One of the first drills the Rutgers football team does during practice entails ball security from an offensive perspective and trying to force a fumble from a defensive perspective. A ball carrier goes from one side of the line to the other with either one or two hands on the ball pressed high and tight on his body while two others try and rip and strip it away.
Throughout the duration of practice, the same process naturally occurs in other drills and such.
“We preach it everyday. It’s all about the ball. If you watch us in practice, we’re attacking the football,” Scarlet Knights defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Andy Buh said after training camp practice No. 5 of 2019 on Tuesday. “There’s not a ball that crosses the line of scrimmage that we’re not trying to get after it. I’m pleased with how that’s going and it’s paying dividends.”
A year ago, a big reason why Rutgers went 1-11 and struggled as a team was turnovers. The offensive gave way too many away and the defense didn’t create enough.
The Scarlet Knights finished No. 126 in the nation with a turnover margin at -14.
“It’s everything. When you talk about turnover margin, I think it’s the best team stat in terms of being able to take care of the football on offense and to be able to take it away on defense. We’re not good enough in either category,” head coach Chris Ash said.
Last season, Rutgers gained just 15 turnovers, good for No. 101 in the country with nine interceptions and six fumble recoveries. On offense, it was second to last at No. 128 with 29 turnovers. The Scarlet Knights coughed up seven fumbles and threw a whopping 22 interceptions.
First thing’s first, the defense must generate more takeaways. Creating those turnovers not only prevents the opposing team from scoring, but it could shift momentum and put the offense in a better spot. Damon Hayes, who is set to start at cornerback after playing at safety in 2018, caught two interceptions a year ago while linebacker and captain Tyreek Maddox-Williams, defensive end Mike Tverdov, and linebacker Rashawn Battle each caused a fumble.
“For us to be able to change the results and have success on Saturdays, the No. 1 thing we work on is that. We have period in practice and the way we practice in general, the defense is constantly trying to rip, punch, and strip the balls out. That’s a big part of what we do,” Ash said. “We can coach and teach and execute better takeaway attempts on the ball carrier and understanding the targets.”
As for the other side of the ball, it’s about holding onto the ball with great technique and making good decisions in terms of throwing the ball and catching it cleanly. Artur Sitkowski, then as a freshman last season, threw 18 interceptions, which was tied for the most in the country for an individual.
“Offensively, keeping the ball tight to the body to the chin is important. The hard part is helping the quarterbacks make better decisions. Fumbles and strip attempts are easier to coach. (We put) the quarterback in situations where he has to make good decisions with the ball. That’s an area that we struggled with,” Ash said. “
“We’ve been good with ball security in terms of fumbles, but we have to make good decisions at the quarterback decisions and we have to catch the ball. A lot of interceptions are tipped. Those are things we have to work on. We’ve changed up some things in practice to emphasize even more.”
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.
