Syracuse (Bart): Eat my shorts Big East! Pitt (Homer) and Syracuse: Eat my shorts! BC: (Flanders): Yes, eat all of our shirts! Big East (Shelbyvillian): Oooh, you lousy ACC teams. Shake harder boy!
Video from Tuesday Night's JSBL game from the guys over at ScarletNation.
The official Rutgers football YouTube channel is back with Coach Schiano's recap from today's practice. The weather was terrific in central New Jersey today, but that did not seem to help the Rutgers offense in the team's second spring scrimmage, with the Scarlet Knight defense continuing to have an edge. Safety David Rowe showed a nose for the ball with multiple interceptions. One culprit may have been opening up the scrimmage with 35 consecutive passes. It should be an eventful night of film study determining which players are at fault and need to show more improvement. JUCO transfer Dallas Hendrikson, who holds a slight edge over David Osei for the starting center job, left practice early with an undetermined knee injury. Neither has an enviable task in lining up against a returning Scott Vallone. Rutgers made "huge strides" in the punting game however with early enrollee freshman Anthony DiPaula, but saw multiple mishaps on the PAT/FG team, with Schiano candidly vowing to correct the day's errors. Of the three running backs (De'Antwan Williams, Jeremy Deering, and Jawan Jamison) battling for spring reps before touted freshman Savon Huggins arrives in the fall, GS praised Deering as a a big play threat out of the backfield. Another development is that Paul Carrezola has moved ahead of D.C. Jefferson at tight end. Both should play if offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti's schemes are similar to what he ran at Pitt. It's good to see Carrezola finally living up to his promise, but Jefferson could be a tremendous asset if and when everything starts to click for him. Freshman DL Djwany Mera is seeing reps inside at tackle. Rutgers has one more scheduled practice Thursday before Saturday's scheduled Spring Game. Schiano said that the team will probably experiment with a few position changes with their remaining reps left on Thursday, as most spring games are typically very basic affairs that do not delve too deeply into a team's playbook.
Last night Eric LeGrand appeared on WNBC with Bruce Beck in his first televised interview. LeGrand has movement above his neck, and has been slowly regaining sensation in the rest of his body. LeGrand also met several members of the media today at his aunt's house in Jackson. Probably the most surprising thing about these interviews is that Eric is candid about repeatedly watching the video of his injury.
Coach Schiano talked to the press after today's practice. This video is from the official Rutgers football channel on Youtube. Nothing particularly earth-shaking today. Let's see how the next scrimmage goes.
Here's Greg Schiano's new anti-underage drinking PSA. edit: this isn't new! It was just uploaded today for some unknown reason.
Here's Coach Schiano's update from practice yesterday courtesy of the official Rutgers football channel on YouTube. Schiano was not happy with the team's performance at their first scrimmage last weekend. CB Jordan Thomas (concussion) and DT Scott Vallone (ankle sprain) both might be able to return before the end of spring practice. DT Isaac Holmes and WR Keith Stroud went down yesterday with ankle injuries. Walk-on LB Justin Mills will need elbow surgery. Without Vallone and Holmes for the time being does that mean Mike Larrow and Ken Kirksey are starting for now? Rutgers is continually reshuffling its offensive line looking for the best starting five. Spring experimentation coupled with Desmond Wynn's injury saw several players getting different looks on Tuesday. Center David Osei got reps at left tackle, with guard Caleb Ruch at center, and backup guard Betim Bujari also seeing time. Schiano further mentioned that Mason Robinson, Brandon Jones, and Logan Ryan are currently slotted in as the team's top three corners. Wasn't Marcus Cooper on top several weeks back? There are no surprises at safety as David Rowe and Duron Harmon are near locks to start, with GS mentioning Wayne Warren as a reserve possibility.
Earlier today the official Rutgers football channel on YouTube braved the elements to record Coach Schiano's post-practice comments. Today wasn't one for good news, with corner Jordan Thomas going down with a concussion. Scott Vallone injured his leg too, in what Schiano classified as not a break. In some better news, Schiano said guard Desmond Wynn will not need surgery, and will return for the summer program. Sounds like from GS's comments that the weather wrecked havoc on the offense today. At least you hope it's that...
The above video comes from the official Rutgers football channel on YouTube. Rutgers unfortunately has seen its first major injury of the spring. Fifth-year senior Desmond Wynn, a projected started at guard on the offensive line, went down with a knee injury. His current status remains unclear at the moment. Schiano mentioned that Wynn was playing as well as anyone along the offensive line, so losing him for an extended period of time would be a considerable blow. In the meantime Rutgers is looking to get ready for its first spring scrimmage. Continuing on with the offensive line theme, Coach Schiano said that junior college transfer Dallas Hendrikson is still ahead of David Osei at center, but the competition is close. There may still be concerns in the secondary and defensive line, but priority #1 should still be fixing everything up front and establishing a functioning running game.
Anyone else starting to get antsy for a full scrimmage? You have to imagine how everyone with the team is starting to feel. The above video is courtesy of the official Rutgers football channel on YouTube. Schiano did mention some continued inconsistency from the team's secondary. With all of the depth at wide receiver, he even speculated about switching a receiver to defensive back.