Johnny Langan showed why he wanted to play in the Gator Bowl
Texas A&M had barely just pulled out of the TaxSlayer Bowl due to COVID issues when Rutgers started getting the indication that it had a chance to take the Aggies' spot in the game.
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Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano started reaching out to the players to see if it was something they wanted to do. One might think the answer would be a no-brainer, but the team hadn't practiced in a month, final exams were ending, and Christmas was on the weekend.
The first player to get back was Johnny Langan. He was ready to go.
"When A&M pulled out of the game, jokingly, I called one of my guys that works with us, and I said, 'Hey, you want to go to a bowl game?' Literally joking. A half hour later he called back and, 'Hey, that may not be too far from the truth.' I called the people who head the departments. I said, "Can we do this?" They said, yes. I said, okay. I reached out and asked a few of the guys if they want to do it because I didn't want to be the only one that wanted to do it, and our players were great.
"Before I could get to them all, Johnny Langan texted me, "Gator Bowl, let's go," with the gator emoji. These guys with the emojis. I kind of got the feeling, okay, they want to do it, and then we waited to see if we were going to be the team that got to come."
Shortly there after, the NCAA would announce it was going to go with 5-7 teams as replacements based on APR and Rutgers was at the top of the list.
"Definitely, I pride myself as a football player, and if there’s a chance to play one more game, I’m all for it," Langan said. "Once I heard there’s a possibility of playing one more game, I reached out to coach Schiano and offensive coordinator Sean) Gleeson. I’m just really happy we had another opportunity to play football."
The Scarlet Knights prepared for Wake Forest, a ranked team with a high-scoring offense that made the ACC Championship game, in just week.
"It was definitely a rush to get everything in," Langan said. "Obviously, most of the time you have a whole month to get ready for the bowl game, so definitely we got short-changed a little bit there. But it was a great experience, and it definitely opened my eyes to what it’s like to be in a bowl game. It motivates me a lot more to get one next year."
Langan has been a valuable weapon all season long for the Scarlet Knights. From being hesitant from fully switching over from quarter to tight end, now the Bergen Catholic product just does it all.
Langan lined up at H-back, tight end, and quarterback against the Demon Deacons.
"He's a football player. If you looked in the dictionary, Johnny would be staring you back under 'football player,'" Schiano said. "He loves the game. He’s very talented, he can do a lot of things. We have to continue to grow with him in the program."
Langan earned the MVP award for Rutgers in the Gator Bowl. He caught six passes for 57 yards, ran for 20 yards on six carries, and completed 2-of-2 passes for 21 yards. The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder ran three times in a row for 14 yards on Rutgers' opening possession. That was the only touchdown drive of the game for the shorthanded Scarlet Knights.
"Ppreparing for three different positions comes with some toughness," Langan said. "But I’ve been playing football my whole life and it just comes natural for me."
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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