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The last few days have been a whirlwind full of surprises for Rutgers football and Thursday was no different. Interim head coach Nunzio Campanile announced after practice on Thursday that starting quarterback Artur Sitkowski is considering taking a redshirt and therefore won’t play this weekend. Campanile announced that Johnny Langan will start in his place this Saturday against Maryland. Josh Newman of the Asbury Park Press tweeted the news after the media met with Campanile.
Johnny Langan will start Saturday for Rutgers. Art Sitkowski expressed interest in potentially redshirting, and Nunzio Campanile respects it.
— Josh Newman (@Joshua_Newman) October 3, 2019
More coming.
Sitkowski informed Campanile of his decision on Thursday.
From Keith Sargeant’s article on the move, Campanile said the following:
“I had a discussion with Art this morning and he came to me and said he’s considering — he obviously had a really tough week and he’s going through a lot — so he’s contemplating evaluating taking a redshirt,’’ Campanile told reporters Thursday, four days after replacing fired head coach Chris Ash. “He asked not to play in this game so we’ll give him some time, supporing him 1,000 percent. He’s a great kid. He’s been a valuable asset to this team. So we’re going to take time. He’s ready to in an emergency role be the backup and ready to play but obviously there’s a lot of changes this week so we want to make sure we do the right thing by him.’’
It’s a reunion for Langan and Campanile, who together led Bergen Catholic to a state title in 2017. Let’s hope they canj recreate that magic on the field of SHI Stadium this Saturday.
With McLane Carter out indefinitely due to the concussion he suffered in the loss to Iowa in early September, it appears Langan will be the starting quarterback for now. True freshman Cole Snyder is the only other scholarship QB on the roster and will serve as the backup.
As for Sitkowski, nothing is official, but for him deciding to consider a redshirt, obviously his future at Rutgers is in doubt.
For Campanile, this is just another challenge he and the team have had to face this week. Hopefully, this team can rally around all of the adversity and come out Saturday ready to battle Maryland to the final whistle.