The Knights Watchman

The Nebraska game has been in the books for almost a week now, with the Scarlet Knights having come out on the wrong end of the 27-17 score. This was a strange game to watch. Going into the game, I felt it would be a winnable contest, especially with Nebraska program seemingly reeling from its 1-2 start. On the other side of the equation was the reality of an equally struggling Rutgers team taking a fairly young roster on the road in front of 80,000 Cornhuskers fans desperate for a win. Then you have to add in that Rutgers would be without Janarion Grant, the team's top playmaker. As a Scarlet Knights fan it was frustrating to watch in the sense that the win was there for the taking, but Rutgers was unable to connect on enough plays to win the day. The Scarlet Knights simply didn't score enough to win the game, or make enough first downs to keep the Nebraska offense off the field in the second half and give the defense a rest. In addition, it seemed Rutgers shot themselves ...

For the second straight year, Rutgers opened up against the Washington Huskies. And for the second straight year, Rutgers suffered a double-digit loss. But there is a noticeably different feeling after this year's contest than there was after last year. Going into last year's opener, the Scarlet Knights had a new coaching staff in place with a new offensive system and defensive scheme. But the program was still recovering from the disarray let from the previous regime and the roster was thin. And Washington was supposed to be good in 2016, but we weren't prepared for just how good. The result was a 24-0 Huskies lead at the end of the first quarter and a 34-3 halftime deficit. I remember being active on Twitter at the start of the game and me and my fellow RU fans in the Twittersphere were reeling. Fast forward one year. Not only does Rutgers come ready to play, but the Scarlet Knights strike first as Kyle Bolin connects on a 3-yard out route to Janarion Grant...

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...

After yesterday's practice, Rutgers head football coach Chris Ash took some time speak with the media. The highlight of the chat was the announcement that senior graduate transfer Kyle Bolin was named the staring quarterback. This comes five days after Bolin was voted one of the team's captains for the upcoming season. Since that announcement, it seemed only a matter of time before the coaching staff tabbed him as the guy. Bolin is the most experienced QB on the team in terms of FBS action, having played in 16 games during his time at Louisville , as opposed to the 7 games Giovanni Rescigno has participated in. In addition, Bolin has thrown almost 80 more passes than Rescigno in collegiate action. When asked why the staff went with Bolin, Ash said they felt Bolin "executed," "made good decisions," and "understands the offense." As for Resigno, Ash said that he's "a team guy, he's a competitor" and "he'...

On Sunday, Rutgers head football coach Chris Ash took the podium for his Rutgers Media Day press conference. In what was roughly a twenty-minute update and chat with the media, he covered quite a bit of ground, shedding some light on some new faces that are making an impact, slight changes in look and strategy, and giving an updated timetable on the quarterback decision. On the overall vibe of training camp, Ash feels its been "very productive" and that Rutgers has "improved in all areas of our football team." As importantly, the "overall health is good," in the sense that there haven't been any additional significant injuries in the past week. If the team hadn't improved in all areas something would truly be amiss, so that's expected. I'm stoked to hear that the overall health of the team is good, as that could a big factor in determining the outcome of some of the competitive, but winnable games Rutgers has scheduled earl...

Rutgers defensive coordinator Jay Niemann took a few moments last week to meet reporters for a quick interview. Here are what I thought were the highlights, as well as a few comments: Niemann was asked about the season-ending injury to Tyreek Maddox-Williams and how it will affect the defense. He responded, "It's hard. We're making some adjustments within the linebacking group...That'll go on until towards the end of camp." He mentioned that Eric Margolis, T. J. Taylor, and a number of the freshman have been, and will continue to be, rotated in until they can determine a two-deep. With the move of Ross Douglas to linebacker, the incoming freshman, and assuming that Deonte Roberts and Trevor Morris remain healthy, the Rutgers linebackers are a much deeper group than last season. Maddox-Williams is no small loss, but my hope is that Tyshon Fogg and the other recruits can step up and fill the gaps. Margolis and Taylor have both seen the field quite a bit, whethe...

This past Saturday was another heartbreaking loss for Rutgers as they remain winless in Big Ten action despite now having played fairly winnable games against Iowa , Illinois , Minnesota , and Indiana . Looking back at the game and the coaches' postgame comments, there was good and bad on both sides of the ball. The difference in the game was that Indiana made one more big play than Rutgers did. As Ash stated, "I like our preparation. We just need to get better in a lot of areas." Special Teams In his opening postgame remarks, head coach Chris Ash said of Rutgers, "we need to be better on special teams" later citing the missed field goal and blocked punt as things that Rutgers can't have happen. There was also plenty of good on special teams as Rutgers blocked two kicks and recovered a muffed punt. Rutgers has now blocked at least two kicks in every season since 2007. I also thought the first two returns put Rutgers in decent field position....