Foreword
During the course of the 2004 college football season, GRA is following the fortunes of two New Jersey institutions -- Monmouth University (West Long Branch) and Rutgers University (New Brunswick). My son is a graduate of and played football for Monmouth University; my daughter is a graduate of Rutgers University.
Each school entered its respective campaign with high expectations. For Monmouth, coming off 2002 and 2003 seasons in which it went 7-3 and 10-2, respectively, this year's goal was a second straight Northeast Conference championship. For Rutgers, the 2004 quest was to build further respectability for its football program, after 2002 and 2003 seasons of 1-11 and 5-7. -- Doug Gillespie
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Outcomes - Weeks Eight and Nine
Monmouth
10/23: At Kessler Field, West Long Branch, NJ: Monmouth 27, Georgetown 10.
10/30: At Kessler Field, West Long Branch, NJ: Monmouth 9, Central Connecticut State 6.
Results Through 10/30 and Remainder of Schedule
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Monmouth University (8-1)
09/04 At Jersey City, NJ Monmouth 44 Saint Peter's 3
09/11 At W. Long Br., NJ Monmouth 34 La Salle 15
09/18 At Pittsburgh, PA Monmouth 29 Robt. Morris 27
09/25 At W. Long Br. NJ Monmouth 0 Stony Brook 27
10/02 At New Rochelle, NY Monmouth 40 Iona 14
10/09 At Staten Is., NY Monmouth 14 Wagner 7
10/16 At Albany, NY Monmouth 25 Albany 24
10/23 At W. Long Br., NJ Monmouth 27 Georgetown 10
10/30 At W. Long Br., NJ Monmouth 9 Central Ct. 6
11/06 At W. Long Br., NJ Vs. Sacred Heart
11/13 At W. Long Br., NJ Vs. St. Francis (PA)
Rutgers
10/23: At Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh 41, Rutgers 17.
10/30: At Rutgers Stadium, Piscataway, NJ: West Virginia 35, Rutgers 30.
Results Through 10/30 and Remainder of Schedule
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Rutgers University (4-4)
09/04 At Piscataway, NJ Rutgers 19 Mich. State 14
09/11 At Piscataway, NJ Rutgers 24 New Hamp. 35
09/18 At Piscataway, NJ Rutgers 29 Kent State 21
10/02 At Syracuse, NY Rutgers 31 Syracuse 41
10/09 At Nashville, TN Rutgers 37 Vanderbilt 34
10/16 At Piscataway, NJ Rutgers 16 Temple 6
10/23 At Pittsburgh, PA Rutgers 17 Pittsburgh 41
10/30 At Piscataway, NJ Rutgers 30 West Va. 35
11/06 At Chest. Hill MA Vs. Boston College
11/20 At Annapolis, MD Vs. Navy
11/25*At Piscataway, NJ Vs. Connecticut
*Thanksgiving (10:00 AM [ET], ESPN National Telecast.
Monmouth
Going into tomorrow's game against Sacred Heart University, the Hawks are ranked number one in The Sports Network's 1-AA Mid-Major Top-10 poll. Moving from number three to number one in the rankings was achieved after last Saturday's games, through the combination of Monmouth's victory over Central Connecticut State, and Dayton's 13-6 loss to Drake. Central Connecticut had been ranked number two by TSN; Dayton held the number one spot.
The current rankings:
Rank School Record Points Rank
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1 Monmouth (NJ) 8-1 249 3
2 Drake (IA) 7-2 237 4
3 Dayton (OH) 7-2 201 1
4 Duquesne (PA) 5-2 177 5
5 Cent. Conn. (CT) 6-2 161 2
6 San Diego (CA) 5-4 125 7
7 Robt. Morris (PA) 5-4 90 8
8 Albany (NY) 4-5 59 9
9 Moorehead St. (KY) 5-4 54 10
10 Sacred Heart (CT) 5-3 40 NR
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As to achieving this year's goal of winning/sharing a second-straight Northeast Conference championship, the Hawks remain in the enviable position of controlling their own destiny. Winning their remaining two games, against Sacred Heart and St. Francis, both NEC contests, assures at least a shared title.
However, a new possibility has emerged. Also now in play for Monmouth is TSN's 1-AA Mid-Major national championship. This honor eluded the Hawks last year, after their 12-10 post-season loss to Duquesne University in the ECAC Bowl. By virtue of that victory, Duquesne was named TSN's national champion.
Monmouth achieved a place in the recordbook last week, when it defeated Central Connecticut State on the last play of regulation. This was the third time this year the Hawks secured a victory on a game's last play, the others coming against Robert Morris and Albany. Thus, Monmouth became the only 1-AA program to accomplish this feat three times in the same season since the NCAA created its 1-AA designation in 1978.
Rutgers
That giant sucking sound you hear is Rutgers' quest for greater program respectability being sucked into the New Brunswick sewer system.
As I mentioned recently, the Scarlet Knights now possess the quality and depth of players to defeat everyone on this year's schedule. No one expected an undefeated season, of course, but the 4-4 record at this juncture can only be termed "disappointing." Moreover, it appears already to be hurting Rutgers in recruiting, at least recruiting this year's crop of New Jersey high school seniors, a class that is considered highly talented.
Head coach Greg Shiano has done an absolutely superb job heretofore on the recruiting front. He's accomplished a good deal less in translating this prowess into success on the playing field. Which, in turn, appears to have begun hurting the recruiting process.
An even more ominous sign, though, is that Rutgers Athletic Director, Robert Mulcahy, is strenuously attempting to place criticism of the program's progress off limits -- indeed, a very bad sign for the future. Additionally bad, considering the large amounts of emotion and money the people of New Jersey have invested in this venture.
Tomorrow, the Scarlet Knights travel to Chestnut Hill, MA, to take on a Boston College team that Rutgers surely has the ability to beat. There's not much confidence this will happen, though, considering Rutgers presently is accorded underdog status by a wide 14 1/2 points!
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