Quotables
Eddie Jordan on freshman Corey Sanders:
“Sometimes he gives me a look like, you know one of those star looks.”
What Jordan does in response to Sanders’ look:
“I put the whole team on the line and we get a couple of suicides in there. And maybe peer pressure will cool his butt down.”
Corey Sanders on his maturation as a basketball player:
“When I was younger, I was kind of a hot head on the court. Those are the things you have to grow out of when you want to play this game. My AAU coach, coach Diana [Neal], she was always on me. She would say you are not going to be able to do this at the next level. You have to be level headed and grounded. She taught me a lot.”
Fat Cat Top Five
Top Five RU Senior Performances
5.) Djwany Mera
4.) Paul James
3.) Keith Lumpkin
2.) Leonte Carroo
1.) Quentin Gause
Bobby’s Crystal Ball
RU men’s hoops will win four of its first five games
Recruiting Tidbits
RB Travis Levy - Sherwood (MD)
The junior, who holds five offers already with one coming from a Power 5 school in Vanderbilt, made his second trip to Rutgers after accompanying teammate and class of 2016 WR target Marcus Simms for a visit this spring.
“I like how the coaches were upfront and the atmosphere of the school was nice,” said Levy.
Although he hasn’t earned an offer from the Rutgers staff yet, Levy still feels like a priority.
“Almost all of the coaches came and shook my hand, each of them said I have talent,” said Levy. “But they let me know it’s a process and a relationship needs to develop first.”
OL Sam Gerak - Avon (OH)
Gerak, a junior, received an offer from Rutgers this summer and is one of the prospects who traveled to last Saturday’s game.
“I had to go back up to talk with Coach Berry and then I got to walk through the student section by myself and they were showing me a lot of love, so that was cool going onto the sidelines,” said Gerak. “Then, it was cool to see Ray Rice down there.”
Although the Buckeyes ended up overwhelming winner over the Scarlet Knights, Gerak told Scarlet Nation that he thought Rutgers had a good game plan in place offensively to try to slow the Buckeyes down, but it just wasn’t executed.
Gerak, who holds offers from Northwestern and Illinois among others, is looking to get back to Rutgers sometime next year.
DB Tariq Castro-Fields - Riverdale Baptist (MD)
Rutgers was the first Power 5 program to offer the rangy defensive back from Maryland and he wasn’t discouraged by the loss to Ohio State.
“I feel like I could be a big time player from the start,” Castro-Fields told Scarlet Nation. “As long as I work and focus in the classroom.”
Although the result was lopsided, Castro-Fields was impressed by the Scarlet Knight effort all game.
“The fight in them stood out to me. It first started with the coaches telling them to keep their heads up,” said Castro-Fields. “The coaches are willing to go to battle and even lose sometimes.”
QB Jon Lewis - St. Peter’s Prep
A large group from the defending New Jersey Non Public Group 4 state champion Marauders made the trip to Rutgers Saturday for the Ohio State game as the class of 2017 QB offer was one of the headliners.
“It was fun even though they lost. The atmosphere was great, I really felt the energy from the fans,” Lewis said.
Lewis had huge shoes to fill taking over for current Notre Dame freshman Brandon Wimbush, but he has steadily improved each game. With Scarlet Nation in attendance, Lewis showed a glimpse of his potential as he completed 14 of his 22 passes for 150 yards and threw two touchdowns. He also rushed for 110 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown as St. Peter's Prep beat rival Union City 35-7.
“We’re just trying to get to get back to playing St. Peter’s Prep football. I’m just trying not to make stupid passes, trying not to make mistakes,” Lewis said.
Recruiting Stuff to keep an eye on
The coaching situations at Virginia Tech (the perceived leader) and Miami (a current favorite) for class of 2016 TE target Jovani Haskins of Bergenfield.
The fight to confirm official visits for Florida CB KJ Sails, Illinois DT Amir Watts, New Jersey ATH Jordan Fuller.
Rutgers working to maintain strong standing after official visits by CB targets Tony Butler of Ohio and Florida's Henry Miller. In the case of Butler, he was going to decide later in October. Now it is looking like December or January after his other official visits, so Rutgers will have to do what they can to stay toward the front of his mind.
Rutgers trying to maintain a spot in the top two for Maryland class of 2016 DL Chinedu Udeogu. After initially planning to focus on Cal and Rutgers with plans to commit in later September or early October after an unofficial visit to Rutgers, Udeogu has been much more receptive to the idea of extending his recruitment so he can make more visits.
As to be expected in any recruiting cycle, rival schools are trying to poach Rutgers commits. A few Power 5 schools have been very aggressive in recent weeks in trying secure visits from a few Rutgers commitments, such as Elias Reynolds, Justin Morgan, Patrice Rene, and Phil Campbell. All have seen increased attention during what has been strong senior seasons for each of them.
On the other side, Rutgers will take a look at possible flip candidates as well. With the need at defensive back, one player to keep an eye on is New Brunswick class of 2016 ATH Maurice Ffrench, who had RU defensive backs coach Darrell Wilson at his game last Friday. Ffrench told Scarlet Nation that he was told that Rutgers is thinking about making an offer. While he also maintained that he is firm in his commitment to Pitt, Ffrench does have interest in the hometown school. He camped at RU over the summer in search of an offer before committing to the Panthers.
Eye on Rutgers
Last weekend, there were not a whole lot of positives on the field as Rutgers was beaten by Ohio State. However, over the last couple of weeks, there has been much improved play from a couple of key contributors on both sides of the football.
Paul James
The senior running back looks to be back from his ACL injury as the last two games he looked to be moving much quicker. James agreed with that assessment earlier this week.
“After each game, I feel like I have been getting better and better,” said James, who has gained 341 yards this season while averaging 5.9 yards per carry. “I am definitely starting to notice it out there. I really see the difference with my agility moving in and out of the holes and my explosion with the burst in and out of the holes.”
James has yet to finish out a season healthy since entering into a starting role, but he is not worrying about the threat of injury constantly looming.
“I don’t think there is such a thing as injury prone. It’s football,” James said. “People are going to get injured. You take hits, bones break and things like that happen. That is just the nature of the game. I don’t believe in such a thing as injury prone. I don’t believe in things like that.”
Steve Longa
The Rutgers junior weakside linebacker has always racked up a lot of tackles, but as of late, he is getting more quality tackles closer to the line of scrimmage.
“I am definitely taking it to another level,” Longa said this week. “I just want to be the best. I have been working hard all off season, through the season; Sunday through Sunday. By me being the best I can be, I am helping this team. …I take things personally out there.”
Longa’s 85 tackles is currently good for second in the nation.
“I am not surprised,” Longa said of his total tackles. “…I have been putting in work one on one with coach Fraser trying to understand the game of football itself and trying to understand our defense part by part, cut it down, simplify it and knowing everybody’s job. That has helped me become a better linebacker.”
Eddie Jordan on freshman Corey Sanders:
“Sometimes he gives me a look like, you know one of those star looks.”
What Jordan does in response to Sanders’ look:
“I put the whole team on the line and we get a couple of suicides in there. And maybe peer pressure will cool his butt down.”
Corey Sanders on his maturation as a basketball player:
“When I was younger, I was kind of a hot head on the court. Those are the things you have to grow out of when you want to play this game. My AAU coach, coach Diana [Neal], she was always on me. She would say you are not going to be able to do this at the next level. You have to be level headed and grounded. She taught me a lot.”
Fat Cat Top Five
Top Five RU Senior Performances
5.) Djwany Mera
4.) Paul James
3.) Keith Lumpkin
2.) Leonte Carroo
1.) Quentin Gause
Bobby’s Crystal Ball
RU men’s hoops will win four of its first five games
Recruiting Tidbits
RB Travis Levy - Sherwood (MD)
The junior, who holds five offers already with one coming from a Power 5 school in Vanderbilt, made his second trip to Rutgers after accompanying teammate and class of 2016 WR target Marcus Simms for a visit this spring.
“I like how the coaches were upfront and the atmosphere of the school was nice,” said Levy.
Although he hasn’t earned an offer from the Rutgers staff yet, Levy still feels like a priority.
“Almost all of the coaches came and shook my hand, each of them said I have talent,” said Levy. “But they let me know it’s a process and a relationship needs to develop first.”
OL Sam Gerak - Avon (OH)
Gerak, a junior, received an offer from Rutgers this summer and is one of the prospects who traveled to last Saturday’s game.
“I had to go back up to talk with Coach Berry and then I got to walk through the student section by myself and they were showing me a lot of love, so that was cool going onto the sidelines,” said Gerak. “Then, it was cool to see Ray Rice down there.”
Although the Buckeyes ended up overwhelming winner over the Scarlet Knights, Gerak told Scarlet Nation that he thought Rutgers had a good game plan in place offensively to try to slow the Buckeyes down, but it just wasn’t executed.
Gerak, who holds offers from Northwestern and Illinois among others, is looking to get back to Rutgers sometime next year.
DB Tariq Castro-Fields - Riverdale Baptist (MD)
Rutgers was the first Power 5 program to offer the rangy defensive back from Maryland and he wasn’t discouraged by the loss to Ohio State.
“I feel like I could be a big time player from the start,” Castro-Fields told Scarlet Nation. “As long as I work and focus in the classroom.”
Although the result was lopsided, Castro-Fields was impressed by the Scarlet Knight effort all game.
“The fight in them stood out to me. It first started with the coaches telling them to keep their heads up,” said Castro-Fields. “The coaches are willing to go to battle and even lose sometimes.”
QB Jon Lewis - St. Peter’s Prep
A large group from the defending New Jersey Non Public Group 4 state champion Marauders made the trip to Rutgers Saturday for the Ohio State game as the class of 2017 QB offer was one of the headliners.
“It was fun even though they lost. The atmosphere was great, I really felt the energy from the fans,” Lewis said.
Lewis had huge shoes to fill taking over for current Notre Dame freshman Brandon Wimbush, but he has steadily improved each game. With Scarlet Nation in attendance, Lewis showed a glimpse of his potential as he completed 14 of his 22 passes for 150 yards and threw two touchdowns. He also rushed for 110 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown as St. Peter's Prep beat rival Union City 35-7.
“We’re just trying to get to get back to playing St. Peter’s Prep football. I’m just trying not to make stupid passes, trying not to make mistakes,” Lewis said.
Recruiting Stuff to keep an eye on
The coaching situations at Virginia Tech (the perceived leader) and Miami (a current favorite) for class of 2016 TE target Jovani Haskins of Bergenfield.
The fight to confirm official visits for Florida CB KJ Sails, Illinois DT Amir Watts, New Jersey ATH Jordan Fuller.
Rutgers working to maintain strong standing after official visits by CB targets Tony Butler of Ohio and Florida's Henry Miller. In the case of Butler, he was going to decide later in October. Now it is looking like December or January after his other official visits, so Rutgers will have to do what they can to stay toward the front of his mind.
Rutgers trying to maintain a spot in the top two for Maryland class of 2016 DL Chinedu Udeogu. After initially planning to focus on Cal and Rutgers with plans to commit in later September or early October after an unofficial visit to Rutgers, Udeogu has been much more receptive to the idea of extending his recruitment so he can make more visits.
As to be expected in any recruiting cycle, rival schools are trying to poach Rutgers commits. A few Power 5 schools have been very aggressive in recent weeks in trying secure visits from a few Rutgers commitments, such as Elias Reynolds, Justin Morgan, Patrice Rene, and Phil Campbell. All have seen increased attention during what has been strong senior seasons for each of them.
On the other side, Rutgers will take a look at possible flip candidates as well. With the need at defensive back, one player to keep an eye on is New Brunswick class of 2016 ATH Maurice Ffrench, who had RU defensive backs coach Darrell Wilson at his game last Friday. Ffrench told Scarlet Nation that he was told that Rutgers is thinking about making an offer. While he also maintained that he is firm in his commitment to Pitt, Ffrench does have interest in the hometown school. He camped at RU over the summer in search of an offer before committing to the Panthers.
Eye on Rutgers
Last weekend, there were not a whole lot of positives on the field as Rutgers was beaten by Ohio State. However, over the last couple of weeks, there has been much improved play from a couple of key contributors on both sides of the football.
Paul James
The senior running back looks to be back from his ACL injury as the last two games he looked to be moving much quicker. James agreed with that assessment earlier this week.
“After each game, I feel like I have been getting better and better,” said James, who has gained 341 yards this season while averaging 5.9 yards per carry. “I am definitely starting to notice it out there. I really see the difference with my agility moving in and out of the holes and my explosion with the burst in and out of the holes.”
James has yet to finish out a season healthy since entering into a starting role, but he is not worrying about the threat of injury constantly looming.
“I don’t think there is such a thing as injury prone. It’s football,” James said. “People are going to get injured. You take hits, bones break and things like that happen. That is just the nature of the game. I don’t believe in such a thing as injury prone. I don’t believe in things like that.”
Steve Longa
The Rutgers junior weakside linebacker has always racked up a lot of tackles, but as of late, he is getting more quality tackles closer to the line of scrimmage.
“I am definitely taking it to another level,” Longa said this week. “I just want to be the best. I have been working hard all off season, through the season; Sunday through Sunday. By me being the best I can be, I am helping this team. …I take things personally out there.”
Longa’s 85 tackles is currently good for second in the nation.
“I am not surprised,” Longa said of his total tackles. “…I have been putting in work one on one with coach Fraser trying to understand the game of football itself and trying to understand our defense part by part, cut it down, simplify it and knowing everybody’s job. That has helped me become a better linebacker.”
