‘The ultimate embarrassment.’ East Coast outlets blast Rutgers for loss to KU
Is ESPN’s Dan Le Batard gonna say anything about Rutgers?
A year ago, Le Batard blasted Kansas football, calling it “the most incompetent thing that I’ve seen in major sports.”
KU has been widely considered the worst Power Five football program. But that mantle may have shifted to Rutgers following the Jayhawks’ 55-14 victory over the Scarlet Knight.
And even if Le Batard doesn’t have harsh words for Rutgers, others unloaded on the team and coach Chris Ash.
Steve Politi of the Star-Ledger wrote a column with the headline, “Chris Ash has no excuse for Rutgers’ most humiliating loss ever.”
“I write this without a hint of exaggeration: This might be the most demoralizing, humiliating, unacceptable loss in the modern history of Rutgers football, and yes, I know that’s a high bar to clear,” Politi wrote.
“You want to go back to the Dark Ages and dig one up that’s worse? Knock yourself out. But don’t try to sell me that 78-0 to Michigan or 80-7 to West Virginia was worse than this, any of those dispiriting Villanova or New Hampshire losses were worse than this, or anything else in recent memory tops what happened here on Saturday afternoon for rock bottom.
“The Scarlet Knights came to Kansas and got run out of the building by the team that was supposed to be — emphasis on supposed to be — the worst Power 5 team in the country. I think, after the Jayhawks’ 55-14 victory, we clearly know which program has earned that title now. ...
“Rutgers embarrassed itself on Saturday. Rutgers was completely unprepared to play against a team that loss to Nicholls State in its opener and just snapped a 46-game road losing streak last week. Rutgers was steamrolled by a program that exists so the kind folks have a way to pass the time until basketball season out here.”
Whew, that’s harsh.
But Politi wasn’t the only one to rip Rutgers for the loss.
Aaron Breitman wrote a story on SB Nation’s Rutgers blog with the headline, “Rutgers Football: Alarm bells ring in epic loss to Kansas.”
“The loss to the Jayhawks, long considered the worst power five program in college football, was the ultimate embarrassment,” Breitman wrote. “There is no other way to characterize Rutgers football right now other than being in full crisis mode. That’s not being an alarmist, that’s being a realist. ...
“The team looked uninspired in a hugely important game in their season and didn’t show much fight in a second half with the issue still in doubt. Where is the fire, the swagger, the pride? I’ll repeat, all of these things happened against the program formerly considered the worst of all the power five teams.
“This team has a chance to dispose of that title in three weeks when they play Illinois, but that’s the reality we are in my friends. The perception of Rutgers football nationally and within the Big Ten is that it’s a joke and they proved it by losing by six touchdowns to Kansas. They didn’t cover the spread of the Ohio State game ... against Kansas. ...
“The bottom line is the product on the field is horrendous right now and at the end of the day, it comes down to coaching. You can make the talent disparity argument in getting blown out to Ohio State. There isn’t a significant disparity between Rutgers and Kansas. Certainly not six touchdowns worth.“
And finally, the Washington Post chimed in ... sort of. Jacob Bogage wrote a piece with the headline, “Only Rutgers could make Kansas look this good. (P.S. Kansas is still bad.)“
Bogage, whose bio notes he graduated from Mizzou, wrote: “Kansas and Rutgers both have very bad football programs. Saturday, they played to decide which one is worse.
“The answer was resounding: Congrats, Rutgers.”
There were five video clips of ugly plays from the game.
Bogage later wrote: “Kansas won the game, which makes it slightly less dumb than Rutgers. The win also marks the first time Kansas has won back-to-back Football Bowl Subdivision games since 2009. Good for you, Kansas.”
This story was originally published September 17, 2018 at 1:34 PM.