The Rutgers football team had its bye week of the 2022 season last week. The Scarlet Knights are 3-3 (0-3 Big Ten) after six games, and there are six more to go.
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And instead of doing a little more resting and recovery than usual, the players and coaches, especially on the offensive side of the ball, were full steam ahead after coordinator Sean Gleeson was relieved of his duties and Nunzio Campanile took over from his tight ends coach spot.
“I think there's been real good energy,” head coach Greg Schiano said. “Guys have worked hard to adjust to some of the tweaks that we've made. Again, the energy has been great. And that's really what I can judge right now. We'll see how that all adds up on game day. But they've worked very hard. Some guys that otherwise probably would have got a little more rest worked because there were some things that they had to get accustomed to. But overall, I think it's gone pretty well.”
Wide receiver Aron Cruickshank feels the bye week came at a good time.
“It was pretty good. Got a little time to work on the fundamentals and get better as a unit and as a team. It was good for us,” Cruickshank said. “I feel like it was at the right time. It was right at the halfway mark. Six games in with six more to go. It came in a good space.”
So far this season, Cruickshank has 243 yards receiving on 25 catches with two touchdowns. On special teams, he hasn’t broken one open for a touchdown yet like he’s accustomed too, and he hasn’t had a carry since the season opener when he ran in a 26-yard score.
Cruickshank talked about the change in coordinators after practice on Tuesday, and his reaction to the news.
“It’s been cool. It’s been smooth. It’s pretty much the same thing,” Cruickshank said. “Everybody is working on the details. That’s been the focus, and the execution of everything.
“Everybody was shocked. Nobody really knew. After that, once we heard it was coach Nunz, we know coach Nunz. I’ve been around here for three years now. He’s a cool guy. I’m excited to work with him and see where it all goes.”
Schiano has said recently he believes this offense can be a good Big Ten offense, and he wants the team to all play complementary football in all three phases.
So what is holding the offense back?
“To be honest, all we have to do is to stop hurting ourselves. Once we stop hurting ourselves the sky is the limit for this offense and this team. Once we execute, lock in, and focus, we can be pretty good. It’s the little details. We have to focus on our job and our man. Once we can get everybody to do that on their own, we can hold each other accountable.”
This was the first time the media has spoken to Cruickshank since his incident in the fourth quarter in the game at Ohio State. With the score 49-10 in favor of the Buckeyes with 9:30 to go, OSU punter Jesse Mirco, on 4th-and-2, opted to run the ball on a fake to move the chains.
Cruickshank came up and hit Mirco hard and late out of bounds. Cruickshank was ejected, and Schiano and OSU head coach Ryan Day got into a heated argument.
“I haven’t played defense since high school. I saw the punter rolling out and I had one job and that was to make sure he gets down,” Cruickshank said as he lit up with a huge smile from ear to ear. “He was kind of skipping near the sideline and I didn’t know if he was going to go out or not. I just had to finish my job. I didn’t know I’d get thrown out of the game though. It’s tough and it’s hard, but it happens.
“I was kind of frustrated too. I had to go get the ball and try to hit him.”
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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