During the course of the 2005 college football season, GRA will follow the fortunes of two New Jersey institutions -- Monmouth University (West Long Branch) and Rutgers University (New Brunswick).
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Monmouth and Rutgers both had a better time of it in week two of the season, recording decisive victories over their respective opponents.
Rutgers
Rutgers got into the win column last Saturday, with a 38-6 home blowout of Villanova University, a 1-AA opponent from the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Scarlet Knights played a solid game, as they certainly should have against a team at Villanova's lower program level.
Rebounding against Villanova was important for Rutgers, after it blew a 20-point lead the week before against Illinois. In an away game televised on ESPN, the Knights wound up losing 33-30 in overtime. The Illini made excellent second-half adjustments; Rutgers did not. (During the course of this season, I suspect Rutgers may well look back at this game and be unhappy about what the loss cost it.)
Last week, Illinois defeated San Jose State 40-19, to go 2-0 on the season under new head coach, Ron Zook.
This week, Rutgers travels to Buffalo, NY for an 8:00 PM (ET) game against the University of Buffalo. The Bulls are a member of the Mid-American Conference and are 0 and 2 this season. Both losses came at the hands of Big East teams (Connecticut and Syracuse). In those games, the Bulls were outscored 69-0. On paper, Rutgers should win this game by a comfortable margin.
Monmouth
After opening the season on 9/3 with a 54-26 loss to a highly ranked Lehigh team, Monmouth rebounded last week by mauling host LaSalle University by a score of 65 to 27.
Senior wide receiver and NFL prospect, Miles Austin, had a record-setting day by catching six passes for 228 yards. These stats were amassed in only three quarters of play, which included touchdown receptions of 41, 24 and 66 yards. These were delivered by Hawk quarterback, Brian Boland, who finished the day 12 for 17 for 273 yards, including five touchdowns.
Tomorrow, the Hawks open their home season with a 1:00 PM (ET) contest against a very good California University of Pennsylvania team. CUP is a Division II program, competing in the highly competitive and well respected Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The Vulcans are 2-0 on the season, having outscored their opponents by a 130-18 margin.
Tomorrow's Monmouth-California game will be broadcast via the Internet on WMCX-FM.
Monmouth and Rutgers both have open dates next Saturday.
The respective Monmouth/Rutgers 2005 schedules/results:
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Monmouth W - L Rutgers W - L
(Hawks) Score (Scarlet Knights) Score
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09/03 Lehigh L 26- 54 Illinois L#30- 33
09/10 La Salle W 65- 27 VILLANOVA W 38- 6
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91- 81 68- 39
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09/17 CALIF. (PA) Buffalo
09/24 Open Open
09/30F --- PITTSBURGH*
10/01 Stony Brook* ---
10/08 Sacred Heart* WEST VIRGINIA*
10/15 WAGNER* Syracuse*
10/22 ROBERT MORRIS* Connecticut*
10/29 Central Conn.* NAVY
11/05 St. Francis* SOUTH FLORIDA*
11/11F --- Louisville*
11/12 ALBANY* ---
11/19 --- Open
11/26 --- CINCINNATI*
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Home games in caps. *Conference game. #Overtime.
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