The Knights Watchman

scarletknights.com After two-weeks to work on fundamentals, get a bit healthier, and prepare for Saturday's showdown with the University of Illinois Fighting Illini , Rutgers finally gets the chance to go back to showing the improvement that we saw at the start of the season. Coach Ash said that the staff "took a hard look at all three phases." The Scarlet Knights head into the contest at Memorial Stadium in Champaign to face what appears to be the most beatable opponent on the remaining schedule. Saying the Illini are beatable and then going to their home field and doing that are two different things. Like Rutgers , the Fighting Illini have recently been embroiled in a quarterback controversy. Sophomore Jeff George, Jr., just wrested the job from junior Chayce Crouch. George gives the Illini a QB with a very strong arm who can sling the ball downfield, much like his father. However, in the small sample of his play, he's also been prone to interceptions...

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 ...

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...

Rutgers co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Bill Busch met with reporters on Friday. He gave an update on some of the key players at safety. Redshirt junior Saquan Hampton "has great range...He also has great coverage skills...That's a tough dude." True freshman Edwin Lopez (aka Tank), Naijee Jones, and Tim Barrow "have all done a great job for us." Redshirt senior Zane Campbell and sophomore K.J. Gray "are playing very well." "K.J. Gray will be very involved right from the get-go...He's got tremendous ball skills and range." Redshirt junior Kiy Hester has "had an exceptional camp." In general, the coach is happy with "the retention they've had from last year" and that by comparison, the players have a "high football IQ." While noting the improvement, Busch cautioned "We're a huge work in progress but we're making strides."

This weekend the Rutgers Scarlet Knights head out to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans. Both teams are still searching for their first conference win of the season. Despite having identical 2-7 records, the odds makers have Rutgers as two-touchdown underdogs. Head coach Chris Ash recapped the Indiana loss in his opening remarks during this past Monday's press conference, pointing out some encouraging signs. He "thought it was one of our best defensive efforts in terms of stopping the run," and that the "linebackers played their best game of the year." He was also happy with the three takeaways and two blocked kicks. He also said that at one point he looked out on the field and noticed that 9 of the 11 guys playing were guys who are returning next year. My thought on that is that it's good if those guys continue to improve, which under this coaching staff I believe they will. I think with some players it seems that they plateau in t...

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....

Rutgers Football vs. Minnesota Preview Rutgers looks to move on from last week's 24-7 loss at the hands of the Fighting Illini, or more accurately, at the hands of the Scarlet Knights themselves. When you commit 5 turnovers you beat yourselves, regardless of the efforts of the other team. One obvious bright side was the ability of Giovanni Rescigno to guide the Rutgers offense down the field. As Coach Ash said in his postgame press conference, "Gio came in and provided a spark for the offense." By the Monday morning press conference, Rescigno "will be the starter moving forward." Speaking of Rescigno, congratulations go out to him for putting himself in this position. Because he joined his recruiting class late, and only started one year at QB in high school, there was not a lot of fanfare with his arrival. Once Zach Allen was brought in this summer, Tylin Oden joined in the fall, and two returning QBs who saw game action last year were on the roste...

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 inj...