Game Seven: Fresno State at Rutgers

Finished up the weekend with this game. Going into it, I really thought that the Bulldogs had a chance to beat Rutgers. Here are some thoughts and observations from the game....

....A classic case of my theory that if you control a half, you darn well better get your points. Rutgers controlled the first half, and it was 0-0 at halftime. They missed two field goals and were stopped on a fourth down play inside the ten. They could have had a two-score lead at halftime and had no lead at all.

....That said, Fresno made a ton of adjustments at the intermission and was clearly the better team in the second half. Rutgers had one punt return called back, and that might have been a bad call. But no doubt the Bulldogs were the better team, at least after the break.

....Was a fairly tough weekend for the Big East. With Pitt, Rutgers and Louisville all losing at home (Pitt and Rutgers to non-BCS teams) and Syracuse losing on the road, the conference was just 4-4.

....Ryan Matthews is really an impressive runner. He runs extremely hard. He has enough speed to get to the outside, but he is especially good between the tackles. When I see a kid like Matthews performing early in his career, he's just a sophomore, had a fine freshman campaign, I always wonder how a guy like that could end up where they did. Matthews was not necessarily an under the radar type. Maybe his size (6-0, 195) was an issue but I doubt it. Or maybe it was his speed (4.55). I don't know. Sometimes you've just got to look at, whether or not the guy can play. And it's hard to imagine that anyone determined Matthews couldn't.

....If Rutgers wants to take the step to the next level of competition - a BCS bowl contender - this is the type of game it can't lose. They have a little bit of time to regroup, but they'll have to be ready for an improved North Carolina team on Thursday the 11th or run the risk of falling to 0-2.

....I was really surprised that a team with as much talent at the wideout slots and an experienced QB couldn't produce more offensively. Kenny Britt has always been one of the more impressive wide receivers in the game to me and Tiquan Underwood is about as quick as they get. So do we put all the blame on Mike Teel? You tell me.