We’re pleased to be joined by Richard Schnyderite, publisher of TheKnightReport, Rutgers’ home on Rivals’ network. Be sure to give him a follow on twitter @RichieSRivals and @RutgersRivals.
1. How strange have the past few weeks been since Chris Ash was fired? How many players are officially sitting out/redshirting?
Richard Schnyderite: It’s been a wild ride to say the least. Not only did Rutgers fire head coach Chris Ash, but they also let go of offensive coordinator John McNulty in hopes of jump starting what has been a poor performance thus far. However the opposite kind of happened and the bad offense, is now a historically bad offense.
At the moment only two players have announced intentions to redshirt and those two are starting quarterback Artur Sitkowski and starting running back Raheem Blackshear. However we did discover last week backup wide receiver Hunter Hayek requested to redshirt before the Ash firing. So technically the list is now up to three.
2. What’s the mood around the program right now? Have most fans just mailed in the rest of the season?
RS: While there is still a lot of life left in the team, it seems like a lot of guys have packed it in. The offense has no life and the unit as a whole has passed for 49 total yards over the past two games, 48 of which came against Minnesota last week.
The fan support has been getting worse and worse as the weeks go on. Last week the announced attendance of somewhere around 26,000 against Minnesota, that was the lowest total attendance at Rutgers since 2005.
3. Who do you expect to get the start at quarterback? Where do you put most of the blame for the offense’s struggles?
RS: Right now (On Monday) I still believe it’s Johnny Langan. He is the quarterback that interim HC Nunzio Campanile had for a multiple years back at Bergen Catholic when the Crusaders won the state championship back in 2017.
I’d the say the most blame gets put on the offensive line. Most kind of expected this unit to struggle this year given the lack of playing experience among both the backups and starters. Also Rutgers lost arguably their top two offensive lineman this past offseason to graduation and transfer.
4. What type of atmosphere should we expect Saturday?
RS: Nothing crazy, about the same if not less than last week. It’s been very blah since the blowouts continued from last season. However Liberty fans attending the game should expect a very friendly, welcoming tailgating environment.
5. Do you think the players are still fighting for the coaches? Do you think they will be extra motivated for the Liberty game seeing as it may be their only realistic chance at a win the rest of the year?
RS: Honestly this is tough to say, there are some leaders on the team trying their best to keep the team afloat. However between the firing of OC and the HC, top players redshirting and the constant big losses, the team has all but given up hope for this season.
