Introducing The Rutger
One of our photographers, Patrick Barron, has been trying to make fetch happen in our Slack for a little while now, except in this case "fetch" is actually a useful way of measure how grisly a blowout is. (Also we've discovered that SBN's Jason Kirk had the same idea a couple weeks before Patrick, so he's now Rutger Leibnitz.)
I mentioned it in the game column but here's a more complete introduction to…
The Rutger
A rutger is when you have fewer yards in some aspect of the game than your opponent has points. For example, the 2018 Michigan-Michigan State game saw Michigan (21 points) hand MSU (15 rushing yards) a rushing rugter, at least by NCAA stats.
A Total Rutger, where you have fewer yards than the opposition has points, is a rare event. Total rutger events in the past decade of college football, with FBS matchups bolded:
Season | Week | Offense | Defense | Def Pts | Off yds | Rutger |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 4 | Florida Int | Louisville | 72 | 27 | 2.67 |
2017 | 8 | Kansas | TCU | 43 | 21 | 2.05 |
2016 | 6 | Rutgers | Michigan | 78 | 39 | 2.00 |
2012 | 2 | Savannah State | Florida St | 55 | 28 | 1.96 |
2008 | 14 | Mississippi St | Mississippi | 45 | 24 | 1.88 |
2015 | 20 | N Illinois | Boise St | 55 | 33 | 1.67 |
2014 | 2 | South Carolina State | Clemson | 73 | 44 | 1.66 |
2017 | 1 | Charleston Southern | Mississippi St | 49 | 33 | 1.48 |
2016 | 2 | Savannah State | Southern Miss | 56 | 41 | 1.37 |
2009 | 4 | UTEP | Texas | 64 | 53 | 1.21 |
2014 | 1 | Delaware | Pittsburgh | 62 | 57 | 1.09 |
2014 | 13 | Savannah State | BYU | 64 | 63 | 1.02 |
Michigan-Rutgers 2016, TCU-Kansas 2017, and Louisville-FIU 2013 were all Double Total Rutger events, which sit in a subclass of the rutger: the Rutgers. Nobody has achieved the Triple Rutger in recent CFB history.
Congratulations to Mississippi State, which is the only team to both rutger and be rutger'd, and the only team to get rutger'd in a rivalry game. FCS-level Savannah State is the most generous rutger provider in all the land.
Rushing rutgers, aided by NCAA sack accounting, are stunningly common: about 600 rushing rutgers over the past decade. There have been approximately 200 passing rutgers. With about 8000 games in the data set, any particular game has about a 10% chance to be a single-phase rutger.
[After THE JUMP: beyoooond the ruuuuuutger]
Beyond The Rutger
The Hoke. There is a level of statistical ineptitude even beyond The Rutger wherein you have more negative yards than the opponent has points, a special accomplishment indeed since the bar keeps getting raised the worse you are. This is only realistically possible in a single-phase rutger, and even then it's only because the NCAA counts sack yardage as rushing yardage. This is nonsense, of course, but that does not stop people from referencing historically grisly box scores that sport this nonsense. This is right and just and emphatically happened to Brady Hoke against Michigan State:
It is thus dubbed The Hoke. Hoke has the second-worst hoke of the last decade and is the only coach to manage it twice in a single season. The only other coach to show up twice is Mike Leach, who is doing it on purpose.
Season | Offense | Defense | Def Pts | Off Rush Yards | Hoke Level |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Washington St | Arizona St | 27 | -45 | 1.67 |
2013 | Michigan | Michigan St | 29 | -48 | 1.66 |
2016 | Washington St | Arizona St | 32 | -52 | 1.63 |
2014 | Southern Miss | Louisiana Tech | 31 | -45 | 1.45 |
2013 | Michigan | Nebraska | 17 | -21 | 1.24 |
2014 | Louisiana Mon | Louisiana Laf | 34 | -40 | 1.18 |
2014 | Wake Forest | Louisville | 20 | -22 | 1.10 |
2017 | Cal | Washington | 38 | -40 | 1.05 |
2011 | Tennessee | Georgia | 20 | -21 | 1.05 |
2010 | Rutgers | Army | 20 | -20 | 1.00 |
2009 | Oklahoma | Texas | 16 | -16 | 1.00 |
The bolded games are, incredibly, wins for the team that suffered a hoke.
The Autorutger. Occurs when you have fewer yards than you have points and will never ever happen. The closest approach to a total autorutger was Missouri's 42-13 win over Florida in 2014. Mizzou gained just 119 yards and achieved a remarkable 0.35 autorutger. The next closest autorutger also involves Florida, but this time they're on the good end after a 44-11 win over South Carolina in 2012 in which they gained just 183 yards. Will Muschamp, man.
Individual phase autorutgers are common enough that they don't warrant too much attention, but the Div By Zero Autorutger is a special case. This occurs when a team has zero passing yards and still wins. It's a list populated by the usual suspects and Louisiana Lafayette, somehow.
Season | Offense | Defense | Def Pts | Off Pts | Off Pass Yards |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Louisiana Laf | Louisiana Mon | 3 | 30 | 0 |
2017 | Army | FCS | 6 | 64 | 0 |
2017 | Navy | Virginia | 7 | 49 | 0 |
2018 | Army | Miami (OH) | 30 | 31 | 0 |
2017 | Navy | SMU | 40 | 43 | 0 |
2011 | Navy | SMU | 17 | 24 | 0 |
2017 | Army | E Michigan | 27 | 28 | 0 |
2012 | Air Force | Hawaii | 7 | 21 | 0 |
2013 | Georgia Southern | Florida | 20 | 26 | 0 |
2017 | Army | Air Force | 0 | 21 | 0 |
2009 | Navy | Wake Forest | 10 | 13 | 0 |
This concludes your introduction to the rutger.
October 25th, 2018 at 2:10 PM ^
I thought THIS GAME would have for sure met your criterion, but it didn't. This game still seems like it should have some sort of special statistics name that could apply to it. Scored fewer points than missed 3-point shots?
October 25th, 2018 at 3:04 PM ^
Here is another one:
https://kenpom.com/box.php?g=1893&y=2015
The winning points were scored with 6:18 to go in the first half.
October 25th, 2018 at 6:59 PM ^
No one from Harvard got in double figures (I know, 27 points, the odds are low) but that's still kind of amazing to see.
October 25th, 2018 at 1:59 PM ^
#improvementweek
October 25th, 2018 at 2:04 PM ^
Hoke, man.
October 25th, 2018 at 2:09 PM ^
Everytime someone mentions the school from NJ, it just legitimizes them. These kinds of posts shitting on the school from NJ are actually pretty pathetic. We're the top team in the conference standings right now -- why are we even thinking about the worst team in the conference, let along talking about them, let alone dedicating entire posts to them. It shows weakness. Let's act like we're comfortable being at the top, not like we can't believe it and we're desperate to bully a team that should be FCS but somehow ended up in the B1G.
October 25th, 2018 at 2:18 PM ^
Man you must be FUN at parties.
October 25th, 2018 at 2:53 PM ^
There is actually a very good UM-centric reason to have an outpost there - alumni from the New York area. This is a potential away "home coming" game - for alumni groups and development gathering - so it can help the school in general even if the game is not competitive.
Philanthropy dollars, and other forms of giving (e.g. bequests, trusts, stock transfers) all help - and often the strongest memories that tie alumni are those from their undergraduate days - and for a lot of people in the prime giving age, their undergrad era is from the Bo era, so this team and Harbaugh has a lot nostalgic appeal.
October 25th, 2018 at 2:29 PM ^
Mark Dantonio called--he wants his sense of humor back.
October 25th, 2018 at 2:30 PM ^
Thanks for stopping by, Coach Ash.
October 26th, 2018 at 12:40 AM ^
Sometimes it's good to remember to the depths that we fell (losing 26-24 to the historically 14th best team in the B10) to realize that WHO HAS IT BETTER THAN US!
October 25th, 2018 at 2:13 PM ^
I've been trying to find a way to quantify the utter dominance of that 2016 game for years. 2.00 Total Rutgers with a score of 78-0 is pretty succinct, so thanks for that.
October 25th, 2018 at 2:14 PM ^
This is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. A thing of true beauty. I have tears in my eyes. Well done!
October 25th, 2018 at 2:15 PM ^
Nomenclature should also include a "Full Rutger" - but I am not sure what the requirements should be.
October 25th, 2018 at 2:32 PM ^
Never go Full Rutger.
Ask Rutgers. 2016 game. Went Full Rutger. Went home empty handed.
October 25th, 2018 at 3:13 PM ^
I think you have to invite 200 recruits to your home game in which you get Rutger'ed for a full Rutger to happen
October 25th, 2018 at 4:29 PM ^
that's quite different:
October 25th, 2018 at 2:19 PM ^
Can we at least take a moment to acknowledge that Nebraska's rush defense was bottom 3 in the Big Ten? They were giving up something like 220 YPG on the ground and the overwhelming narrative was "at least Michigan will finally have a chance to run the ball."
I feel like that has to fall into a category of its own.
October 25th, 2018 at 4:42 PM ^
Is it a Bellomy when a pass from the near hash to the sideline takes a solid three seconds in the air before reaching its destination?
October 26th, 2018 at 12:41 AM ^
Didn't Lloyd complain about the crown in the field at Eugene on that pass?
October 25th, 2018 at 2:24 PM ^
We need to add one more entry to this taxonomy: what's it called when a team's defense scores more points than an opposing offense has yards? I think we should call it the Platinum Rutger but I'm open to suggestions.
October 25th, 2018 at 2:42 PM ^
That's a Full Rutger.
October 25th, 2018 at 4:38 PM ^
Yeah, you'd just say "the defense scored a full rutger".
Or say if your quarterback threw for more points than the opponent had yards you could say "Shea scored a full rutger".
October 25th, 2018 at 3:03 PM ^
Unassisted Rutger?
October 25th, 2018 at 7:38 PM ^
reverse full rutger.
October 26th, 2018 at 7:06 AM ^
That sounds. . . uncomfortable.
October 25th, 2018 at 2:58 PM ^
The Seattle Seahawks once had a total autorutger. They lost 24-0 to the LA Rams in 1979 and gained -7 yards.
October 25th, 2018 at 3:12 PM ^
I'm actually impressed
October 26th, 2018 at 12:42 AM ^
At that team had Jim Zorn - not sure how they didn't get at least 250 yards passing.
We've done far worse on passing with Sheridan and O'Korn
October 26th, 2018 at 1:49 PM ^
For the day, Jim Zorn went 2-for-17 passing.
Which is exactly equal to Rutgers' passing stats against Maryland a few weeks ago!
AutoRutger indeed.
-----------------
The bizarre thing: the 1979 Seattle Seahawks were fairly good. Finished 9-7, and 4th in the league in scoring offense. Jim Zorn was 4th in the league in passing yards. And that game was at the Kingdome. It was just a very very weird outlier of a game.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:46 PM ^
Did he also have 5 INTs, because Rutger threw that cherry on top of their passing prowess vs MD.
October 25th, 2018 at 3:10 PM ^
If Michigan State can ask a HS to change their logo, I'm sure Brian will be hearing from Rutgers and Hoke soon. Dammit.
October 26th, 2018 at 12:44 AM ^
I saw that story about MSU and the legal threat vs. a HS using an MSU-like helmet. Talk about LBS (Little brother syndrome). What goofballs.
October 25th, 2018 at 3:12 PM ^
This has a GopherQuest vibe to it
October 25th, 2018 at 3:16 PM ^
Has there every been a "Meta-Rutger," where the opposing defense scores more points than your team has yards?
I'd assume that has happened in a half, at least...
October 25th, 2018 at 7:40 PM ^
i'm leaning toward a reverse full rutger if the defense score more points than the opposing team has yards.
October 25th, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
Is the triple Rutger the Delaney?
October 25th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^
This is absolutely hilarious.
October 25th, 2018 at 3:27 PM ^
Savannah seems to maybe be a better name then Rutger
October 25th, 2018 at 3:48 PM ^
I know that he didn’t have the greatest run here (putting it mildly), but I don’t love the idea of naming it “The Hoke.” The guy was a DL coach here for years - including during our NC season - was the primary recruiter for Tom Brady at Michigan, worked to the best of his abilities for 4 years as HC, brought us Greg Mattison and by all accounts loved Michigan. Was he a good HC? Not even close. But, I personally don’t like shitting on a guy to this level just for being bad at his job.
Just my personal opinion.
October 26th, 2018 at 12:48 AM ^
I'll always love Brady H for how he loved UM and put his heart and soul into this place. Many people have fallen victim to the "Peter Principle"
To shamefully steal a quote from Wikipedia - The Peter principle is a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter, which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to their "level of incompetence". In other words, an employee is promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another.
The guy is a genuinely good man and quality character.
BRANDON is the man I despise, at least for his time as AD. Self-promoting and an overall dick, he had the 1st shot at JH but failed.
October 25th, 2018 at 4:06 PM ^
This is great. One nit to pick: Leach wasn't at Wazzu in 2009. The coach then was Paul Wulff, who was two years ahead of me at my high school.
October 25th, 2018 at 4:11 PM ^
2015 was a long season. N. IL was being humiliated by Boise in late February.
October 25th, 2018 at 4:14 PM ^
I mean, this is truly brilliant. If Jason is on this site, I say he gets 1 Billion points, because on this site, points don't matter and Brian can do WTF he wants.
And The Hoke, sad puppy faces. Ugh. So glad we have Harbaugh.
October 25th, 2018 at 4:30 PM ^
What's funny is even in that 2013 UM-MSU game, Hoke's "offense" gained 74 more yards than MSU did last Saturday.
October 26th, 2018 at 1:00 AM ^
I think the most egregious event that happened in that game was on our D side of the ball, but firmly placed in Brady's lap.
I believe right before half, it was 6-6 and MSU was deep in our end. They had run a play and ran to the line for a hurry-up surprise play. Less than 30 seconds remained in the half and we had TOs remaining. I was screaming at the TV to call TO, but it didn't happen and MSU hit a TD pass to go up 13-6 at half. Back breaker. 2nd half was a mess.
If James Franklin has an edge in a coach on time management, it can only be BH.
October 25th, 2018 at 4:36 PM ^
I'm pretty sure we had a rushing rutger vs MSU one of those years.
October 25th, 2018 at 4:43 PM ^
What's the "Triple Rutger?" Is that more points than total offensive yards? Or is that a "Perfect Rutger?" Or else the "Perfect Rutger" can be more points than total all-purpose yards.
October 25th, 2018 at 4:58 PM ^
How about a game where the defense scores more points than yards it gives up?
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