Rutgers football Wednesday notebook: The latest on the offensive line
The Rutgers football travels to Penn State this Saturday for its second road game in a row.
But before that, Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano met with TKR and other local media members after practice briefly on Wednesday.
Read up on what he had to say below.
Kicker Valentino Ambrosio has had his share of misses field goal wise on the season, but he's been solid. The Cranford, N.J. native is 11-of-15 on the year with a long of 40-yards, and he has nailed 27-of-28 point after touchdowns.
“I think he and I our whole conversations are all about good hits. If they go through the uprights then that’s good. That’s what we are trying to do," Schiano said. "If they don’t and it’s a good hit, then, you know you, hit it well. I just don’t like when we, for lack of a better term chili dip it and miss it, then we didn’t really try.”
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Well before kickoff, Schiano soaks in the stadium environment and walks the lengths of the field. Comparing away and home games, Schiano talked about his routine.
“It’s not superstition, but people don’t know what goes on for a head coach," Schiano said. "When we are home, I have to see recruits all the way up until the minute I go down to the field. When you’re away it is very nice for a head coach, not that I don’t like to see the recruits, but when you’re away you get a chance to walk the field, check the markings and look at some of the other stuff that they might have that we can quote on quote borrow. So a little fact finding mission.”
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Joshua Youngblood has been a hot topic amongst fans this season. The former Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year as a freshman in 2019 at Kansas State, Youngblood has dealt lower body injuries since coming over to Rutgers. He's played a little bit at wide receiver, and he finally returned his first kickoff of the year for 22 yards this past weekend against Indiana.
“He’s gotten better. He’s really struggled with some leg elements, lower extremity injuries, but he’s healthy now and good thing obviously now with AC (Aron Cruickshank) down, he’s got a position that he can step into it. He’s done this before and done it on a big stage. Now he won’t get a chance to do it this week, as (the Penn State kicker) booms it out of the end zoom every time.”
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TKR asked about freshman offensive lineman Gus Zilinskas and the lineup with him at center and Nick Krimin at right guard which we saw last week. Zilinskas has played in four games this season, and he, by far, played the most amount of snaps (57) against Indiana that he had all year.
“It’s one mix or rotation that we like, but there are other ones too. Gus is going to be a good player," Schiano said. "He’s young, but very mature, tough and I can’t wait until JB (Jay Butler) gets him. Don’t forget he started in June, he wasn’t even with us for the second semester last year. I can’t wait until JB gets him for a full offseason, he’s going to be a good player.”
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Speaking about the offensive line, Hollin Pierce is another young player who has turned heads. Pierce has started nine games and has played in 10 this season at right tackle.
“Hollin has potential to be special," Schiano said. "When you’re that big you have to keep working on bending and he hasn’t been a football player for that long, he’s a basketball player. He’s really athletic and obviously big, so those are two traits that are usually pretty good for offensive linemen, especially for tackles.”
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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