Rutgers fans were not booing Chris Laviano

I feel like I need to set the record straight.

On Saturday, Chris Laviano went down, writhing in pain. I though that he cracked his ribs or bruised his sternum and it looked pretty serious. As he walked off the field, fans cheered him on.

Then, golden boy Hayden Rettig trotted onto the field to a huge ovation. In his first meaningful snap against an FBS team in his college career, he handed the ball off for a minimal gain. Kyle Flood had the chance to unleash Rettig and try to save his job. The fans were clearly pissed off that their favorite QB got a shot and the stubborn head coach was probably afraid to see what would happen if Rettig performed well.

Thus, the crowd erupted in a chorus of boos, clearly disappointed at the conservative play call and the rush to throw back in the injured Chris Laviano.

Then Laviano pulled a d*ck move and raised his arms to egg on the crowd. I respect the throw he made on the previous play, converting a huge third-down. I respect his toughness to stick through a tough season when everyone was against him. I respect him for being able to come back in the game. However, when you encourage your home fans booing, it makes everyone look bad.

I have clearly never been in the situation that Chris Laviano was in and I never will be. In addition, I can definitely see how he thought that he was being booed. In a season that has been a nightmare for everyone in the Rutgers program, encouraging boos from the home team is the last thing the program needed.

Hopefully, as a Rutgers community we can move on from this embarrassing weekend and look towards the bright things that the team has in store for the future.