaway from this is that the young players on the roster will get their opportunity to play and possibly develop much more quickly than expected.
Running backs coach Norries Wilson will run the team in Flood’s absence and is the logical choice. He’s the only guy on the staff with previous head coaching experience (Columbia) and will be charged with keeping the group together both physically and emotionally.
Jason Shawley is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering Big Ten Football. Follow him on Twitter @jshawls.
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