Leaving behind thoughts of what would happen in a chess match between BC coach Tom O’Brien and Walt Harris…
For those who don’t want the stories and views filtered by us, and are here just to get the links you can go to the Rutgers Athletics Website; a Rutgers blog; and the Newark Star-Ledger.
While this is a Big East game of the week, if you don’t live in a Big East market or don’t have ESPN GamePlan (I think they’ll have it), and you don’t want to pay Pitt and Yahoo! to listen to the radio broadcast on the internet, Rutgers apparently is smart enough to make their radio broadcast available for free. You will need RealPlayer to listen.
Now for the biases.
Sadly, Rutgers will be having depth issues at defense. Several players were injured during a collision with a drunk driver.
Three Rutgers University football players were among seven people injured Saturday in an accident caused by a drunk driver traveling the wrong way on Route 18 in Piscataway, police said yesterday.
The crash, less than a mile from Rutgers Stadium, occurred just hours after the Scarlet Knights’ 16-6 homecoming victory over rival Temple.
Injured in the three-vehicle crash was defensive back Dondre Asberry, 20, who sustained a spinal fracture and head injury and remained in stable condition at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick last night, police said.
Also injured were two key players on the Rutgers defense, Plainfield native Manny Collins, 20, and Eddie Grimes, a 20-year-old recruit from Florida who lives in New Brunswick. Grimes rooms with Asberry.
Collins had only recently returned to the lineup after missing three games with a dislocated elbow.
The players, both cornerbacks, were treated for head and facial injuries at Robert Wood Johnson and released.
“I don’t know if they’re going to play this week or not,” Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano said last night.
I wish a speedy recovery to all of you. Grimes and Collins are not the starting CBs but 2nd on the depth chart.
Rutgers may be just as big an enigma as Pitt. Even Rutgers coach Greg Schiano doesn’t know what his team will do from week to week. This is as much a must win for Rutgers as it is for Pitt regarding getting to 6 wins and bowl eligibility. After Pitt they host WVU, go to BC and then Navy and end the season at home against UConn.
Pitt has to go to Syracuse, then to ND, before hosting WVU and making up a game in Tampa against USF. According to Gold Sheet, Pitt is favored in this game at -4 to -6 points.
Pitt has released its game notes (in PDF). Looking over some things, I see that WR Greg Lee leads the Big East in receiving yards per game and P Adam Graessle is the top punter. Pitt has been given up more yards than it has produced in all but the Furman game — yes, Pitt was outgained by Temple and Ohio. Statistically, Rutgers has an edge on Offense bit Pitt has the advantage on Defense.
