The Rutgers football team held its first of two scrimmages on Saturday. The lengthy session stretched near the four-hour mark inside SHI Stadium.
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A good amount of family members were in attendance, and head coach Greg Schiano spoke with the media afterwards talking about the scrimmage saying it was a mixed bag.
"A long one,” said Schiano as he drank a Gatorade in the sun.
“We made some plays on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game. But if we played the game today we did enough things to lose the game for sure whether it be penalties or turnovers. When you’re playing against yourself a turnover is a takeaway for your team, too. So that’s a positive. But you can’t make those penalty mistakes we made. If you make those you won’t win. We didn’t do a great job in the end with clock management in the two-minute (drill). I thought we were a little ahead of that in our understanding. But sometimes that’s the danger of practicing it not at full speed. And then you go do it at full speed and it presents differently. So I’m glad we did it, and we’ll have to make sure we do it again to make sure we’re proficient at it.
“But I’m really pleased with the way these guys are working. That gives you a chance. And they work really hard, and they’re really good people. So that’s all you can ask from your team. We have to coach better. That's for sure. We need to clean stuff up in a hurry and we need to make sure they understand what we’re saying. So that’s on us."
Each of the quarterbacks got their turn in various situations from Noah Vedral, the presumed starter, all the way to the walk-ons. Cole Snyder and Evan Simon are still neck and neck for the backup job.
“They both did some good things. They’re going to make it hard on us, which is good,” Schiano said. “Again, watching from the field is the worst seat in the house so let me go watch the tape with Sean and we’ll certainly evaluate the heck out of this because this is the closest thing in college that you have to a game is scrimmages. So we put extra weight on the evaluation for this.”
No decision will be made in the near future as there are still more than two weeks to go until the season opener against Temple on Sept. 2. Another scrimmage is scheduled for next Saturday.
“When it’s clear, I want to make the decision. I’m not going to try to force it to happen,” Schiano said. “But right now, at least from what I felt out there, again I have to watch the tape, but I think it’s too close to call.”
The scrimmage presented a grand opportunity for the offensive line to make moves given that it was live. Like the quarterbacks, lots of film of the unit will be watched, but Schiano did see some good things from field level. Rutgers mixed and matched the line all day long.
“You hit that one on the head, it’s hard to evaluate,” Schiano said. “With some of the runs that came out, usually that means somebody did something well. But then there were some negative plays and some no-yardage plays. Did the back cut too soon, did he take the wrong angle of entry or did we not move the line of scrimmage? That’s going to be our big thing. We need to move the line of scrimmage in the run game. You don’t need to make gigantic holes. Our backs will run through small spaces, but we’ve got to make small spaces.”
A few players stood out including running back Isaih Pacheco.
“I think Pop is in a good spot right now,” Schiano said. “Physically, mentally, everything. We need to make sure that he shines it up and he gets ready to go play.”
Two wide receivers who did their part were Aron Cruickshank and Brandon Sanders. Cruickshank was the Big Ten’s Return Specialist of the Year in 2020 and First Team All-Big Ten as he brought back two kicks for touchdowns. He also made 37 receptions for 239 yards and another score.
“I thought he was a dynamic returner a year ago, and I think he’s become a good wideout now too,” Schiano said of Cruickshank. “So the next step is for him to become a great one and eventually an elite one, because he has the skills to do it. I think that he’s getting better by the day, I do. The one thing you can’t teach is his speed.”
Sanders transferred from Bucknell where made the All-Patriot League First Team two seasons in a row. In the shortened season this past spring, Sanders made 23 catches for 264 yards and two touchdowns. In 2019, he led the team with 58 receptions and three scores. He was second in receiving yards with 530.
Bo Melton, Cruickshank, and Shameen Jones are the Scarlet Knights’ top three wide outs, but there is good depth behind them.
“He is a transfer guy from Bucknell. He’s done some good things in camp,” Schiano said. “I don’t know where he is going to fit in the rotation. We generally have five to six guys up and ready to go each game at the receivers position. There are other roles. That, too, is too early to call. I think we’ve increased our depth at that position and now it is a matter of competition and who does the best.”
Special teams wasn’t taken lightly when Schiano was here his first go-around, and the phase of the game remains a vital part in his mind.
“I think we executed well. I think the specialists executed well,” Schiano said. “Special teams, sometimes it’s hard because you have a scout team mimicking the other side. They are not as drilled as the team we are going to play on the 2nd is going to be. But I think we are in a good place special teams wise. We just have to make sure every detail is covered; the unknowns we have to make sure are covered.”
Rutgers still has one more scrimmage left a week from now. It then has another week of training before it is officially game week and preparation for Temple kicks up a notch.
“I like the way they work and the way they are meshing as a team,” Schiano said. “We’ll see when we play somebody. I like our chemistry, and that’s better than the alternative.”
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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