Rutgers Football vs Boston College Preview
Rutgers will open up the 2022 season at former Big East foe Boston College. The Scarlet Knights are 9-4 in openers under head coach Greg Schiano, including wins the last two seasons against Michigan St and Temple.
The offensive line was the biggest weakness for the Scarlet Knights last season. Coach Schiano brought in 13 offensive linemen to help out with that. Hollin Pierce is expected to return at right tackle and Ireland Brown is expected to move from left guard to center. In addition, he got transfers like Curtis Dunlap (Minnesota), Mike Ciaffoni (Colorado State), Willie Tyler (Louisiana-Monroe), and J.D. DiRenzo (Sacred Heart). If this offensive line can be stronger than last year Rutgers can be better offensively.
Last season the Scarlet Knights went 5-0 when they didn’t commit a turnover. The coach has still yet to announce a starting quarterback for this season. Noah Vedral, Gavin Wimsatt, and Evan Simon are the three fighting for a spot. More than likely will see more than one play until someone is the clear-cut starter.
There is a new defensive coordinator for the Scarlet Knights this season. Joe Harasymiak. He spent the last two seasons as a co-defensive coordinator for Minnesota. In 2021, Minnesota was third in the nation in total defense, fourth in first down defense, sixth in scoring defense, eighth in rushing defense, and ninth in passing yards allowed (181.2).
Coach Schiano explains the new 4-2-5 defense that they will be running this year. Schiano says it’s personal based given the reality of modern offenses in college football.
“If you look at college football, most teams are three (wide) receiver teams. So if it’s a three-receiver team, we’re going to be a five-DB team. If it’s a two-receiver team, we’ll be a four-DB team,” he said. “It’s just matching personnel.”
Kickoff is at noon on Saturday, listen to the game on Fox Sports New Jersey 93.5-FM/1450-AM.
