The Monday Morning Kickoff
It was a big weekend o the gridiron for Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights pulled out a gritty 14-12 win over Purdue on homecoming weekend. It was the second straight week head coach Chris Ash turned to Gio Rescigno as his starting quarterback and the move paid off.
“Coach Ash and his staff are doing a really good job with us,” Rescigno said after the game. “They preach hard work and tell us to play our game, and to eliminate stuff we do that loses us games. For example, turnovers and penalties, stuff that we can control. What we did today is we didn’t have turnovers and we forced some.”
Offense was tough to come by, although Rutgers received two big scores from its running backs; a 74-yard run by Gus Edwards and a 35-yard reception by Raheem Blackshear.
“My freshman year has gone well, but I couldn’t do it without my o-linemen,” Blackshear said following the win. The seniors in the backfield have also helped me, so if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be the player I am today.”
Blackshear touched the football on eight of the 12 offensive snaps which he played as his role continues to increase.
There were also some recruits in attendance whio were able to witness Rutgers’ victory firsthand.
“I really like how the defense played,” said RU commit and Paramus Catholic DB Jarrett Paul. “Another Big Ten win. I'm excited for the future.”
The win also marked Rutgers’ first set of back to back conference victories since joining the Big Ten. The team is now 3-4 heading into next weekend’s road contest against Michigan.
“It's on to the next one,” head coach Chris Ash said after the victory over Purdue. “We'll celebrate this one for 24 hours, and we'll come back tomorrow and clean up the things that we didn't do very well and keep getting better and move on to the next challenge.”
Michigan is 5-2 on the season and is coming off a 42-13 shellacking at the hands of Penn State. Kickoff is set for noon next Saturday at Michigan.
Later this morning, Ash will take to the podium for his weekly press conference and Scarlet Nation will be in attendance with LIVE updates.