One could argue that every three game stretch is tough….and critical….for Rutgers
Andrew’s post on the three games Rutgers needs to win highlighted the three teams that Rutgers needs to win in order to gain bowl eligibility. He felt that Boston College, Maryland, and Michigan State were the key to getting to six wins. Likely very little argument among most readers.
And Greg wrote a post about the games where Rutgers had the best chance for an upset. Several of those fit this article, too.
But what about a team’s toughest consecutive game stretch, the group of games that could make
or break the season. SI.com had an article looking at FBS teams with the toughest stretch runs, the back-to-back-to-back sequences that could destroy hopes and dreams. While Northwestern is listed in the article, the Cats aren’t necessarily looking at a CFP berth. Iowa could be, and they have a schedule seeing them travel to Ann Arbor on Sept. 26, hosting Ohio State on Oct. 3 and then flying to Seattle to face Washington on Oct. 9, all within a 14-day span. Woof!
Lane Kiffin, everybody’s poster child for coaches who want more, has his LSU squad poised for a win-it-or-bust season. The Tigers have a brutal November stretch, opening with Alabama on Nov. 7, Texas on Nov. 14 and a road trip to Tennessee on Nov. 21. Double woof!
Another podcast looked at the toughest three game stretches in multiple conferences, putting the B1G’s Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, and USC (Oregon, Washington, at Penn State) having the toughest three consecutive game stretches.
Some might be jaded enough to say that for Rutgers, any three game stretch is critical and tough. It’s already been said that the Knights need to win all three non-conference games. A given? Uhh, not exactly. It is a tough stretch, though it covers four games with USC injected. And is there a difference between the toughest and the most critical stretch?
Let’s look at two late season overlapping stretches for Rutgers that might be the toughest stretch.
Michigan / Wisconsin / Nebraska
It begins on October 31 in Piscataway, and carries out over the next two weeks in Madison and then back to Piscataway. Michigan is, well, Michigan, and RU has only beaten it once. They are playing under new coach Kyle Whittingham, but he’s bringing in a winning pedigree. The trip to Madison could be interesting with some followers here, and elsewhere, thinking that Luke Fickell is in trouble there and, perhaps, this is a winnable game – maybe without Fickell on the sideline. Just like Nebraska could be. The Huskers haven’t achieved what they expected under Matt Rhule, but he’s still building in Lincoln. Two home games for RU in this trio is a plus.
Wisconsin / Nebraska / Penn State
Take the above situation but drop Michigan and add the Nittany Lions on the road. You’ve got Fickell possibly coaching for his job, Rhule moving the ball forward, and a first year Matt Campbell playing with a rebuilt roster – 40 players signed from the portal – in State College. Two of them are road games, never an easy task in the Big Ten.
Is there a difference between the toughest and the most critical stretch of games?
I’ll go back to an earlier comment: the most critical stretch of games might be the first four. Rutgers needs to win the non-conference schedule of UMass, BC, and Howard. With USC squeezed in between BC and Howard, getting off to a good, maybe even great, start could be the most critical stretch of games. Obviously, UMass and Howard shouldn’t be part of the toughest stretch of games; they should be wins, and without much struggle. But that leaves the toughest games for later in the season.
What will Rutgers have left in the tank when the cold winds of November roll through?
