Including last weekend’s non-conference, 19-14 win over Michigan State, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights have won 24 games since 1995. With the youngest head coach in Division I-A (Greg Schiano, 38) and a losing tradition, there seems to be no reason to believe in this perennial loser.

For one day, though, there was.

‘This program has been built on focus,’ Schiano said, ‘focusing on the process and focusing on the job at hand.’

When Schiano took over as head coach in 2001, the job at hand was quite simple: get better. In 2002, the Scarlet Knights finished 1-11. Last year, the program began to take shape. Rutgers had the fourth-best turnaround in the country and went from an abysmal one-win season to a near-.500 mark of 5-7, including a win against Syracuse.

‘Our program is built on taking care of the task that is in front of us,’ Schiano said after the home opener against the Spartans. ‘We have improved and now we are going to be tested.’

But it appears as though Rutgers isn’t going to be tested again for quite some time. With home contests against New Hampshire and Kent State, and a road date with Syracuse the first week in October, Rutgers might not see a half-decent opponent until it has to travel to Vanderbilt (Oct. 9). Add a home conference game with Temple after those four opponents, and all of a sudden the Scarlet Knights have a semi-realistic chance to start the 2004 season 6-0.

The win over Michigan St. marked just the second time a Big Ten team has ever visited New Jersey to face the Scarlet Knights. The last time a Big Ten team traveled east (Northwestern in 1991), not only did the Scarlet Knights win, 22-18, but they started the season 5-1.

Among the Scarlet Knights who have been waiting for a possible winning season is Tres Moses. The wide receiver and kick returner is in his final season for RU, and his coach is happy he is finally getting a chance to win.

‘I am happy for the seniors,’ Schiano said, ‘I am happy for the guys who aren’t with us anymore but who were on the sideline on Saturday. Those guys have been through a lot.’

In a freshman we trust

When Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni started true freshman Joe Fields in Sunday’s season opener against Purdue, Connecticut head coach Randy Edsall knew the situation. Edsall started a true freshman three years ago.

When senior quarterback Dan Orlovsky began his Husky career, he was forced into a starting role sooner than either party had expected. Edsall said his apprehension with starting a freshman had to do mostly with entrusting a young kid to run a complicated system.

‘Sometimes we feel like we can’t spend enough time with recruits,’ Edsall said. ‘There are a lot of intangibles that don’t exist in high school that do for a college quarterback.

‘We had to play him (Orlovsky) as a freshman, and it was very difficult. Injuries happened and we had no other choice.’

Orlovsky, who was 19-for-29 passing with 382 yards and five touchdowns in UConn’s season-opening 52-14 beating of Murray St., had certain attributes that helped him in those freshman days.

‘If you have to start a freshman (quarterback), first and foremost they have to have ability,’ Edsall said. ‘If they have the natural athletic ability then they also need to have the maturity and a good head on their shoulders to succeed.’

Player of the year watch:

Six-foot-one-inch, senior running back Kay-Jay Harris of West Virginia is the player to keep an eye on this weekend. Harris carried the ball 25 times for 337 yards in the Mountaineers’ 56-23 win over East Carolina last weekend. His four-touchdown performance earned him Big East Offensive Player of the Week honors. It didn’t leave head coach Rich Rodriguez too impressed, however.

‘There were probably another 70, 80 or 90 yards out there that he didn’t get,’ Rodriguez said, ‘cuts and reads he just didn’t make, things I think he will get by the end of the year.’

This weekend Harris will lead the Mountaineer offense south to take on Central Florida. Look for another big game from Harris – UCF gave up 230 rushing yards in its opener – before a week-three rematch of the 2003 Gator Bowl, which WVU lost to Maryland, 41-7.

Published on September 7, 2004 at 12:00 pm