How did new Rutgers QB McLane Carter look on first day of training camp?

A little less than three months ago McLane Carter took a visit to Rutgers in early May after the quarterback opted to transfer from Texas Tech with one year of immediate eligibility left.

Carter felt Rutgers was a perfect match and committed to the Scarlet Knights shortly thereafter.

“I put my name in the portal and a coach contacted me. They were consistent. I loved how they approached me and how professional it was. The whole recruiting process was great,” Carter said after the team’s first training camp practice of 2019 on Thursday.

“I took a visit here. This place just felt like home and I committed the next day. I got a good impression from the coaches and my (now) teammates. There’s good people and it was really welcoming. I love the area. It’s a change of scenery. I decided to come and I’m rolling with it.”

Carter arrived to Piscataway near the end of May and got adjusted in a short amount of time.

“It was good. It was very new,” Carter said. “Just being here with new scenery and teammates, I had to get acclimated. I picked up everything quickly and I made friends and make connections with the coaches. I feel like I’m a part of the team now.”

On the first day of fall camp, the 6-foot-3, 225-pounder was excited to take the field for the first time with the rest of his teammates and coaches with the Scarlet Knights.

“It was great. To be able to get back out here and put the pads on in a new environment and new system, it’s always fun to learn and compete again. I felt good. I might have tried to force a few things. It was the first day of practice and I wanted to make some plays. I’ll get in a rhythm and settle down. These guys out here played well. There’s a lot of progress to be made.”

In terms of the playbook for offensive coordinator John McNulty’s offense, Carter mentioned he’s been able to pick it up.

“I’m very comfortable. I’ve been studying,” he said. “Once I got here I got in the playbook and put my nose in it and started learning. I’m happy to see where I am with it.”

Speaking of McNulty, the Rutgers play-caller chimed in on his thoughts on Carter after finally seeing him throw live in practice.

“He’s a football guy who understands concepts and how to run a team and huddle. He had some goods and bads today. Some of the concepts are new or different. He’s getting used to how our defense plays him and he got caught a couple times. He was scrambling and tried to throw it across the field, but he was trying to show something. It was his first day out here in front of everybody. He’s a real quarterback for sure. He’s smart, talented, and he’s got a good demeanor about him. The team responds to him. I think it’s fair to him to let him get used to things. I thought he had a good day. ...As practice went on, he started to figure stuff out and used to how the guys are. I thought it was a really encouraging day for the first time we really ever got to see him live.

“...He didn’t really make many mistakes or get lost in the plays today. He might have been a half a count behind or not as sure compared if he had run the play an ‘x’ amount of times. If you come out and the ball is sailing on the ground or can’t quite get in the huddle, you would be thinking we have to start at square one. I thought he did a good job. It was a job hard. All eyes were on him.”

Compared to the other quarterbacks who are righties, Carter is a lefty, which does in fact change things offensively.

“A little bit,” McNulty said. “We’re trying to, especially early on, to not make him go to his right. It’s hard enough to get settled. We have to let him do things to get comfortable and kind of script it. As we go, we can expand from there. It’s a little different for lefty or righty for what we do. The players have to get used to it on how the ball comes out. It spins different and deep balls tail a different way.”

Last year at Texas Tech, Carter was named the Red Raiders’ starter in the preseason, but hurt his ankle in the season opener against Ole Miss after completing four passes for 49 yards. He wound up playing in a total of five games with two starts in 2018. He also appeared in four games with one start as a sophomore. In those two years at Texas Tech, he threw for 677 yards on 51-of-97 passes with four touchdowns. As a freshman at Tyler Junior College, he tossed 30 scores in nine games for 3,226 yards.

After injuring his ankle to start off the year, Carter kept at it and fought through it.

“It was tough. The treatment and rehab was a grind. I never lost focus,” Carter said. “I had a goal set and I’m still chasing it. It was a setback, but I’m still working. I want to play and have some fun.”

Rutgers brought in Carter to provide stiff competition for last year’s starter signal caller, sophomore Artur Sitkowski, who threw for just four touchdowns and 18 interceptions as a rookie. Carter spent a lot of time with Sitkowski on his visit to Rutgers and the two got along.

“It’s nothing personal. Me being a fifth-year senior and he’s a talented and smart guy himself, we just push to make each other better. All of our quarterbacks and every position group. The best man plays. It is what it is.”

Sitkowski and true freshman quarterback Cole Snyder talked about what Carter, who has a southern twang, is like.

“He’s Texas, man. He’s as Texas as it gets. He’s a great dude,” Sitkowski said. “It’s great being around him and pick his brain. On his visit we talked about him being from Texas and me being from Jersey and the differences how we grew up.”

“He’s a really relaxed guy from Texas. He adds a lot of experience,” Snyder added. “I talk to him about the plays, what he did at Texas Tech, and has he ever seen this kind of defense. I bounce questions off of him and I learn from him.”

The starter at quarterback for the first game of 2019 won’t be announced for a couple of weeks yet, but one thing’s for sure, Carter came here to play and to win.

“I’m just a guy who wants to make plays. I’m going to operate on a high level,” Carter said. “When something breaks down, I want to be able to get out and make play and turn nothing into something. All I want is my team is to succeed. I want to win. I want ball games to be won. It’s fun to win.”

Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.

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