The Rutgers University football team is having an up and down season. The highest point of the season so far was a 31-0 domination over a South Florida team that was ranked at the time. The low point came this past weekend in the Carrier Dome. Rutgers went into the dome as the #25 team in the country and still had a shot at making a nice bowl game. The Syracuse team they were about to face went into the game with an overall record of 3-7, including 0-5 in Big East play. Considering Syracuse had lost 12 players in the past two weeks and only had 58 total players available, Rutgers should have been able to win this game in blow out fashion.

It may have been a long shot, but Rutgers did still have a shot at making the Gator Bowl. They would have have to win out and also likely get some help from other teams losing, but it was still a shot. None of that matters anymore.

Rutgers was completely out played and out coached. Syracuse dominanted the Scarlet Knights and sent them to an embarrasing defeat. The coaching staff, particularly head coach Greg Schiano has taken the blame for the lose. The blame however, should be thrown directly on the lines. Rutgers offensive and defensive lines were manhandled throughout the contest.  

Syracuse, the bottom dweller of the Big East had the Rutgers defense on its heels the entire game. The Orange used two quarterbacks that went a combined 17-22 for 211 yards. Rutgers rarely got any type of pressure on the Syracuse quarterback duo. Syracuse also rushed for 213 yards in the game. That's 424 yards for a team that had the 106th ranked offense in the country going into the game.

Rutgers meanwhile managed just 130 total yards of offense. Quarterback Tom Savage must have had some type of bullseye on his jersey. Syracuse constantly brought blitz after blitz and Rutgers could not handle it. Savage was sacked nine times. Entering the game, Syracuse had just 26 total sacks in its previous 10 games. Some of those sacks were a result of Savage holding onto the ball to long, but to his credit he really did not have much time to throw. The offense line was unable to provide a consistant push in the running game. The total rushing yards for Rutgers was 26. That number does however include the minus 72 rushing yards from all the sacks. Joe Martinek was the leading rusher with 55 yards on 10 carries. Tom Savage finished the game just 7 of 17 for 66 yards passing. Wide Receiver Mohamed Sanu had 33 yards passing after completing his only pass attempt, a touchdown to fellow wide out Tim Brown.

The Rutgers offensive line came into this season with a lot of hype. They were supposed to be the top line in the Big East. They have all the pieces in place to be a successful dominant group, it just hasn't been put together for some reason. Maybe its the fact that offensive line coach Kyle Flood has added responsibilities as co-offensive coordinator? Nobody can say Flood is not a good coach. He is one of the better offensive line coaches around. Maybe he has shifted to much of his focus with the new position.

Every member of the offensive and defensive lines should look in the mirror this week. Take a long look at themselves and figure out what is keeping this unit from being successful and consistant. Its time to man up. The season may be a disappointment, but it can still be a productive one if Rutgers can win their last two games. It all starts on the line!