Rutgers vs. New Mexico Preview

Monday, September 12, brought the usual game-week press conferences from Rutgers head coach Chris Ash, his coordinators, and the Rutgers players. Ash started the conference by announcing Janarion Grant's selection as the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. Interestingly enough, Grant was not named the Scarlet Knights internal special teams player of the game. That honor went to freshman Larry Stevens, who among other things made a phenomenal tackle on the opening kickoff.

It was revealed when the weekly depth chart was released that Jawuan Harris is now listed as one of the starting receivers alongside Janarion Grant and Carlton Agudosi. Harris is the first Rutgers player since 1989 to have slugged a home run and scored a touchdown in the same calendar year. The head coach had this to say about Harris, "he's in that top group of guys we need to get the football to." Ash also mentioned that free safety Saquan Hampton will miss significant time with an injury and Kiy Hester will continue to start in his place. True freshman K.J. Gray will back up Hester.

The topic quickly shifted to this Saturday, September 17, when the Rutgers Scarlet Knights will take on the University of New Mexico Lobos. New Mexico features a triple-option attack that differs significantly from the offense run by Army and Navy. The new wrinkle is that New Mexico mainly runs its triple option from the shotgun as opposed to from under center. Ash also mentioned that New Mexico is more of a threat to throw from that formation than we would usually see from one of the military academies. Ash stressed that open-field tackling will be important. Defensive coordinator Jay Niemann mentioned that it's "critical that we're ready to go and play at game speed right off the bat." In terms of strategy, strong safety Anthony Cioffi mentioned that the backers need to "read the guards and tackles." Watching the actions of the offensive linemen seem to be the key to anticipating the play.

Rutgers may have caught a break, as it's being reported by KRQE in Albuquerque that the Lobos will be without two of their top players, tailback Teriyon Gipson and linebacker Dakota Cox. Gipson had 243 yards rushing after two contests, and Cox has been New Mexico's leading tackler each of the past three seasons.

Predictably, the Monday press conference turned to the topic of quarterback play. Ash was quick to defuse any potential controversy proclaiming that "Chris Laviano is still our starter," but adding that "we're still evaluating that position." And I feel this is the right call for now. What Giovanni Rescigno and Tylin Oden did in their respective series of action was impressive, but neither was asked to throw a pass. Neither was asked to make check downs, and both were in a very low pressure situation. Barring a disastrous start, Laviano deserves the chance to show that he can lead the team and put up points and least for another week or two. As Laviano said about the New Mexico defense, "they bring a lot of crazy blitzes." And that being the case, his experience could certainly be beneficial.