Nova has hardly improved since his Freshman year. Dodd has hung in since his Freshman year and supposedly the competition for starting QB this season was close. The right thing to do is to give Dodd a chance to start. Two games left, why not show the class to give a player who has shown loyalty and a deep commitment for Rutgers Football.
The best long term decision is to go with Dodd and hopefully not only will Rutgers win/loss be rewarded but also that Rutgers has class.
Clearly Nova is a bust and everyone sees it but the head coach. He has lost the confidence of the players and that is deadly for a QB. Chas has been incredibly loyal to this team and this coach and deserves to start the next two games as he closes out his career. Flood has lost an enormous amount of the fan base and I can guarantee you that if he continues to start Nova and we lose one or both of our next games he will see a mass exodus of season ticket holders and it will be the beginning of the end of his Rutgers coaching career.
Rob - 10 years ago
Coach Flood needs to start Dodd or sign up for a resume writing class with Julie Hermann.
RURxFan - 10 years ago
Nova is done at the D-1 level. Not all promising recruits develop into high-performing players - Nova is an example of someone who excels against inferior competition, but is lost against tougher competition.
It's time to start the next two games with Dodd, and if at all possible, bring in the red-shirt QB's, even if it means losing a year of eligibility. This team needs a REAL quarterback next year or the program will regress 10 years. It's time to find out if the reserve QB's can play, and if not, guaranty the best 2014 recruit a sincere chance to start as a freshman. I suspect there's a gritty, motivated 3 or 4 star recruit that would love to start in the Big 10 as a freshman. A year of growing pains is better than starting all over in 2015.
CD - 10 years ago
I would start Chase Dodd. Gary Nova has had two years to prove he is capable of playing quarteback and has failed. As for next year I don't think Gary Nova should be given the job. After two years as a starter what makes anyone think he will be any better next year. There are plenty of freshmen and sophmore quarterbacks doing a great job.
ed - 10 years ago
Let Dodd finish his career playing; Nova has proven that he is a bad QB at this level (not just 'inconsistent') and he is not an option for next year anyway.
Offensive and Defensive Coordinators need to be upgraded for next year. When watching some of these games, particularly Cincinnati, it is apparent that Rutgers has bigger, stronger, and faster players, which should go a long way in football; but they still get killed because they have no idea what to do - any QB can throw to a wide open receiver and any DB can intercept a pass that is thrown right to him in zone coverage. Need some gamers; these guys are soft and have no edge. The best players on Rutgers' best teams have been under-recruited guys with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove, ie Ray Rice, Brian Leonard, Eric Foster, Remel Meekins, etc. Need some guys who play hard and lead by example, instead of talking about 'not executing.'
Football is a nasty, brutal sport, like it or not, and the best players have to be aggressive and want to hit people; whether on offense or defense. Rutgers' players do not look like they want to be anywhere near the ball, much less make contact with anyone (as evidenced by their inability to tackle). Schiano wasn't a great x's and o's coach, but he insisted on his players swarming the ball and feeding off the energy of the game, rather than lifelessly giving up chunks of easy yardage out of fear of making a play. Bottom line, Politi is right, they are soft and anyone can see that. Need to get a lot more out of the athletes they have on that team. I think Flood is a good recruiter and generally runs a good program, but they need a much improved coaching staff around him, and he needs to stop being so stubborn and admit that he needs new coordinators and QB, rather than forever expressing 'confidence' in all of the people that so obviously suck in the eyes of anyone watching.
Jim - 10 years ago
Don't think it would hurt to have him sit and watch for awhile.Then if Dodd not doing we'll let him come in as savior.Experienced head coaches would have done this a long time ago.How a player practices is NOT always an indicator of how he will perform when game starts.Some players are gamers and poor practice players.Good coaches know the difference!
Blue Max - 10 years ago
Nova will never progress! It's almost too late for Dodd. Where are the young QBs? It's time to start a HC search so that he could start recruiting and salvage what we have.
UpStream! Red Team!
PS I still prefer the Chanticler over the knight.
Robert Paull - 10 years ago
Could someone please show coach Flood the results of this poll? Perhaps he isn't aware.
Nova has hardly improved since his Freshman year. Dodd has hung in since his Freshman year and supposedly the competition for starting QB this season was close. The right thing to do is to give Dodd a chance to start. Two games left, why not show the class to give a player who has shown loyalty and a deep commitment for Rutgers Football.
The best long term decision is to go with Dodd and hopefully not only will Rutgers win/loss be rewarded but also that Rutgers has class.
Clearly Nova is a bust and everyone sees it but the head coach. He has lost the confidence of the players and that is deadly for a QB. Chas has been incredibly loyal to this team and this coach and deserves to start the next two games as he closes out his career. Flood has lost an enormous amount of the fan base and I can guarantee you that if he continues to start Nova and we lose one or both of our next games he will see a mass exodus of season ticket holders and it will be the beginning of the end of his Rutgers coaching career.
Coach Flood needs to start Dodd or sign up for a resume writing class with Julie Hermann.
Nova is done at the D-1 level. Not all promising recruits develop into high-performing players - Nova is an example of someone who excels against inferior competition, but is lost against tougher competition.
It's time to start the next two games with Dodd, and if at all possible, bring in the red-shirt QB's, even if it means losing a year of eligibility. This team needs a REAL quarterback next year or the program will regress 10 years. It's time to find out if the reserve QB's can play, and if not, guaranty the best 2014 recruit a sincere chance to start as a freshman. I suspect there's a gritty, motivated 3 or 4 star recruit that would love to start in the Big 10 as a freshman. A year of growing pains is better than starting all over in 2015.
I would start Chase Dodd. Gary Nova has had two years to prove he is capable of playing quarteback and has failed. As for next year I don't think Gary Nova should be given the job. After two years as a starter what makes anyone think he will be any better next year. There are plenty of freshmen and sophmore quarterbacks doing a great job.
Let Dodd finish his career playing; Nova has proven that he is a bad QB at this level (not just 'inconsistent') and he is not an option for next year anyway.
Offensive and Defensive Coordinators need to be upgraded for next year. When watching some of these games, particularly Cincinnati, it is apparent that Rutgers has bigger, stronger, and faster players, which should go a long way in football; but they still get killed because they have no idea what to do - any QB can throw to a wide open receiver and any DB can intercept a pass that is thrown right to him in zone coverage. Need some gamers; these guys are soft and have no edge. The best players on Rutgers' best teams have been under-recruited guys with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove, ie Ray Rice, Brian Leonard, Eric Foster, Remel Meekins, etc. Need some guys who play hard and lead by example, instead of talking about 'not executing.'
Football is a nasty, brutal sport, like it or not, and the best players have to be aggressive and want to hit people; whether on offense or defense. Rutgers' players do not look like they want to be anywhere near the ball, much less make contact with anyone (as evidenced by their inability to tackle). Schiano wasn't a great x's and o's coach, but he insisted on his players swarming the ball and feeding off the energy of the game, rather than lifelessly giving up chunks of easy yardage out of fear of making a play. Bottom line, Politi is right, they are soft and anyone can see that. Need to get a lot more out of the athletes they have on that team. I think Flood is a good recruiter and generally runs a good program, but they need a much improved coaching staff around him, and he needs to stop being so stubborn and admit that he needs new coordinators and QB, rather than forever expressing 'confidence' in all of the people that so obviously suck in the eyes of anyone watching.
Don't think it would hurt to have him sit and watch for awhile.Then if Dodd not doing we'll let him come in as savior.Experienced head coaches would have done this a long time ago.How a player practices is NOT always an indicator of how he will perform when game starts.Some players are gamers and poor practice players.Good coaches know the difference!
Nova will never progress! It's almost too late for Dodd. Where are the young QBs? It's time to start a HC search so that he could start recruiting and salvage what we have.
UpStream! Red Team!
PS I still prefer the Chanticler over the knight.
Could someone please show coach Flood the results of this poll? Perhaps he isn't aware.