Kyle Bolin Named Rutgers Starting Quarterback

As expected, Kyle Bolin has been named the starting quarterback for Rutgers football.

Bolin, a graduate transfer from the University of Louisville this past spring, came to Rutgers to complete his final year of collegiate eligibility and will make his debut in the season opener against #7/#8 Washington at home on September 1st.

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The announcement that it would be Bolin running the team became an expected one after he was named as one of the team captains on August 16th. Bolin was in a four-way race with former TCU quarterback Zach Allen, last year’s starter Giovanni Rescigno, and true freshman Jonathan Lewis. However, with Allen’s knee injury in the spring, and Lewis’ inexperience, it was mostly seemed it was a two-man battle between Bolin and Rescigno.

How Did Bolin End Up At Rutgers?

Kyle was in a see-saw battle for starter for a prolonged period of time at Louisville, that eventually ended when teammate Lamar Jackson won the starting job, and subsequently also won the Heisman Trophy. That ensured that Bolin needed to transfer if he wanted to be a starting college quarterback in his last season.

Here is Bolin’s stat line during his Louisville career:

2014: 45-78, 57.7 completion %, 716 yards, 9.2 ypc, 4 TD, 3INT

2015: 78-137, 56.9 completion %, 1154 yards, 8.4 ypc, 7 TD, 6 INT

2016: 18-28, 66.7 completion %, 234 yards, 8.7 ypc, 2 TD, 1 INT

For more on Bolin’s career at Louisville, click here.

Just a couple of weeks following the dismissal of freshman QB Tylin Oden and the ACL injury to Zach Allen this past April, this tweet reverberated around the Rutgers universe.

Less than a week later, this follow-up message was sent out by Bolin:

As you can see above, Bolin committed to play for Rutgers on April 26, and we reported the details here. Immediately following his announcment, On the Banks’ managing editor Aaron Breitman had a Q&A session with Kyle, which is worth re-reading. In that article, he stated there were two factors that immediately drew him to Rutgers. The first was having a place where he would have the greatest opportunity to play. The other factor was a school that really wanted him, and really needed him. He felt that Rutgers fit that metric, and it seems that he was correct.

The article by Aaron was notable because Kyle reached out to Aaron regarding the timeline of events at Louisville that Kyle wanted to clarify, which says a lot about him and his character. Rather than merely complain that someone had the wrong information, he made the attempt to reach out to have it corrected. That demonstrates a lot about him as a man.

Also, in the article, his message to the fans bears repeating. Aaron asked him if he had a message for Rutgers fans. His response, particularly now that he has been named as starting quarterback for the team, is worth hearing again:

“Don’t give up on the program. I know last year was tough because of circumstances and how the season went along. Just come out here next year and be ready to see a show. I’m going to get up there and the moment I step foot on campus, I’m going to work my butt off. I’m going to get this offense and team together the best that I can. When given an opportunity, I’ll leave it all on the field. It’s very difficult for teams to come in and play in a hostile environment. Every game at home needs to be a hostile environment.”

His arrival has spurred a lot of excitement for many reasons. If nothing else, his presence meant that all of the quarterbacks had to step up their game, if for no other reason than the increased competition. Last month, our own David I Brown listed the QB group as one of his reasons to be excited about the team this year.

Two weeks ago, Aaron noted that despite the lack of information about the quarterback competition, and who was leading, it was seen that even then it looked like Kyle was the favorite, as he was getting more reps than the others.

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Kyle Bolin, we are looking forward to you taking the reins of the program this year, and wish you the best as the season gets underway.

As for who will back up Bolin, click here.