Rutgers scouting report against North Carolina

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North Carolina report

The Tar Heels beat McNeese State, 35-27, in their season opener. While exhibiting its potential for offensive explosiveness, North Carolina was exposed a bit defensively as McNeese State had an edge in time of possession (35:16 to 24:44) and outgained the Heels, 391-384. With McNeese averaging 13.3 yards per catch and rolling up 239 yards passing, look for Rutgers to throw early.

Rutgers report

The Scarlet Knights had 10 days to prepare after their opening loss to Fresno State, in which their defense fell apart after a scoreless first half and senior QB Mike Teel had a sub-par game. Redshirt sophomore Kordell Young rushed for a career-high 94 yards in his first game as Ray Rice?s successor. Teel is 21-9 as RU?s starting quarterback and has started 27 consecutive games.

Players to watch

Brandon Tate, North Carolina?s versatile wide receiver-kick returner, is the top draw for 18 NFL scouts (a record for a Rutgers home game), including Giants general manager Jerry Reese. Tate rolled up a school-record 397 all-purpose yards in the opener. Watch the matchup of Marvin Austin, UNC?s sophomore defensive tackle, and Anthony Davis, RU?s sophomore offensive tackle.

 

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Rutgers sorely in need of confidence


They drilled all summer, Mike Teel lobbing balls into the cradled hands of Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood.

They rehearsed routes, they timed steps and they labored to get ball placement perfect. The season opener came, the first snap had Teel looking at an open Underwood, the quarterback set for one of those textbook completions and the rush came, slamming down Teel, throwing off the pass, which went to the ground.

So now, this week, Teel practiced lobbing balls at Britt and Underwood. At their shoulders, at their knees, at all sorts of places a hurried quarterback may send a ball ? and where these receivers believe they can still catch a ball.

There?s no waiting on a green line to learn, to give their quarterback and pass-catchers more time, for these Scarlet Knights. When North Carolina joins Rutgers Thursday night on ESPN, the Scarlet Knights will be playing with the urgency of a team that?s an unhappy 0-1 and decidedly sure there?s no work they can?t put in to stop a slide.

?It?s not about getting the first win as much as it?s about playing the best football we can play,? Teel said. ?In a way, it?s our first chance to go out and play because what happened last week you can?t change and what?s going to happen in two weeks you have no control over.?

Sort of.

The Scarlet Knights are sorely in need of a shot of confidence, and confidence not simply based on faith, but on evidence. Rutgers? 24-7 loss to Fresno State featured breakdowns by ? and deficiencies in ? its offense, defense and special teams units, leaving linebacker Kevin Malast with no qualms in saying, ?We definitely need to remind ourselves how much better we are.?

Being able to do that with their best play, which Teel said ?we obviously didn?t do? against Fresno State, will have value as the Knights move on in their schedule.

Rutgers has opened a season 0-2 only once in Greg Schiano?s past seven years, in 2002, when it finished 1-11. Opening 0-2 here would give the Scarlet Knights a shot for, at best, a 2-2 start heading into a brutal October and league play. The Knights start at Fiesta Bowl champion West Virginia, where they have never won, go to Cincinnati, host Connecticut and then are back on the road at Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile at home ? where the Knights were 6-0 in 2006 and are a middling 5-4 since ? Rutgers needs a reassertion of its swagger, a reminder that Schiano has long envisioned it one of college football?s toughest visits.

Schiano, of course, doesn?t want to cater to the absolute of this meeting with North Carolina (1-0) having the power to set a tone for the rest of Rutgers? season.

?I think in general we overreact when things go well, and I think we overreact when things don?t go well,? the eighth-year coach said. He openly scoffed at the idea of a ?must-win? game here in Week 2 of a 12-game season, saying, ?It?s not a must win for Rutgers.? And that in his thinking, ?there is no such thing as a ?must-win.? ? The world does not come to an end if we lose and it doesn?t get better if we win.?

The world, maybe not. And maybe not even Rutgers? section of the college football world. In 2005, the Knights gave away a stinker at Illinois, losing in what Schiano now says was one of his most demoralizing days, and still rebounded to their first bowl march in 27 years.

But earlier this week, when Teel was throwing balls over Britt?s shoulders, and Britt was hauling in those balls, the Scarlet Knights made clear they?re not willing to take a chance on some lucky repeat of 2005?s turnaround. They?d rather, Underwood said with every catch, produce better play and a better result now.

?We?re not going to stop working,? Teel said. ?We?re always going to do everything we can to play the best football we can.?

No matter what it looks like.

 

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Rutgers vs. North Carolina: Game Preview


WHEN RUTGERS HAS THE BALL

Will QB Mike Teel bounce back from a subpar opening game? Can the offense finally start fulfilling its enormous potential? Those are two questions most Rutgers fans probably never anticipated as underlying themes heading into the North Carolina game, but the Scarlet Knights were so mediocre on offense in the 24-7 loss to Fresno State 10 days ago that the unit is already looking for redemption.

If defenses are going to continue to double-team WR Kenny Britt, Teel - and offensive coordinator John McNulty - have to find ways to involve FB Jack Corcoran, TE Kevin Brock and Dennis Campbell, the third wide receiver option, in the passing game. But the offensive line also has to provide Teel with more time to throw than it did in the opener - while facing an NFL-size defensive front this time.

It's fair to question the wisdom of calling on TB Kordell Young 26 times in his first game back from major knee surgery. Quickness, not a workhorse approach, is Young's strength. RBs Mason Robinson and Jourdan Brooks could be keys in getting the running game untracked.

WHEN NORTH CAROLINA HAS THE BALL

When a wide receiver - Brandon Tate - is the leading rusher against McNeese State and accounts for all but 57 of a team's rushing yards, you know there's an issue with the ground game. The Tar Heels are young at tailback, where the top three players on the depth chart are sophomores, and now face a test against what appears to be a good Rutgers run defense.

If QB T.J. Yates doesn't get the production he needs from the backs, he can be mistake-prone (19 interceptions vs. 16 TD passes the past two seasons). And as big as North Carolina's offensive line is, it did allow 37 sacks last year - and then two more in the opener against McNeese State. But the Tar Heels have the great equalizer in Tate, who accounted for a school-record 397 yards against McNeese State, adding a 93-yard receiving game and an 82-yard touchdown on a punt return.

Senior WR Hakeem Nicks (six catches for 110 yards in the opener), gives Carolina nice balance at the wideout spots - and should be a cause for concern for a Rutgers secondary that gave up three big plays in the passing game in the second half against Fresno that led to scores.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Rutgers did a solid job on A.J. Jefferson, Fresno State's record-setting kick returner (40 yards combined on two kickoff returns), but it sure helped that the Knights didn't have to kick to him in the first half because they didn't score.

Tate represents an even bigger challenge because he is a proven dual threat. The senior averaged 47.3 yards for three punt returns - one an 82-yard touchdown - and went 56 yards with his only kickoff return in the opener. He is within reach of the NCAA records for career kickoff return yards and combined kick return yards. Rutgers also has to find a way to get redshirt freshman place-kicker San San Te going after he was 0-for-2 on field goals in his debut. In fact, there isn't a player on either roster who has made a field goal in a college game.




ONE MORE THING

What has happened to Rutgers' home-field advantage? Despite sellouts for every Rutgers Stadium game the past two years, the Knights are just 5-4 at home over that span - after going 7-0 at home in 2006. They are hoping to catch some Thursday night home "magic" again, after upsetting No. 3 Louisville in 2006 and No. 2 South Florida in exactly this scenario.


WEATHER

A mostly sunny day will give way to cool, fall-like temperatures in the mid-60s by kickoff, according to Weather.com. There is no rain in the forecast.

 

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UNC at Rutgers

OBSERVATIONS

RECRUITS ARE WATCHING

Since ESPN began televising Thursday night games in the mid-1990s, UNC has appeared on the broadcast only five times, going 3-2. So it's a good time to take advantage of the opportunity. Coach Butch Davis is trying to rebuild the Tar Heels into a national program -- which means luring prominent recruits that may otherwise think that "Carolina" and "prime time" don't go together. A win would help get people's attention.

RECEIVING THE BENEFITS?

During the preseason, UNC wideout Hakeem Nicks was often asked if his play-making abilities might draw double-teams and thus open things up for his fellow receivers. Now he must wonder whether the play of a fellow receiver might open things up for him. Brandon Tate's 397 all-purpose-yards performance against McNeese State included 93 receiving yards and a touchdown. How many guys can Rutgers double team?

FRIENDS TURNED FOES

The pregame handshake might last longer than usual. Rutgers coach Greg Schiano served as Butch Davis' defensive coordinator with the Miami Hurricanes for two seasons, and the two remain close. Tonight marks the first time they have coached against each other.

WHAT TO WATCH

UNC'S QB PRESSURE

UNC didn't manage a sack in the season opener, and it won't get any easier today. Rutgers has allowed only 19 sacks since 2006, the fewest in the nation.