2/16/2021 football Edit

Noah Vedral improving his play, leadership and ankle is healing

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

Noah Vedral’s first season at Rutgers saw him start seven games at quarterback, and the Nebraska transfer was one of the biggest reasons why the Scarlet Knights finished 3-6 and saw much improvement on offense.

Vedral completed 136-of-221 passes for 1,253 yards and nine touchdowns and added rushing yards and a score. His 206.6 yards of total offense ranked seventh in the Big Ten and he had four games with at least 20 completions (high of 29) and reached 200 passing yards twice with a best of 381. Vedral had four games with multiple touchdowns and ranked third in the league with a 61.5 completion percentage, third with 19.43 completions per game, fifth in passing scores, seventh in passing yards, and 10th with 64 points responsible for.

Vedral did have eight interceptions, however, and five fumbles with two going to the opposing team.

“Last year, I thought my play was inconsistent. I would like to be a lot more consistent as a quarterback and coach (Sean) Gleeson has been working with myself and all the other quarterbacks a lot on just being consistent and continuing to grow and never settle,” Vedral said on Tuesday. “We got a long way to go and we're all ready to make that climb to make that push. We're really excited to get a true spring ball and a true summer. It's gonna be a lot more clear. But we're really, really excited. I think it's going to do a lot for us as an offense and for myself personally in taking those next steps now that we get a spring, a summer, and hopefully true fall camp.”

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Against Maryland, Ami Finau twisted Vedral’s ankle underneath the pile in a dirty manner, forcing him out of the overtime win. He was also unable to play against his previous school and home-state school, Nebraska, a week later in the season finale.

“My ankle is doing a lot better,” Vedral said. “We're making progress in the training room and hopefully going to be good to go for spring ball and I'm feeling better every day. But as far as the incident, I mean, it's unfortunately sometimes a part game and it's kind of one of those things we're just going to leave it in the past and we're gonna continue to move forward. My ankle's healing and I’m looking forward to spring ball.”

Back in May, Vedral opted to come to Rutgers, and by now he’s adjusted well to life in New Jersey and has built relationships and bonds with his teammates and coaches, something that was hard to do with the pandemic.

“It's been a lot of fun. The relationships build a lot throughout the year. Relationships grow a lot as you go through some tough situations and some adversity,” Vedral said. “Those relationships kind of get cemented. I was grateful for a chance to be here and be a part of this team. The relationships are continuing to grow. It's a lot of fun. I am getting used to being in Jersey a little bit more each month and each time I get to go out I have some really good Italian food.”

Now that he’s been with the team for a season-plus, Vedral sees his leadership growing even more this year.

“I've grown a lot. Coming in, it's kind of tough when you don't know everyone. My job as a quarterback kind of carries that leadership role with it, and I did the best that I could,” Vedral said. “Coach Gleeson and I fully agree that I'm going to continue to grow and push myself to be a better leader every day. I really believe that the relationships are growing and that's helping me. I know the guys. I feel like I know them off the field as well as on the field which really helps you get to know them as a person, and then when you ask them or push them to do something, it comes from a place of a lot greater trust and love.”

Rutgers QB Noah Vedral throws a pass against Michigan State in the 2020 season opener (Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports)

Prior to the 2020 season, Rutgers didn’t have spring practice, it didn’t have a true summer workout period, and it didn’t have a full training camp. There were also stoppages due to COVID-19 and the fact that the Big Ten wasn’t going to play.

Despite all of that, Rutgers was the fifth most improved team offensively in the nation from 2019, and getting a chance to hopefully have a more normal spring and summer would be a good thing to say the least for Vedral and co.

“I think it'll be a lot more comfortable,” Vedral said. “Having a true spring ball, we're going to get to practice in the spring which we didn't get. We were doing Zoom meetings. We want to be faster, bigger, stronger, more consistent in reducing mental errors, reducing turnovers, all that stuff, so I think there's going to be a lot of ground made up this spring. We're going to see the momentum through the summer and fall camp and continue to get better as an offense and be better as a team.”