Greg Schiano updates QB situation following spring game

The spring season is in the books for Rutgers Football. Are there answers? Not just yet.

On a rainy Saturday afternoon, both Gavin Wimsatt and Evan Simon got a chance to run a new offensive scheme for the Scarlet Knights. Following the final outing, head coach Greg Schiano updated where the quarterback situation stands.

“I thought they handled it well,” Schiano said. “They operated the offense. I don’t think we had any delay of games, which when you’re running a new offense that could happen. And it didn’t. They were on top of it.”

“There was no great thing to look at and go ‘oh that was fantastic.’ It was a tough day to throw. I thought they ran the offense and handled the offense efficiently.”

The Scarlet Knights scrimmaged three times during the spring, ending with the final game. On a day where conditions were less than ideal, Schiano believes he saw flashes from both quarterbacks — the same flashes he saw during practices.

With that being said, Schiano referenced the difference between practices and live, game action.

“They’ve showed me this spring that they’ve grown quite a bit,” Schiano said. “Games are different. You can do it in practice, I know it’s a spring game but it’s still a game. We put a little extra weight on our scrimmages.”

“Certain guys can flip that switch. They take what they’ve done in practice and they elevate it a bit. That’s what I want to see. I want to keep seeing them in that pressure situation.”

Naturally, Schiano was asked once again about a decision being made under center. As he has many times in the past, Schiano did not commit to a decision or a timeline.

“Kirk and I are gonna sit down in the next couple weeks and decide where we are with everything,” Schiano said. “You see how we operate and I think we’ll have a good idea of who’s what really quickly.”

This has become the norm surrounding Rutgers Football but it is an encouraging sign to hear Schiano say that there should be a “good idea who’s what quickly.” Maybe there will be a starting quarterback announced before the first game of the season — or before Big Ten Media Days.

During the spring, the Scarlet Knights remained healthy and showed off decent depth at certain positions. Of course, this begins with the running back room and continues at linebacker. There are positives on both sides of the ball, along with questions that need to be answered.

According to Schiano, it is the best the team has looked coming out of spring in his second tenure. Will this translate to wins on the field? We will see shortly.

“Since I’ve been back here, yes,” Schiano said. “I think what we’re gonna have to see is how quickly do we get to operating the offense at an acceptable level. We’re not there yet but we have a training camp to get ready and a summer to get ready. To me, you have to become acceptable before you become better than that and eventually elite at what you’re doing.”

“I’m very encouraged. It’s been a quiet offseason in there hasn’t been a lot of stir going around. Just a lot of people working really hard to get better. That’s just the way I like it.”