Keeping Up with the Joneses: Realists See the Glass as Half Empty Edition

Tom Luicci, Star Ledger-  Joe Martinek is still in the mix to replace Ray Rice  There are a few ways to look at this.  The optimists and Knight faithful would have you believe that for a lightly (if at all) recruited running back from the suburbs of Jersey, Martinek is pretty good.  Us realists see the glass as half empty; that Martinek is still poaching carries from Jourdan Brooks, Mason Robinson, and Kordell Young speaks volumes as to the caliber of tailback at RU.   

While I'm personally rooting for Martinek to wrest some carries away from the aforementioned three (he's a sentimental favorite of mine, being one of the best damned javelin throwers I've ever seen), his personal success does not necessarily portend success for RU.  

Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician- Brilliant tee-shirts!  Remember kids: its not pessimism if its a blatant truth!

Cincinnati Enquirer- On the heels of his (last ditch, desperate) lawsuit, Matt Mauk will be given yet ANOTHER appeal by the NCAA.  He will be given the chance to address the Reinstatement Committee in person

I wouldn't expect the NCAA to rule on Mauk's case for another 6-8 weeks.  The Committee has got to be pissed that Mauk would have the audacity to take their ruling(s) to court and I would expect retribution in the form of some lengthy delay and many postponements.  Mauk is about to get a first hand lesson in collusion when he is ruled eligible in time to practice for the bowl game!  

In unrelated news, Dustin Grutza has been named the starting QB.

Addicted to Quack- Another Pac-10 QB goes down!  Too damn bad that the conference's only healthy QB is Tavita Pritchard.

So far nothing specific on Costa's knee.  This could be a blessing in disguise for the Ducks.  I'm thoroughly convinced that uber-athlete frosh Chris Harper is the Duck's best QB.  While not as experienced as Costa and certainly not as polished a passer, Harper brings Dixon-esque speed to the table.  And if you'll be so kind as to recall, prior to the Arizona game, Dixon, en route to a sure-fire Heisman, had the Ducks on a crash course for the National Championship.

Keeping Up With the Jonses: Burns like Victory Edition

USA Today- Former Bearcat Matt Mauk continues his quest for another year of eligibility.  This time going as far as receiving an injunction against the NCAA's latest ruling and even filing a lawsuit claiming that his requests for a sixth year were "wrongfully, arbitrarily, and capriciously denied..."  

In spite of the injunction granting him the right to practice with the team, head coach Brian Kelly will have none of it. 

"Thats ludicrous to think that we would put him on the field and put our football team in harm's way," Kelly is quoted as saying.  If Mauk were to practice with the team and the lawsuit were to rule in the NCAA's favor, then one would assume they might be a little pissy about the whole bit.  The NCAA is as tired of Mauk's Sisyphian quest as you and I are and would doubtless love to hammer Cincy for having an ineligible player on the team.  (see: Oklahoma- Quinn, J.D. and Bomar, Rhett).  

L.A. Times- Part of me wishing I were making this up.  But the other part of me finds this hilarious.  

About a quarter of USC's team is sidelined by...wait for it...jock itch.  

Choice quote comes courtesy of wide receiver Travon Jefferson: "It burns."  (emphasis Jefferson's).  

The only thing that could possibly make this better is if somewhere in Palo Alto Jim Harbaugh is gathering up some hooker's panties to throw in with USC's laundry.  

Yahoo Sports- Matt Hinton, formerly of SMQ fame, has a profile on Rutgers OT, and rising superstar, Anthony Davis.  Hinton even goes as far as comparing Davis to Bama's Andre Smith.  

It seems like a legitimate comparison, as Hinton puts it Smith is only "a Gameday profile or a Thursday night close-up away from becoming a blue-chip stock."  Both with highly touted recruits, amongst the best in the nation at the time, both played early, often, and well, and both are all kinds of big (Davis tipping the scales at 6'3", 330 lbs and Smith weighing in at 6'4" 330 lbs).   

I Don't Like Rutgers' Chances

Rutgers needed a 12th game on their schedule and they found it.  The Knights will play Fresno State at home to open their season on Sept. 1.  

Now I needn't tell you, educated reader, that this will be no cake walk for the Knights.  For starters, Fresno is a damn good team and is one of the mid-major darlings heading into the season.  This was a team who finished the season at 9-4 with a BIG win over Georgia Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl.  In the second week of the season, the Bulldogs took Texas A&M to the wire before losing by two.  

Fresno's offense could be an absolute nightmare for Rutgers, who is facing the season without their two best defense men (DT Eric Foster and S Ron Girault).  The offense begins with rising senior QB Tom Brandster, who's coming off of a season in which he was efficient at worst.  Brandster didn't throw multiple interceptions in any one game and in fact closed out the season with four consecutive games without a pick (oh yeah and his yardage totals for those games: 209, 313, 205, and 285...that last one against hard charging Georgia Tech).  Pat Hill's offense revolves around the nation's 14th ranked rush offense.  Scary to think that FSU returns almost 40 of their 43.3 rush attempts per game. 

Fresno's defense kind of sucked though.  They surrendered 27.7 points per game, although much of that can be attributed to playing Hawaii, Boise State, Oregon (before Dennis Dixon had the peg leg installed), and Texas A&M.  Lucky for FSU, Rutgers' offense probably won't light up too many scoreboards without Ray Rice.  Honestly, Teel has never proven to be a very bright QB and the yardage numbers he and WRs Tiquan Underwood and Kenny Britt posted can pretty much be chalked up to teams stacking the box in vain attempts to stop Rice.  That and losing three of five starters from one of the nation's most underrated lines won't help.

RU has the next week off before playing host to North Carolina.  Take note UConn fans: UNC will be a scary ass game.  The Heels return surprising effective QB TJ Yates amonst EVERY OTHER SKILL PLAYER OF SIGNIFICANCE.  The rushing nucleus of Greg White and Anthony Little could be one of the nation's most improved this year.

Navy...no Paul Johnson, no chance.  Like Navy has real life DI athletes, please.

And then comes WVU, Cincy, UConn, and Pitt.

Pending upon whether or not Rutgers schedules Howard between Navy and WVU, they could start the season 1-6.  3-4 would be the best case scenario for the Knights.