Rutgers Scarlet Knights (East Division)
Location: New Brunswick, NJ
Stadium: High Point Solutions Stadium
(52,454)
Coach: Kyle Flood (4th year): 23-16 at Rutgers/overall, 3-5 v B1G
2014 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (8-5)(3-5) 2015 Rutgers
Scarlet Knights
41 at Washington State 38 S5 Norfolk
State
38 Howard 25 S12 Washington State
10 Penn State 13 S19 at Penn State
31 at Navy 24 S26 Kansas
31 Tulane 6 O10 Michigan State
26 Michigan 24 O17 at Indiana
17 at Ohio State 56 O24 Ohio State
24 at Nebraska 42 O31 at Wisconsin
0 Wisconsin 37 N7 at Michigan
45 Indiana 23 N14 Nebraska
3 at
Michigan State 45 N21 at Army
41 at Maryland 38 N28 Maryland
40 North Carolina 21
(Quick Lane Bowl)
Despite
going only 3-5 in the conference their first year in the B1G, Rutgers improved
by two games over their 2013 results and won their bowl game. This year, Coach Kyle Flood will have to run
the gauntlet with just 10 returning starters.
Experienced QB Gary Nova is gone, but the Knights return sophomore Chris
Laviano, who played well in relief of Nova when he was banged up last year in
five games. Laviano had stiff
competition in the spring from redshirt freshman Giovanni Rescigno and LSU
transfer Hayden Rettig, but he appeared to have the edge to start at QB going
into preseason practice. The Knights
have a real battle going on for playing time at RB with senior Paul James,
returning from a season-ending injury, being pushed by sophomores Josh Hicks
and Robert Martin, as well as Justin Goodwin (328 yards). Even though he missed all but the first four
games, James appears to have the edge heading into preseason camp (363 yards
last year). Hicks was able to run for
440 and Martin for 434 a year ago as the Knights were forced to utilize a
running back-by-committee approach. The
Knights received some good news at the wideout position as first-team All B1G
Leonte Carroo elected to forgo going pro early and will return for his senior
season. Hauling in 55 passes for 1086
yards a year ago, Carroo will once again prove difficult for opposing
secondaries to keep under wraps. Junior
Janarion Grant will be back opposite Grant (25 receptions for 312 yards) and
figures to be even more involved this year as defenses will have to concentrate
on stopping Carroo. Junior Andre Patton
should also be a big contributor at a third wideout spot. Fourth on the team in receptions, Patton hauled
in 20 catches for 223 yards and three scores, playing mostly in a backup role
in 2014. Also adding depth to the
receiver corps, coming back from injury, is junior Ruhann Peele, slated to move
from CB. The Rutgers offensive line will
have to replace three very good, experienced players such as All-B1G Kaleb
Johnson, Betim Bujari, and Taj Alexander, but the Knights return senior LT
Keith Lumpkin and junior RG Chris Muller.
Lumpkin is projected as a high NFL draft pick next year and Muller could
join him should he elect to leave after his junior year. They will be breaking in three new starters,
which, as of now, figure to be junior Derrick Nelson at center, sophomore
Dorian Miller at LG, and junior JJ Denman at RT.
Rutgers has
usually been effective in using undersized, speedy defensive lines. In the first five games last year, they
limited their opponents to just 110 yards per game on the ground (this included
Navy’s option offense), but allowed over 325 yards per game on the ground
during conference games (albeit against strong running teams Wisconsin, MSU,
and OSU). This year, they’ll have to
hold the line with two new starters, sophomores Kemoko Turay and Sebastian
Joseph at DE and NT respectively. Joseph
had three tackles in very limited action a year ago, but Turay fared well in
his backup role, managing 26 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. The Knights will also return senior DT Darius
Hamilton, who managed 45 tackles, including a whopping 11.5 tackles for loss
and six sacks, and they also return DE Djwany Mera. The senior garnered 18 tackles, 2.5 tackles
for loss and 1.5 sacks. Rutgers appears
to be in good shape at linebacker, as they return their two top tacklers from a
year ago. The leading tackler, Steve
Longa, returns at a WLB position. He is
coming off a 2014 season in which he had 102 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, two
sacks ,and a fumble recovery. He is
joined by the second-leading tackler from a year ago, senior Quentin Gause at
the WLB position. Gause, very quick for
a linebacker, was able to get 72 tackles, including seven tackles for loss and
a sack. Experienced starter Kevin Snyder
is gone, but taking his place at MLB will be South Carolina transfer Kalwan
Lewis, who managed 74 tackles for the Gamecocks in 2013. Losses in the secondary include SS Lorenzo
Waters, CB Gareef Glashen, and S Jonathan Aiken, but experienced junior Nadir
Barnwell (29 tackles, 4 pbu) returns at a CB position, however, he could be in
jeopardy of being ruled academically ineligible. This could open the door for newcomers Isaiah
Warton, Blessuan Austin and Dre Boggs to compete for the corner positions.
There is
also competition for punting chores as seniors Joey Roth and Tim Gleeson split
the duties last season. Right now,
Gleeson appears to have the edge, averaging 40.3 yards per punt with a long of
59 as compared to Roth’s average of 36.3 and a long of 51. Dependable senior kicker Kyle Federico
returns after going 16/21 in field goals with a long of 45. Janarion Grant will continue to return
kickoffs and either he or Nadir Barnwell will be returning punts, so Rutgers
should continue improving on special teams.
Rutgers has
just ten returning starters, making them the least experienced team in the
B1G. The schedule doesn’t do them any
favors either as they draw Penn State, Wisconsin, and Michigan on the
road. If Coach Flood can get the
newcomers to produce, Rutgers can get to a fourth straight bowl, but they will
have to pull a couple of upsets to get there.
2015 Projection: 5-7 (2-6) 7th
in East Division
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