Every week, TheKnightReport.Net publisher Richard Schnyderite and his team of Rutgers Athletics experts put together the War Room, a jam-packed article with tons of Scarlet Knights recruiting and team news updates. This format allows die hard Rutgers fans that are subscribers on the site to learn more about their favorite team!
NOTABLE QUOTES....
Rutgers Football HC Greg Schiano on Penn State: GREG SCHIANO: Yeah, they are a very good team. So it's not just defense. It's all three phases. Certainly defensively they played extremely well last week. Suffocating. They can cover. They play a lot of either man or multiple, which turns into man once the routes declared.
I think the thing they are doing the best, they are second in the Big Ten in sacks only to Michigan by one. So they are getting after the passer and you know, pass coverage and pass rush usually go hand in hand. So they are doing both very well.
Offensively, I think their freshman tailback is an elite player. Really good at the skill positions and I think the line has really developed quite a bit. If that was a weakness at one point early in the year it's not anymore.
And then the special teams, they are pretty complete in the kicking game. I think what you are looking at is, you know, what they are. They are one of the Top 15 teams in America. They are playing at that level now. That's what I would say the biggest thing is they have gotten better over the course of the season and they are playing at a high level run.
Penn State HC James Franklin on Rutgers: Moving on to Rutgers, Coach [Greg] Schiano, obviously there is history with Coach Schiano. Got a ton of respect for him. Watching them on tape, their team plays really hard. Got 16 years of coaching experience at the college and NFL levels, and now at Rutgers, was at Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Was also at Rutgers from 2001-11, and also had been on the staff here at Penn State.
So there is some history there. When you talk about offensive coordinators, they made a change during the season. Nunzio Campanile, who we know is the interim, comes from a coach's family. Got a ton of respect for Coach Campanile and his entire family.
Guys that we've been impressed with, you know, their running back, No. 23, I think is really playing good football right now, Kyle Monangai, is playing really well. I remember going to scout him. We were going to scout another running back and this guy just kept showing up, and I remember coming back and saying, that's a really good running back there. And he is playing really well right now. I think, kind of, their offense right now kind of goes through him.
The wide receiver, No. 1, Aron Cruickshank, obviously was a difference maker at Wisconsin. Has been a difference maker at Rutgers on offense and special teams.
And then their tight end, No. 21, Johnny Langan, does a lot of things for them. Those last two guys are both transfer guys for them. Johnny does a lot of things for them, whether it's tight end or quarterback, so on and so forth.
Their defensive coordinator, Joe Harasymiak, I hope I said that right. He's got a unique background, a background that I respect. Defensive coordinator at Rutgers; was the co-defensive coordinator at Minnesota; before that, was the head coach and defensive coordinator at Maine. I've heard a lot of great things about him. Obviously, we've watched him on tape, and like they always do on defense and I know Coach Schiano has got a factor in this as well, but they play really hard. They play really well on defense, and have been for a number of years.
Guys that jump out to us, guy that we recruited really hard, that I think is playing really well for them jumps out on tape, No. 71, Aaron Lewis. Another transfer for them. Their Sam linebacker/safety, depending on how they play him, No. 0, Christian Izien; Avery Young, their strong safety No. 2, who is a local kid. Their Will linebacker, No. 17, Deion Jennings. Then another transfer they got from Temple, their defensive tackle, No. 88, Ifeanyi Maijeh, is playing really well for them.
Then on special teams, they don't have a special teams coordinator named. I think they break the units up by assistants, and then I think Schiano is running the whole thing. Their punter is, I think, one of the more impressive players that we've played this year regardless of position. Finished second in the Ray Guy Award last year.
This guy is one of them Aussie punters that can do it rolling to his right, rolling to his left, traditional from the pocket. He'll run with it if you're not containing him. He'll hold on to the ball so the coverage units can cover down. He'll pin you deep. They're not always the big, beautiful spiraling, high-hang time punts. A lot of times they're line drive low ones that hit the ground and run. He is a difference maker and a problem from Melbourne, Australia.
Then obviously, we talked about Cruickshank, the punt returner and kick returner, and Max Melton is a player for them and one the areas on special teams that they're a problem is block being kicks. They have been blocking kicks for a long time there with Greg at Rutgers, and Max Melton is a big factor in that.
