The Knights Watchman

The Scarlet Knights take on the Cornhuskers today in Lincoln , Nebraska , in what is the Big Ten opener for both teams. A few hours before game time, Nebraska is an 11 point favorite over visiting Rutgers . In many ways the Cornhuskers season has mirrored that of the Scarlet Knights. Both teams are 1-2, with Nebraska having won a close opener vs. Arkansas State and then having dropped two close games to Oregon and Northern Illinois . Unaccustomed to a 1-2 start, Nebraska fans are calling for the head of Coach Mike Riley, and the school's athletic director was shown the door yesterday. The Rutgers coaches, in their media appearances this week, stressed the importance of continued improvement. Last week's 65-0 blowout victory over Morgan State allowed the Scarlet Knights to send 71 players out to see some action, especially many true and redshirt freshmen who logged their first bits of playing time. Obviously, the most impressive of the freshmen was quarterbac...

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights take on the Eastern MichiganUniversity Eagles at 3:30 pm EST today at High Point Solutions Stadium . Rutgers took a step in the right direction last week with a hard-fought loss to Washington, a top-ten team. The Eagles are coming off a bowl appearance last season, finishing the year 7-6. In its first game this season, Eastern Michigan defeated Charlotte of Conference USA , 24-7. According to Rutgers head coach Chris Ash, EMU is "very well coached" by Chris Creighton, who like Ash, spent time at Drake University . Ash added, "we expect to get their best shot here on Saturday afternoon." Ash understands that MAC schools will be highly motivated for the chance to knock off an opponent from a Power 5 school. Ash said it seems every other year a MAC school beats a Power 5 school and "we don't want to be on ESPN for that." The coach said the goal for Rutgers this week is to avoid mental errors. "That's wha...

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 Wednesday, the members of the Rutgers football team voted for the team captains for 2017. The four athletes who received the honor are senior right guard Dorian Miller, senior defensive lineman Darnell Davis, senior graduate transfer quarterback Kyle Bolin, and junior linebacker Deonte Roberts. I've seen some articles and comments online about the selection of Kyle Bolin being a bit of a surprise due to his status as a one-year graduate transfer. However, from following players and fans of Rutgers football on Twitter, it was clear over the past couple of months that Bolin was making every effort to be a leader among his teammates. He kept a steady dialog with many of them throughout the summer and organized trips to the Shore and things like that. His selection as captain obviously bodes well insofar as his chances to be named the starting quarterback. A large part of being the QB is being the leader of the team, and clearly the guys already view him as one of their ...

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...

Rutgers head coach Chris Ash took a few minutes to speak with the media after a wet and cloudy practice this past Monday. The main topics were the quarterbacks, running backs, and tight ends, as those are some of the major positions up for grabs, at least in terms of the pecking order. About the QBs, Ash stressed that Giovanni Rescigno, Johnathan Lewis, and Kyle Bolin "were all getting reps with the ls," and didn't seem to want to put anybody in the driver's seat at the moment. I would have to think that simply based on familiarity, if the season were to start tomorrow Rescigno would get the nod, because not enough time has passed to evaluate the other guys enough to firmly unseat him. We'll see what happens in a week or two after they get another scrimmage under their belts. Coach was a little more candid when discussing the running backs, singling out Gus Edwards in particular as someone who has stood out in practice. It's going to be interesting to s...

Rutgers football head coach Chris Ash met with the media on July 31st, for his first official press conference of training camp. This is what stood out to me: It's only fitting that Gio Rescigno started with the first team and received the most first-team reps. Gio finished the spring as the starter and he should start training camp as the incumbent regardless of there being an open competition. Kyle Bolin also received first-team reps, but both Ash and offensive coordinator Jerry Kill have stated that at least four of the quarterbacks (Johnathan Lewis and Zach Allen as well) will get chances with the first team as they determine the starter. Asked about the quarterback competition, and whether the fact that Rutgers is opening against a very experienced and heavily favored Washington team would factor into who gets the opening night start, Ash responded by asserting that the opponent doesn't matter. On who will play Sept. 1, "It's who we feel gives us t...

Rutgers' @CoachChrisAsh fields questions from the media as @RFootball gets ready for the 2017 season. #B1GMediaDay https://t.co/M2IX2sjkur — Rutgers On BTN (@RutgersOnBTN) July 25, 2017 Rutgers head football coach Chris Ash took the podium on Wednesday for his Big Ten Media Day press conference and a sit-down interview with the BTN Live team. The above link from BTN.com has the complete video of the press conference. At the end of this article, you'll find the link to the BTN Live interview. The complete text of the press conference can be found at Scarletknights.com These were the things that stuck out to me: In his opening comments, Ash said that 2016 "was awful. But we've moved on." Moving on and "hitting the reset button" were common themes that Ash was imparting to the media. Ash mentioned the facilities, particularly the Marco Battaglia Practice Facility which will aid in both "recruiting and player development....