Rutgers Scarlet Knights (East
Division)
Location: Piscataway, NJ
Stadium: High Point Solutions Stadium
(52,454)
Coach: Chris Ash (2nd year): 2-10 at Rutgers/overall, 0-9 v B1G
2016 Rutgers Scarlet Knights
(2-10)(0-9) 2017
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
13 at Washington 48 S1 Washington (Friday Night)
52 Howard 14 S9 Eastern Michigan
37 New Mexico 28 S16 Morgan State
7 Iowa 14 S23 at Nebraska
0 at
Ohio State 58 S30 Ohio State
0 Michigan 78 O7 idle
7 Illinois 24 O14 at Illinois
32 at Minnesota 34 O21 Purdue
27 Indiana 33 O28 at Michigan
0 at
Michigan State 49 N4 Maryland
0 Penn
State 39 N11 at Penn State
13 at Maryland 31 N18 at Indiana
N25 Michigan State
Coach Chris Ash’s first year at the
helm of the Rutgers football program was a tough one. He inherited a program coming off a
scandal-plagued 2015 and suffered through a winless B1G season in 2016. Rutgers finished 127th in the FBS
in scoring offense (15.7 points per game) and 116th in scoring
defense (37.5 points per game). During
the off season, Ash reached out and got former Minnesota coach Jerry Kill to
come to Piscataway to be the offensive coordinator. Kill emphasized a physical rushing attack
with the Golden Gophers and it will be interesting to see what he does
here. Fortunately, they have senior RB
Robert Martin to build that rushing attack with, as he rushed for 625 yards and
averaged 5.2 yards per carry last year.
His backup, senior Josh Hicks, should be called upon much more this year
if they go with more of a rushing attack.
Hicks managed 157 yards in backup duties. Junior Giovanni Rescigno is back after taking
over as the starting quarterback the last seven games, completing over fifty
percent of his passes for almost 900 yards and five touchdowns. He was being pushed for the starting position
during the spring by fifth-year senior Zach Allen, who started out as a wide
receiver and currently holds on field goal attempts. The Rutgers passing game will be blessed by the
return of leading receiver sophomore Juwan Harris, with 39 receptions a year
ago for 481 yards and three scores.
Senior Janarion Grant returns
after suffering a season-ending injury.
Although active in only four games, Grant was responsible for six touchdowns
(three rushing, a kickoff and punt return, and he threw for one as well). Grant has been named to the Hornung and
Maxwell Awards. The third WR spot was up
for grabs during spring ball, with sophomore Dacoven Bailey appearing to have
the upper hand, seeing action on offense, defense, and special teams and had
three receptions when he did play on offense.
Senior Dorian Miller and junior Tariq Cole return at LT and LG
respectively. Competition was fierce for
the other three offensive line position, but it appears sophomores Jonah
Jackson (center), Kamaal Seymour (RT), and junior Marcus Applefield (RG).
Jay Niemann
and Bill Busch will share defensive coordinator duties and they have some
experience returning on that side of the ball.
Up front, three seniors are featured, led by DE Darnell Davis with 41
stops, eight TFLs, two sacks, and two fumble recoveries, returning one 75 yards
for a touchdown. Davis was also named to
the Academic All-B1G team. Next to him
on that defensive line, NT Sebastian Joseph had 30 tackles and 3.5 tackles for
loss, while the other senior, Myles Nash, at DE, chipped in six tackles as a
back-up. Junior John Bateky should get
the starting nod at a DT spot after getting 14 tackles and four TFLs last
year. Rutgers linebackers enjoyed solid
seasons last year with junior Trevor Morris and his classmate Deonte Roberts
the top tacklers. Morris finished with
102 tackles, three TFLs and an interception, while Roberts did almost as well,
with 95 stops and also three tackles for loss.
Sophomore Tyreek Maddox-Williams will be the strong-side LB after
starting six games a year ago with 47 tackles and being named to the B1G
All-Freshman Team. The Rutgers secondary
looks to be the strength of the defense, as all four starters return, all
juniors. Isaiah Wharton leads the way at
CB with 46 tackles and five tackles for loss.
Saquan Hampton did very well at SS.
Despite seeing action in only seven games, he managed 46 tackles, three
tackles for loss, and an interception.
Kiy Hester did even better at his FS spot, despite only eight games on
the field, getting 52 stops, 6.5 tackles for loss, and a sack. Blessuan Austin had 41 tackles and led the
team in pass break-ups with 14.
The Scarlet
Knights return both their specialists.
Senior David Bonagura connected on 10 of his 14 field goal attempts with
a long of 41. Junior Michael Cintron is
back after getting quite a workout a year ago, punting 95 times for a 37.9 yard
average with a long of 61.
The first
full recruiting class for Coach Chris Ash saw Rutgers get more in-state talent.
18 of the 26 newcomers hail from New Jersey or New York, highlighted by the
number two player in NJ, OT Micah Clark and NJ’s number five player, WR Bo
Melton. QB Jonathan Lewis and LB
Olakunle Fatukasi were four-star recruits from the area.
The front
part and back part of the schedule looks pretty rough for Rutgers. After the Friday Night opener against CFB
Playoff team Washington, the Knights get Nebraska and Ohio State back-to-back. Then, they have to go on the road at Michigan
and Penn State later on. Their best
chance to improve on last year’s dismal record is the crossover games at
Illinois and at home against Purdue.
Better recruiting and a better defense should have Rutgers improving
this year.
PREDICTION: 4-8 (2-7) 7th
in B1G East
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