The Knights Watchman

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights kick off the season at home against the University of Washington Huskies in the "War Before the Shore," paying homage to New Jerseyans' time honored tradition of heading for the coast during Labor Day weekend. A rematch from last year's 48-13 thrashing, this revamped Rutgers team heads into the contest as 27.5 point underdogs. I'm not sure what exactly to expect out of Rutgers on Friday night. As Coach Ash said in his game week press conference, "this is a different football team." Half of the Rutgers team has changed over since the end of last season. Counting Justin Davidovicz, who the coaching staff announced will be handling kickoffs, there are twenty-four new faces on the Rutgers two-deep. That includes true freshmen, redshirt freshmen, and transfers. But that does not include a few other players who may see the field on special teams units or as part of certain offensive or defensive packages. As an examp...

Rutgers wideouts coach Jafar Williams spoke with reporters during practice last week. He gave an update on some of the players who were banged up, as well as a preview of what fans can expect from some of the newcomers. Overall, Williams thinks "we're a little bit more explosive" than last season in term of the athleticism of the unit. On what we can expect out of Janarion Grant, Williams said "everything." Damon "Duwop" Mitchell is "a guy right now that's going out and leading by example." Mitchell's brother, Ahmir has "been great" as he recovers from injury. He's an "energetic and very passionate person." On the freshmen: Hunter Hayek "goes out there and makes a lot of plays." Everett Wormley "came in physically able to compete." Bo Melton has a "feel for the position." Shameen Jones "got hurt early in camp" but is "going to be a go...

The crew at BTN Live stopped by Rutgers' Busch Campus Piscataway on Tuesday, August 8, to do their summer preview. They got to take a gander at the new Marco Battaglia Practice Complex, and they seemed to come away rather impressed with that and the other upgrades that have been taking shape on campus. There are a number of links to videos at scarletknights.com showcasing different interviews and commentary from their visit. Much of content features BTN Live's panel of Dave Revsine, Gerry DiNardo, and Howard Griffith. Among those interviewed were Chris Ash, Sebastian Joseph, Blessuan Austin, Tariq Cole, and Jerry Kill. I watched most of the content and found some high points that piqued my interest, so I'm going to jump around a bit and share those. Offense Ash on the QBs: "I like the way they're competing. They've embraced the competition." DiNardo on the QB competition, which he felt was mainly between Rescigno and Bolin: "Giovanni and Bol...