Johnny Langan earns Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week honors

Rutgers quarterback Johnny Langan earned Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week honors for his efforts in the victory over Liberty on Saturday. Langan completed 15 of 21 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns, as well as rushed for 118 yards and another score.

Langan became the first Rutgers quarterback to rush for over 100 yards since Sam Mudie ran for 105 yards against Lehigh in 1961.

In his postgame presser, Interim head coach Nunzio Campanile had this to say about Langan’s performance:

“That’s the guy I know he is and he actually said to me Sunday, came into my office, pretty --you know, pretty animatedly -- and told me, “I apologize because I’ve been trying to make everybody happy rather than just be who I am.” And he went out today and cut it loose and played like the competitor that I know he is. He’s one of the toughest human beings I’ve ever met and he’s one of the greatest competitors I’ve ever met. I’ve been saying this all along, you go out as a freshman and play against really good competition; if the game is going fast -- and today it slowed down for him a little bit and he played with confidence and he played like he was having fun. It was great to see him do that and I’m really happy for him and really proud of him.”

After becoming the starting quarterback one month ago, it was great to see Langan lead the Scarlet Knights to a much needed victory on Saturday.

Johnathan Lewis was the last Rutgers player to earn Freshman of the Week honors during the 2017 season in a win over Morgan State.

Rutgers is back in action this Saturday on the road against Illinois at 3:30 p.m. ET on BTN.