Rutgers Is Officially Unwatchable And Pains My Soul

Oh, don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean I have stopped watching. The complete opposite is true, as a matter of fact. I am the upmost authority on Rutgers level of watchability because I watched every snap of a 49-7 blowout at the hands of Ohio State. I sat, well mostly stood, in the Wisconsin student section in the pouring rain as thousands of drunken students talked about how awful Rutgers was. The worst part? I had nothing to say. They were right. Rutgers is terrible. So terrible that at the 8 minute mark of the 4th quarter I did stop watching. Mostly because I wanted to explore the Madison bar scene, but also because Rutgers offensive futility and defensive ineptitude made it feel like I was standing in the rain for a day and half. I never want to give up on my team, but my team has given up on itself. This program is content being mediocre. It's content celebrating wins over middle of the pack Big Ten teams. It'c content getting absolutely EMBARRASSED by the the conference's traditional powers. I can't make Rutgers care about helping it's football program grow, none of the fans can, so the emotion that has come over the Rutgers faithful isn't anger, it's not sadness, it's worse than that. It's apathy. Apathy that closely resembles that of it's Head Coach. Apathy that closely resembles that of it's athletic department, that refuses to fire said Head Coach.

I'll be watching next week, and I am not the least bit excited. A road game against one the of the best defenses, possibly the best, in the nation? Michigan is going to chew Rutgers up and spit them out because they aren't even worth the calories. Chris Laviano, may be the nicest kid in the world. He may be a great football mind. He may have a fantastic grasp of the offense. All of those things are possible, but we will never find out because he is not physically gifted enough to put those potential tools to work. The opposition doesn't even need safeties because he can't throw the ball past ten yards. I'm not trying to be mean. I feel bad for the kid, because he's being put in an impossible situation. His offensive line hasn't been good, but even if it was, he doesn't have the arm to open up this offense. That's even clear to the most casual of fans. To compound that issue, his confidence is all but dead. That's evidenced by his minimum of two fumbled snaps per game. I wish the kid the best, but he is not gaining anything from the playing time he is being undeservedly given. If anything he is regressing because of it. We are talking about a starting offense that has put up 3 points over the past two weeks combined. A starting offense that has been OUTSCORED by it's own starting defense. A starting defense that has given up 95 points over the last two weeks. You can't even make up numbers that ridiculous.

Do I know is Hayden Rettig is any good? No, I don't. I know he has the POTENTIAL to be good. Potential that Laviano simply doesn't have. Rettig could come in and throw 12 interceptions and the result could be just as bad as it has been. However, given the glimpses that Rettig has shown in mop up duty, there is a reason, even if it's an EXTREMELY small one, to think that is not the case. At this point, there's not a team in the country that wouldn't give their backup quarterback a legitimate chance to succeed, especially one with the same amount of eligibly and an unparalleled level of physical ability to the starter. These guys were "supposedly" neck and neck all training camp, and now one is falling directly on his face. It doesn't take a genius to see that there what needs to be done. Trust me, there is nothing else to lose, because Kyle Flood has already lost the faith of his fanbase, and I truly don't know if the higher ups have what it takes to get it back.