MORGANTOWN - When Greg Schiano was out searching for a last-minute fill-in game for his 2008 Rutgers football schedule last winter, Fresno State's Pat Hill was doing pretty much the same.
MORGANTOWN - When Greg Schiano was out searching for a last-minute fill-in game for his 2008 Rutgers football schedule last winter, Fresno State's Pat Hill was doing pretty much the same.
What they ended up with was each other, not so much out of design but necessity.
"I was at a coaching function and I was on the phone trying to find a game and I think [Hill] was probably in the same room doing the same thing. It's not exactly what I was looking to do right out of the gate, but we were looking for a Division I-A opponent.''
And so on Monday, Labor Day, Rutgers will open its season with a nationally televised (ESPN, 4 p.m.) home game with Fresno State.
That's quite the departure from last year's Rutgers schedule when the Knights opened the season with five straight home games, two of the first three coming against Buffalo and Norfolk State. This fall Schiano's team begins with Fresno State, North Carolina and Navy.
Fresno had an opening on its schedule because Kansas State cancelled the last of a three-game series between the teams (a home game, no less) after losing 45-29 and giving up 30 first downs and 549 total yards last season. And the Bulldogs might be even better this year. They go into the season ranked No. 25 in the coaches' poll.
A chance for Rutgers to make a statement right off the bat, perhaps?
"I'm not interested in making statements. I'm just interested in playing our best,'' Schiano said. "And I'm not even sure if our best will be good enough.''
The contract between the teams is for two games, the second to be played at Fresno in 2012.
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Speaking of Rutgers, who is going to replace the irreplaceable Ray Rice this season?
"We haven't really decided,'' Schiano said.
It's not that there aren't some good choices. Kordell Young unquestionably has the talent, but he tore his ACL early last season and may or may not be the same back he once was. Fellow sophomore Mason Robinson is the guy if Young has lost anything. Jourdan Brooks is also a factor as a 255-pound fullback and Joe Martinek can play. Both are redshirt freshmen.
Robinson and Young will get the first looks, though.
"We haven't really decided what will be Mason's plays and what will be Kordell's plays, but we'll do that in the next couple of days,'' Schiano said. "Hopefully we can [divide the carries] and have some success in games.''
MORGANTOWN - When Greg Schiano was out searching for a last-minute fill-in game for his 2008 Rutgers football schedule last winter, Fresno State's Pat Hill was doing pretty much the same.
What they ended up with was each other, not so much out of design but necessity.
"I was at a coaching function and I was on the phone trying to find a game and I think [Hill] was probably in the same room doing the same thing. It's not exactly what I was looking to do right out of the gate, but we were looking for a Division I-A opponent.''
And so on Monday, Labor Day, Rutgers will open its season with a nationally televised (ESPN, 4 p.m.) home game with Fresno State.
That's quite the departure from last year's Rutgers schedule when the Knights opened the season with five straight home games, two of the first three coming against Buffalo and Norfolk State. This fall Schiano's team begins with Fresno State, North Carolina and Navy.
Fresno had an opening on its schedule because Kansas State cancelled the last of a three-game series between the teams (a home game, no less) after losing 45-29 and giving up 30 first downs and 549 total yards last season. And the Bulldogs might be even better this year. They go into the season ranked No. 25 in the coaches' poll.
A chance for Rutgers to make a statement right off the bat, perhaps?
"I'm not interested in making statements. I'm just interested in playing our best,'' Schiano said. "And I'm not even sure if our best will be good enough.''
The contract between the teams is for two games, the second to be played at Fresno in 2012.
nn
Speaking of Rutgers, who is going to replace the irreplaceable Ray Rice this season?
"We haven't really decided,'' Schiano said.
It's not that there aren't some good choices. Kordell Young unquestionably has the talent, but he tore his ACL early last season and may or may not be the same back he once was. Fellow sophomore Mason Robinson is the guy if Young has lost anything. Jourdan Brooks is also a factor as a 255-pound fullback and Joe Martinek can play. Both are redshirt freshmen.
Robinson and Young will get the first looks, though.
"We haven't really decided what will be Mason's plays and what will be Kordell's plays, but we'll do that in the next couple of days,'' Schiano said. "Hopefully we can [divide the carries] and have some success in games.''
nn
Louisville has enough problems to deal with this season without having a killer schedule. And the Cardinals don't.
Between now and November Louisville plays exactly one road game, at Memphis. The opener with Kentucky isn't easy, but there are also games with Tennessee Tech and Middle Tennessee State sprinkled into the mix.
But the real comfort is playing at home. Or is it?
"Actually, sometimes I prefer taking a team on the road,'' coach Steve Kragthorpe said. "You get them away from everything and get them locked and loaded on the task at hand.''
No matter where the Cardinals play, though, they have some issues to address beyond the obvious, which is the loss of so many players from what turned out to be a pretty bad football team last season. Louisville has also been hit by injuries to wide receivers. Scott Long is out indefinitely with a broken foot and Trent Guy is trying to return from a gunshot wound to the back he suffered outside a Louisville nightclub in July.
"We've got a number of guys who can play those positions,'' Kragthorpe said. "That's one thing we try to make sure everyone can do is play all the positions.''
Included in the group of potential fill-ins is Jacques Caldwell, a 5-foot-9, 175-pound freshman from Garland, Texas. And he's not likely to be the only true freshman playing for the Cardinals.
"I hope they make an impact because we're going to play a lot of them,'' Kragthorpe said. "They have to grow up pretty quickly. I told them a week into camp that they weren't freshmen anymore.''
Briefly
Pitt wide receiver Derek Kinder, who missed all last season with a knee injury, appears fully healthy now. "Derek is fine,'' coach Dave Wannstedt said. "We were kind of conservative during the spring and eased him into camp. But the last two scrimmages he went live.''
Forget about letdowns or slumps. Jim Leavitt said the reason his South Florida team lost three straight games after rising as high as No. 2 in the national rankings last season was simple. "One thing we learned is you can't turn the ball over and expect to win,'' Leavitt said. "And when we started protecting the ball we won our last three games.''
Ben Mauk is still not officially an ex-Cincinnati Bearcat. The quarterback lost several appeals to the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility, but is now taking that body to court.
And Kragthorpe on West Virginia hiring Bill Stewart: "I was actually sorry to see that they did hire him,'' Kragthorpe said. "I was hoping they would go with someone else. He's a good coach.''
Reach Dave Hickman at 348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.
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They may only win four games.