The Monday Morning Kickoff
A view from the Gridiron (Rutgers Football)
As an official visit weekend was wrapping up in Piscataway on Sunday, Scarlet Nation was first to report Drew Mehringer’s departure as he has left his post as Rutgers offensive coordinator to take an assistant coaching job at Texas under new head coach Tom Herman. While on the visit, some fo the RU commits learned of Mehringer’s departure.
“Coach [Chris] Ash and coach Drew sat me and my father down and talked about it,” St. Peter's Prep QB Johnathan Lewis told Scarlet Nation. “I am proud of him. He has a really rich background with that soon to be head coach [Tom Herman]. Without him, I don’t think coach Drew would be in the position he is now. I am really proud of him, and I wish him the best of luck in his journeys.”
For the latest on the RU offensive coordinator search, check out Scarlet Nation Coaching Hot Board.
The official visits were highlighted by a Sunday commitment from Weequahic athlete Ihmir Marsette.
“I connected with all of the coaching staff, they are very supportive and expect nothing but the best from you,” Marsette said. “The coaching staff is just very supportive. They’ve always had my back and stuck with me through it all. The players are all hard working guys, and the strength coach Kenny Parker is just getting all them right.”
A host of other prospects were also able to catch a glimpse of their future home.
“It was a great time, and the visit honestly couldn’t have gone any better,” said Cedar Creek offensive lineman Owen Bowles. “I got a chance to hang out with the players, ate a ton of food, and talked with Coach [AJ] Blazek. He showed me some film and just helped to start better understanding the offense a little at a time.”
The take from center court (Rutgers basketball)
The Rutgers’ men’s basketball team continued its winning ways, emerging victorious for the ninth time in ten tries on Saturday night in a 71-66 comeback win over Stony Brook. Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell coached at Stony Brook for the last 11 seasons, making it a big victory.
“I'm happy to come out of here with a win for us,” Pikiell said in a post-game quote supplied by RU athletics. “We're off to the best start in a long time at Rutgers. I knew this would be tough, and I told our guys that. They have to learn the hard way sometimes. We just fought it out at the end and were able to come out with a win."
The win came on the heels of a 42-point victory over Central Connecticut State.
Rutgers will now have three more out-of-conference games before Big Ten play begins. Next up is a Wednesday night home contest against Farleigh Dickinson with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
On the mat (Rutgers wrestling)
Rutgers was back in dual action yesterday as the No.12-ranked Scarlet Knights came away with a 21-13 road victory over Maryland.
“It was a good win for us in our Big Ten opener,” head coach Scott Goodale said via RU communications. “We lost a couple of nationally-ranked matches which kind of doesn’t sit great right now, but that’s the sport. We’ll take it. We’re not going to apologize for a Big Ten win and we just have to move on to Midlands now and have a good second semester.”
The Scarlet Knights earned a pair of major decisions to start things off and those wins came courtesy of Brandon Paetzell at 125 pounds and Scott DelVecchio at 133 pounds. The win moved Rutgers to 6-1 and up next is the Midlands Championships on Dec 29-30 in Evanston, Ill.