Linebacker Deion Jennings makes first career start for Rutgers
Deion Jennings made his first career start for the Rutgers football team on Saturday in the Scarlet Knights’ setback to No. 20 Minnesota.
The redshirt freshman made eight total tackles (six solo) including three behind the line of scrimmage from his strongside linebacker spot.
“It felt good. I made a few plays, but overall, I got to do better,” Jennings said. “We didn’t win.”
After the game, interim head coach Nunzio Campanile talked about the decision to go with Jennings over captain Tyreek Maddox-Williams at the position.
“I think that Coach (Andy) Buh just thought (to) change things up and give us an opportunity to make some plays and I thought he played really well. He made a lot of plays,” Campanile said. “Obviously got to watch the tape to see what the mistakes are, but he definitely, for a young guy, he made a lot of plays, especially early.”
Jennings was especially active early on as his first two spots in the first quarter went for a loss. He added another in the second.
The Timber Creek High School (Sicklerville, N.J.) product mentioned one thing on how he was able to crack the starting lineup and make the plays he did.
“I always knew confidence was the No. 1 thing I had to had coming into college,” Jennings said.
The Rutgers defense played tough in the first half and the Scarlet Knights only found themselves down 14-0 despite a no-show again from the offense.
“We didn’t want to lay down for anybody. We had to keep going hard,” Jennings said. “(We had to get) out fast. That’s what I think we did well. That was our main goal for this game. We wanted to limit explosive plays.”
With the defeat, Rutgers is now 1-6 on the year and flips the page to Liberty, which it faces next Saturday at home at noon.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating at times, but coach really does a good job in getting us to look forward to Liberty and other games ahead,” Jennings said. “It’s another opportunity to possibly get a ‘W’.”
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.
