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Rutgers Football: Today's Scrimmage Results and Thoughts

Andre Patton had a standout performance in today's scrimmage. How did everyone else do?

By Aaron Breitman
Rob Carr/Getty Images

Today was the first of two scrimmages during training camp for the football team.  It took place at High Point Solutions Stadium at noon and here are the statistics, courtesy of Keith Sargeant from NJ Advance Media:

(NOTE: The scrimmage was controlled and not free flowing like a game with many situational plays, hence the modest running yards due to the defense having a good idea of what plays were coming.)

Quarterbacks

Chris Laviano: 9-15, 129 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT (Laviano's pick went through the intended receiver's hands and was caught by LB Steve Longa, according to Keith Sargeant)

Hayden Rettig: 8-10, 121 yards, 3 TD

Gio Rescigno: 5-6, 47 yards, 2 TD

Michael Dare: 0-2

Running Backs

Paul James: 11 carries for 21 yards

Josh Hicks: 4 carries for 4 yards

Justin Goodwin: 5 carries for 3 yards, TD (3 yard run)

Greg Jones: 15 carries for 39 yards

Jamen Williams: 5 carries for 2 yards

Wide Receiver

Andre Patton: 5 catches for 109 yards, TD (59 yards from Laviano)

Leonte Carroo: 3 catches for 49 yards, TD (6 yards from Laviano)

Janarion Grant: 3 catches for 51 yards, 2 TD's (18 yards from Rescigno; 17 yards from Rettig)

Justin Goodwin: 2 catches for 22 yards, TD (21 yards from Rettig)

Vance Matthews: 2 catches for 25 yards, 2 TD's (8 yards from Rescigno; 17 yards from Rettig)

Sam Bergen: 2 catches for 11 yards, TD (9 yards from Laviano)

Charles Scarff: 1 catch for 9 yards

Nakia Griffin-Stewart: 1 catch for 16 yards

Sandy Anya: 1 catch for 7 yards

Greg Jones: 1 catch for 0 yards

George Behr: 1 catch for - 2 yards

Kicking

Kyle Federico: 2-4 in field goal attempts; Made (28 & 34 yards); Missed (29 & 41 yards)

Thoughts:

  • Hayden Rettig v Chris Laviano was the featured matchup and neither disappointed. Both threw three touchdowns to multiple receivers and completed a high percentage of their passes.  Dan Duggan's headline praised Rettig for his effort in the scrimmage, as did Ryan Dunleavy's article. Some notable comments from Flood:  "We'll look at it on film. I don't want to be premature," Flood said. "I thought both guys had some moments today. Now, I want to sit with the offensive staff, watch it on film, make sure the decision process was right in all those cases.'' "There could always be something (that delays the decision)," Flood said. "Once we make the decision, we want the decision to be final. So if for some reason we're not ready to make it in 7-to-10 days, we won't make it and we'll make it when we're ready.''
  • Leonte Carroo is the all-conference receiver that gets most of the attention, and rightfully so. However today's scrimmage served as a reminder the entire group is pretty good and should give whoever is playing quarterback plenty of options.  Andre Patton has picked up where he left off the final two games of last season during training camp.  He had the play of the day with a 59 yard touchdown catch from Laviano.  Janarion Grant has shown flashes of greatness during his career and there is hope he puts it all together this season.  Two touchdowns today, both of the 15+ yard variety, reinforced that thought. Vance Matthews has impressed during camp so far and he had another solid performance today.  There was some concern that teams will do their best to take Carroo out of games and let the rest of the receiving corps beat them.  If Patton and Grant can fulfill their potential, that concern will be an afterthought and Rutgers has a chance to have one of the best receiving groups in the conference.
  • Ugh, Kyle Federico.  Missing two field goals, including a 29 yarder is not a good look nor exudes confidence from anyone.  It's inevitable Federico will be in many key spots throughout the season and his performance can easily determine the outcome of games.  Today was not one of his finest moments in Scarlet.
  • Greg Jones was given the most carries of any running back as Flood and McDaniels want to confirm exactly what they have with the newcomer.   With Peoples and Martin already sitting out with injuries, finding out what Jones can do now is a benefit in the long run.  So far through camp, Jones has turned heads and adds depth to the deepest position unit on the team.
  • Gio Rescigno played well today and showed improvement from the spring.  While we hope there is no need for the third string quarterback this season, today was a positive step in Rescigno's development.
  • From the stats it's easy to assess that the defense played well against the run but struggled against the pass.  Here is Keith Sargeant's take.  Highlights included Longa's interception and Kiy Hester picked up a sack.
  • It was reported the turf temperature reached 134 degrees today.
  • The following players of note were held out of today's scrimmage due to injury: Darius Hamilton, Kemoko Turay, Desmon Peoples, Robert Martin, Chris Muller.