Sussex County Sports Network: It's All Right Here.

It’s a big day for Rutgers Football.

It’s a big day for Joe Martinek.

Which means it’s a big day for SCSN.

It also means I’ll be  here chronicling today’s match-up between Rutgers and Cincinnati.

Here’s a preview.

Here’s the diary…

3:55 PM EST: Former Giants backup quarterback Jesse Palmer picks Cincinnati. He thinks it’s gonna be hard for Rutgers to score points with running back Kordell Young out with an injury. Said the guy who’s only known for being  on the bachelor.

4:00: Perfect time for a game. It’s Labor Day and nobody’s working (except for me). The late start allows the student section to recover from last night’s hangover. Plus they had enough time this morning to get started on another.

With room for 10,000 more fans, Rutgers Stadium looks awesome. And the crowd is going bananas.

4:01: It’s former NFL quarterback Brian Griese’s first game at ESPN which should be fun.

4:08: The pre-game handshakes are over with. No punches thrown.

4:14: Cincinnati is in the end zone. Tony Pike was 6-for-6 for 71 yards. OUCH. Not a good start. Interesting to see how the crowd will react.

4:18: Martinek is in the backfield on Rutgers’ first offensive series.  First three carries = five yards.

4:34: He’s tossing the ball to the referee having found his way into the end-zone. It’s Martinek Mania.  He carried the ball 9 times for 30 yards.  The score is tied at 7.

4:46: No Kenny Chesny, this is not “our” moment it’s Joe Martinek’s. That was his fifth career touchdown. BTW since when is ESPN promoting country music?

4:54: Bearcats kick a field goal to make it 10-7. Then Rutgers goes three-and-out. (No Martinek, no positive yardage).

5:06: Rutgers gets an interception, and then give it right back.

5:11: The Rutgers defense is having all sorts of problems with the Cincinnati attack. The Bearcats found the end zone again, they lead 17-7.

5:29: Cincinatti scores again. Won’t be seeing too much of a running game if this keeps up. 24-7 bad guys. Rutgers needs points here…and Natale is picked off. The Scarlet Knights are in bigggg trouble.

5:34: Another Cincinatti touchdown. 287 passing yards for Tony Pike. No Greg, the crowd isn’t calling for Jabuuuuuuu Lovelace. Those are boos. 31-7 Cincinatti.

5:38: Another pick. WHERE IS TOM SAVAGE!?!?!?!?

5:43: It’s half-time. The good news is Martinek has 35 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown. The absolutely horrible/depressing news is that the score is 31-7. Which means Rutgers won’t be running the ball in the second half. Which means I’ll have nothing to write about. Awesome…

5:43: WHOA! An Erin Andrews siting. Great to have her back. All is right with the world.

6:02: Tom Savage is in. And he completed his first two passes. The Dom Natale experiment is over.

6:07: And so is that drive. Is Cincinnati this good? Or is Rutgers this bad?

6:11: Brian Griese, you’re not fooling anyone. You can’t handle a Fat Sandwich.

6:17: 38-7, Maybe they should consider playing Joe on both sides of the ball.

6:30: “In all my years in the NFL and college I haven’t seen holes this big…ever.” – Brian Griese.

6:34: “I cannot believe the score is 45-7 and there’s an entire quarter left.” – Nick Sabatello.

6:36: Somebody tell the Public Address announcer to calm down. “That’s a Rutttgggggerrrrrrrrrrrssssssss First DOWN!” on second thought that is something to celebrate. And it seems as though the student section has left to go celebrate some more.

6:51 The “Macho Man” Tommy Savage throws his first career touchdown pass. And connects for two points. 45-15. Snack into a Slim Jim. Oooohh Yeah.

Game over 47-15 Cincinnati

Wow, that was an ugly way to open up the season. It’s hard to say a 47-15 loss isn’t as bad as it looks but, it’s not.

Martinek and the running game didn’t look bad. Joe ran 15 times for 55 yards and caught three passes for another 33 yards.

He answered Cincinnati’s opening score by punching the ball in the end zone. I think he earned himself another start.

True Freshmen Tom Savage looked good. Mohammed Sanu was impressive.

All is not lost. It’s only one game. One hideously disgusting awful game.