RU vs. Iowa Gameday Wrap 2016-09-23

Brian Fonseca Sports Editor

Jay Niemann has spent a lot of time looking at linebackers throughout his life.

The defensive coordinator of the Rutgers football team, he also serves as the position coach of the most inexperienced group on the team.

He was tasked with replacing all three starters from a year ago while implementing a new defense, a challenge he said he’s never faced in his long career that’s only become harder with sophomore Najee Clayton — a starter entering training camp that moved to the back-up slot at strongside when the season started — leaving the program for personal reasons.

The Scarlet Knights are the third team Niemann has been a linebackers coach throughout the 24 years See TIES on Page 5

Gameday Page 2

September 23, 2016

KNIGHTS GAMEDAY RUTGERS VS. IOWA

GAME 4: High Point Solutions Stadium, 12 P.M. TV: ESPN2

RADIO: Rutgers IMG Sports Network

RU defense gets stronger with time Eric Mullin Associate Sports Editor

When Chris Ash left his post as co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State to take the reigns of the Rutgers football program, he brought with him the spread offense from Columbus.

At its core, the spread is a nohuddle, hurry-up offense that is run exclusively out of the shotgun. The goal of the offense is to get lined up as quickly as possible after each play to keep the opposing defense off balance and leave them insufficient time to make adjustments and substitutions.

As a result of this, if long drives can be put sustained by the offense, the defense becomes worn out from having to keep up with the fast pace.

But, as the Scarlet Knights (2-1) have figured out through three games this season, running the spread offense can also put a strain on a team’s own defense as well. The faster the offense runs each play, the less time the defense has on the sidelines to rest and make adjustments.

Take the first quarter of Rutgers’ 3728 win over New Mexico, for example.

The Knights had four offensive drives in the opening quarter against the Lobos — A three-andout on each of their first three drives and a 75-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Chris Laviano to redshirt freshman wide receiver Jawuan Harris on the first play of the fourth drive.

In total, Rutgers ran 10 plays and possessed the ball for 2:57, meaning its defense was on the field for the other 12:03 while facing 24 plays and allowing 21 points on 203 yards of total offense.

“It’s just tough. (New Mexico) is a ball control offense. We’re a tempo offense. So sometimes those things don’t bode well for defense in terms of time of possession and number of plays,” said defensive coordinator Jay Niemann. “We knew it was gonna be a tough battle and it sure was.”

While the Knights have faced the same amount of plays per game they did last year — just over 67 — when they ran a slower prostyle offense, Rutgers’ defense has been on the field for an average of 32:51 per game, which is over a four minute increase from 2015.

Senior Julian Pinnix-Odrick said the Knights weren’t worn out after playing over 12 minutes in the first quarter against New Mexico.

DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR / SEPTEMBER 2016

But despite being on the field more, the Knights have actually gotten stronger as games have gone on this season.

In three first quarters, Rutgers’ defense has been on the field for 31:57 of a possible 45 minutes, surrendering 59 points and 564 yards of total offense.

In the final three quarters of each game, they have played a combined 66:35 of a possible 135 minutes, allowing just 17 points on 443 yards of total offense.

Against New Mexico, the Knights held the Lobos to 7 points on 259 yards over the final three quarters.

“Obviously one touchdown in the final three quarters of the football game, I believe, and that says a lot to our coaches and our players, to be coachable and make the adjustments necessary on the sideline to get settled down,” Ash said after Rutgers win over New Mexico.

Across all four quarters, the Knights’ defense have posted a couple encouraging numbers they can hang their hats on. Rutgers is holding opponents to a 28 percent conversion rate and have the second best red zone defense in the countr y at 43 percent scoring rate (3 for 7).

Now the task at hand is to clean up the slow starts and put together a full game defensively. Some of that onus falls on the offense to be more consistent in sustaining drives and possessing the ball longer, but the defense isn’t worrying about that.

No matter how often they’re called upon, the defense makes it their mission to make a play to pick up the offense.

“Not surprisingly, we weren’t as worn out as you might think. I think the way we train in the summer, the way we train throughout the year really prepared us to be in shape,” said senior defensive end Julian Pinnix-Odrick after the win over New Mexico. “When our numbers are called we need to make the plays when our offense needs us.”

For updates on the Rutgers football team, follow @EricMullin_ and @TargumSports on Twitter.

INSIDE the

NUMBERS RUTGERS (2-1)

PASSING CMP C. Laviano 51.7% RUSHING NO. R. Martin 37 J. Grant 15 RECEVING NO. J. Grant 15 J. Harris 5 A. Patton 5 DEFENSE J. Pinnix-Odrick A. Cioffi G. Jones

YDS 457 YDS 252 143 YDS 112 140 75

TD 4 TD 1 3 TD 0 2 2 TKL 20 15 14

INT AVG 2 152.3 LNG AVG 80 6.8 58 9.5 LNG AVG 29 7.5 75 28 22 15 SCK INT 3.5 0 0 1 1 0

TD 7 TD 3 3 TD 3 1 1 TKL 23 22 10

INT 1 LNG 43 38 LNG 36 51 30 SCK 0 0 3.5

AVG 193 AVG 5.7 7.6 AVG 17.8 17 12.5 INT 1 0 0

SCHEDULE

SCHEDULE Sept. 3 Sept. 10 Sept. 17 Sept. 24 Oct. 1 Oct. 8 Oct. 15 Oct. 22 Nov. 5 Nov. 12 Nov. 21 Nov. 28

IOWA (2-1)

PASSING CMP YDS C.J. Beathard 61.4% 573 RUSHING NO. YDS L. Daniels 39 224 A. Wadley 25 190 RECEVING NO. YDS M. VandeBerg 15 267 G. Kittle 8 136 R. McCarrron 6 75 DEFENSE B. Niemann B. Bauer A. Nelson

Washington Howard New Mexico Iowa Ohio State Michigan Illinois Minnesota Indiana Michigan State Penn State Maryland

L 48-13 W 52-14 W 37-28 noon noon 7/8 p.m. noon noon TBA TBA 8 p.m.

TBA

Sept. 1 Sept. 10 Sept. 17 Sep. 24 Oct. 1 Oct. 8 Oct. 15 Oct. 22 Nov. 5 Nov. 12 Nov. 19 Nov. 25

Miami (Ohio) Iowa State North Dakota State Rutgers Northwestern Minnesota Purdue Wisconsin Penn State Michigan Illinois Nebraska

W 45-21 W 42-3 L 23-21 noon noon TBA noon TBA 7:30 p.m.

8 p.m.

TBA TBA

Key Matchup

Knights’ front 4 vs. Hawkeyes’ O-Line

The strongest unit the Hawkeyes have to offer is their offensive line.

They play a key role in the success of their power run game as well as giving C.J. Beathard enough time in the pocket to find receivers down field. The Knights’ front four has been their best position group on the defensive side of the ball and, in order to pull off the upset, they’re going to need that front to break through a stout offensive line and disrupt Beathard and Iowa’s ball carriers.

Rutgers Athletics Creed We are Scarlet Knights, the most PASSIONATE fans in college athletics.

We CHEER our teams, win or lose.

We STAND when our teams enter and exit the field of play.

We WELCOME our opponents and their fans as guests in our university home.

We RESPECT all student-athletes and celebrate their efforts.

We know our ENTHUSIASM on game day helps to recruit the nation’s best.

We STRIVE to make everyone’s experience enjoyable.

We are the STATE UNIVERSITY and BIG TEN proud.

This is RUTGERS.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP: OFFENSE

ANDRE PATTON WIDE RECEIVER

TARIQ COLE LEFT TACKLE

DORIAN MILLER LEFT GUARD

DERRICK NELSON CENTER

CHRIS MULLER RIGHT GUARD

JJ DENMAN RIGHT TACKLE

NICK ARCIDIACONO TIGHT END

JAWUAN HARRIS WIDE RECEIVER

CHRIS LAVIANO QUARTERBACK

JANARION GRANT WIDE RECEIVER

ROBERT MARTIN RUNNING BACK

Senior 6’-4”, 210 lbs.

Sophomore 6’-6”, 313 lbs.

Junior 6’-2”, 294 lbs.

Senior 6’-3”, 295 lbs.

Senior 6’-6”, 312 lbs.

Senior 6’-5”, 315 lbs.

Senior 6’-4”, 244 lbs.

Redshirt Freshman 5’-9”, 192 lbs.

Junior 6’-2”, 221 lbs.

Senior 5’-10”, 180 lbs.

Junior 5’-11”, 210 lbs.

BLESSUAN AUSTIN CORNERBACK

ANTHONY CIOFFI STRONG SAFETY

KIY HESTER FREE SAFETY

ISAIAH WHARTON CORNERBACK

Sophomore 6’-1”, 198 lbs.

Senior 6’-0”, 203 lbs.

Sophomore 6’-0”, 203 lbs.

Sophomore 6’-1”, 202 lbs.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP: DEFENSE

QUANZELL LAMBERT DEFENSIVE END

SEBASTIAN JOSEPH NOSE TACKLE

JULIAN PINNIX-ODRICK DEFENSIVE END

DARIUS HAMILTON DEF. TACKLE

TREVOR MORRIS WLB

DEONTE ROBERTS MLB

GREG JONES SLB

Senior 6’-1”, 254 lbs.

Junior 6’-4”, 295 lbs.

Senior 6’-5”, 274 lbs.

Senior 6’-3”, 286 lbs.

Sophomore 6’-1”, 226 lbs.

Sophomore 6’-1”, 238 lbs.

Senior 6’-0”, 215 lbs.

Gameday Page 3

September 23, 2016

KNIGHT NUGGETS

BY THE NUMBERS

188

Rutgers is giving up an average of 188 yards and nearly 20 points in the first quarter of the first three games of the season.

Dig themselves in a hole like that to Iowa and an upset bid will be all but done.

11

Of the 12 times Iowa reached its opponents red zone, 11 have ended in a touchdown. Facing a Rutgers team ranked 2nd in the nation in redzone defense, the Hawkeyes will need to maintain its efficiency in the final 20 yards.

28

Opponents are converting just 28 percent of third-down attempts against Rutgers. It will be important for the Knights to keep their defense off the field when they have the opportunity to do so on third down.

22

Iowa has gone 22 months without losing consecutive games.

The last two opponents to beat the Hawkeyes in a row was thenNo. 14 Wisconsin and Nebraska in November of 2014.

BIG QUESTION CAN RUTGERS REPLICATE NORTH DAKOTA STATE’S UPSET FORMULA? North Dakota State upset Iowa last weekend by playing a clean game without turning the ball over, winning the game upfront on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Can Rutgers repeat the formula and the upset?

Chris Ash Head Football Coach

THE ADVANTAGE GOES TO OFFENSE

Both offenses are averaging more than 30 points per game, but while Rutgers hung 52 on one of the worst programs in FCS, the Hawkeyes scored 45 and 42 against Big XII and MAC opposition.

X-FACTOR

Junior quarterback Chris Laviano has played sloppy in first three weeks. If he can protect the ball and complete simple passes, the Knights will be in position to pull a second straight upset over the Hawkeyes.

Junior quarterback Laviano was pulled for one drive in favor of junior Zach Allen against New Mexico.

Laviano was 11 of 27 for 152 yards and one touchdown. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR / SEPTEMBER 2016

Laviano remains starting quarterback

COACHING

Kirk Ferentz has been at the helm in Iowa City for 18 seasons and extended his contract for another six years until 2026 recently. Though Chris Ash remains perfect at home as a head coach, it’s only been two games.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Janarion Grant has almost as many kick-off return yards (195) as Iowa has total return yards, punt and kick-off (200). Grant has lived up to expectations in the return game, with a possible touchdown waiting with every chance he gets.

DEFENSE

The Hawkeyes didn’t trail until the first quarter of their third game, holding their first two opponents to a total of 24 points. Rutgers gave up that many points in the first quarter against Washington.

MOMENTUM

Rutgers is coming off of two consecutive comeback wins at home to Howard and New Mexico. Though not ideal, it’s better than Iowa’s most recent result, 23-21 loss to 5-time defending FCS champion North Dakota State at home.

RUTGERS WINS IF

IOWA WINS IF

THE KNIGHTS THE HAWKEYES PROTECT THE BALL, IF THEY CLEAN CONTROL LINE OF UP MISTAKES SCRIMMAGE

FROM LAST WEEK

Rutgers has yet to go a full game without turning the ball over at least once this season. Playing a clean game with no penalties or turnovers will be key.

Iowa is a more talented team coming off an undefeated regular season. Clean up errors from last week’s loss and there is no reason it can’t beat Rutgers.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “I hope we win and I hope (Iowa junior linebacker) Ben (Niemann) plays great.”

Jay Niemann Defensive Coordinator

TARGUM’S FINAL VERDICT IOWA WINS, 38-21 Rutgers first quarter struggles continues as it starts slow on both sides, but this time, it can’t dig itself out. Knights score pair of touchdowns in garbage time.

Eric Mullin

Mexico when Ash pulled Laviano and inserted junior quarterback Zach Allen.

The only other time Laviano had Chris Ash initially said he wasn’t been pulled this season was in the going to talk about junior Chris Lamidst of a fourth-quarter blowout viano’s job security as the starting over Howard the previous week. quarterback when asked about the In his first action of the season, matter at his weekly press conferthe transfer from TCU went 0-for-2 ence Monday. through the air and nearly turned But the head coach of the Rutit over on what wound up being his gers football team then went on only drive, as Laviano was re-into divulge into the topic for nearly serted into the game on the subsetwo minutes. quent drive.

“Chris is a guy that has been our For the first two games, sophoquarterback and he’s no different more quarterback than another Giovanni Rescigno position. Every was the lone backsingle day we go up quarterback out to practice, “We’re not satisfied with the way that we have on the two-deep we will evaluperformed at the quarterback position this year.” depth chart, but ate his perforAllen was listed as mance,” Ash CHRIS ASH a co-backup alongsaid. “And I’ll Head Football Coach side Rescigno in just tell everythe week leading body, if we felt up to the New Mexlike there was ico game. somebody that “Right before I went in,” Allen The Knights haven’t asked could go out and play the game better than Chris and give us a chance much of Laviano in their game said on when he was told he was to win, guess what? We’d be playing plans, feeding the running backs the backup. “It always changes. him. Chris has earned the right to with a healthy dose of carries on the You never really know. Washington be our starting quarterback. Does ground while mixing in a majority they told me before the game, they that mean that he is exempt from of short and intermediate passing didn’t tell me, didn’t really tell anybeing evaluated and potentially lose plays on screens, across the middle one the second game and the last game against New Mexico, they and in the flat. his job? No, it doesn’t. “ The problem has been Laviano told me right before I went in.”

But just because Laviano has It’s hard to see either Rescigno earned the right to be the starter being off the mark on those short, and will remain the starter moving check-down type throws more often or Allen pushing Laviano for the forward doesn’t mean the coaching than his coaches would like. That starting job unless one of them can staff is content with his performance. inaccuracy has been one of the con- first gain a complete stronghold on “Now does he still have to go tributing factors to Rutgers strug- the backup role.

Until then, Chris Laviano’s goout and perform? Absolutely he gling to sustain drives to this point ing to continue to be Rutgers’ startdoes,” Ash added. “And we’re not of the season.

“There’s a lot of miscommuni- ing quarterback. satisfied with the way that we have “Kind of whatever’s best for performed at the quarterback po- cation on the offensive side of the sition this year in the first three ball that we need to figure out,” the team needs to happen,” Lavigames. But if we just go around Laviano said when asked what his ano said on how he feels moving and pull the hook on every play- been the issue with his production forward after being temporarily er that struggles, does that mean in the passing game. “It comes benched against New Mexico. “I we’re necessarily going to put a down to just simply throwing and have to play better offensively so it is what it is. They got a job to do, I player in there that gives us a bet- catching better.”

The noise around a potential got a job to do.” ter chance to win? I don’t know.

Sometimes you might, sometimes change coming at the quarterback For updates on the Rutgers footposition in the near future grew you might not. “ The quarterback position con- even louder in the fourth quarter ball team, follow @EricMullin_ and tinues to be a pressing topic of of Rutgers’ 37-28 win over New @TargumSports on Twitter.

Associate Sports Editor

discussion three games into the Scarlet Knights’ season, mostly because of Laviano’s up-and-down play.

The same inconsistencies that haunted him as the full-time starter last season have followed Laviano into 2016. Through the first quarter of the season, he has posted a 51.7 percent completion rate, 152.3 yards per game and four passing touchdowns compared to three turnovers.

But one of the main issues with Laviano’s body of work doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.

Gameday Page 4

September 23, 2016

TOUGH Iowa is known for physical, tough, smashmouth football, Rutgers is attempting to replicate it Saturday

LINE Both Knights, Hawkeyes focus on winning battle at line of scrimmage continued from back Just as the name has been the same at the top of the coaching food chain in Iowa, so has the style of play his team’s have become known for.

Rutgers head football coach Chris Ash identified winning the battle at the line of scrimmage as one of the main keys to winning every game his team partakes in, but the concept has never been as crucial as it is for the Hawkeyes.

“It all starts up front on both sides of the ball. They’re extremely physical up front, extremely sound,” said the Knights defensive line coach Shane Burnham, who coached at Iowa’s in-state rival Iowa State for seven seasons. “I told my guys when I first got here … In my opinion, I don’t know the Big 10 like I know the Big 12, but every year, they were consistently the best offensive line we played against. And that’s on both sides of the ball … that has not changed.

They will not beat themselves.”

Luckily for the Rutgers football team (2-1), the units on either side of the line have been praised as the strengths of the team by Ash on a multitude of occasions throughout the preseason and have been gradually building towards living up to expectations.

Disastrous performances in the first quarter of all three games this season for the Scarlet Knights, in which the defensive line conceded 302 rushing yards while the offense has only been able to muster up 16 of its own,

Defensive line coach Shane Burnham has experience playing against the Hawkeyes after spending seven seasons at in-state rival Iowa State. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR / SEPTEMBER 2016 have been corrected as games have gone along.

Rutgers has allowed just 232 rushing yards in the other nine quarters they’ve played, including holding Howard to -2 yards rushing in the second half of a 5214 win in its home opener.

“I think they’ve done a pretty good job so far,” Ash said of his defensive line. “You look at this last week, the D-line is the reason that we were able to end up defending that option fairly well in the last three quarters of the game because of the way they

played … I like the progress that I’m seeing, the work ethic, the chemistry of that group. Their performance continues to me to get better every Saturday.”

Iowa’s (2-1) offense, on the other hand, is trending in the opposite direction.

After putting up a combined 97 points and 839 total yards against Miami (Ohio) and Iowa State in their first two games, the Hawkeyes were held to 231 yards and 21 points in a 23-21 upset loss to 5-time defending FCS champions North Dakota State last weekend.

Iowa’s first regular season loss since a 37-34 overtime loss to Nebraska in November of 2014 knocked it out of the national rankings after it entered the matchup at No. 11 on the AP Coaches Poll, but that doesn’t change the challenge it presents to Rutgers as the first opponent of a brutal three-game stretch to begin Big Ten play.

“I feel like it’s the same way,” said redshirt freshman wide receiver Jawuan Harris on whether an undefeated Iowa would’ve been different than the 2-1 team

coming in Saturday. “They’re coming in same team as last year, they played a good team in North Dakota State so they’re coming in to win. Even if they won or lost, they’re coming in to win.”

The key to the Bison’s win was the ability to control the line of scrimmage and limit the Hawkeyes to 34 rushing yards, Burnham said.

“What those guys did is they won the battle of the line of scrimmage,” he said. “(They) got them into some 3rd-longs where you can get your third-down package on the field. If you’re in third-andshort against these guys — I’ve been there a couple of Saturdays — if it’s third and one, it’s just not a lot of fun. Not many calls you can go to, they kinda got ya where they want ya and I think what North Dakota State was able to do was limit the run game and get them into predictable situations.”

The Knights aim to repeat North Dakota State’s success to be the second consecutive team to upset the Hawkeyes before they travel to Columbus to face No. 2 Ohio State and then return home to host No. 4 Michigan.

The game will be the first test to see where Rutgers stands among the Big Ten elite after a full offseason and three games under Ash and his staff.

“I can’t wait to see what happens Saturday,” Burnham said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun, it’ll tell a lot about ourselves, certainly a different ball game than we played the first three weeks ... It’ll be a great barometer.

I’m sure we’ll play a lot of great offensive lines in this league, but I can’t imagine we’ll play a ton that are a whole lot better than Iowa.”

For updates on the Rutgers football team, follow @briannnnf and @TargumSports on Twitter.

While the defensive line will have to put in a quality shift to give the Knights a chance, the offensive line will need a repeat performance from the one it had against New Mexico last Saturday to allow Rutgers’ offense to flourish on the ground, a key factor in defeating the Hawkeyes. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR / SEPTEMBER 2016

Gameday Page 5

September 23, 2016

LOVE Chris Ash, Jay Niemann, AJ Blazek all have connections to Iowa, Rutgers’ first Big Ten foe this season

TIES Niemann’s son, Blazek played for Iowa, Ash grew up fan of Hawkeyes continued from back he’s been coaching after his career as one as a player at Iowa State ended.

Saturday’s game against Iowa will be one of the few times he’ll be peaking over to watch the opposition’s linebackers as he makes adjustments in between defensive drives.

Both of Niemann’s sons play for the Hawkeyes — his older son Ben is a junior linebacker and leading tackler while his younger son Nick is a true freshman likely headed towards a redshirt season.

“For me, I’m just trying to keep it business as usual,” he said on his approach to the game. “There’s nothing I could do from a family perspective one way or the other, it is what it is. We’ve known for a long time that this week and this game, this day was going to be coming and as I’ve said all along, the boys have to prepare like they have to and I have to like I have to.”

Niemann admitted that his son playing on the side of the ball he won’t be strategizing against relieves some anxieties about the game for himself, saying he’d hate to scheme against his own son.

That doesn’t do much to help Mrs. Niemann as she watches the game with conflicted emotions.

“My wife’s caught in the middle. She’s trying to be loyal to me and to them,” he said. “To me, she’s gotta be a mother first and so I know she’s gonna be passionate about cheering for Ben and hoping that he plays well. You know, it’s tough middle ground place for her but that’s what she’s trying to do.”

Head coach Chris Ash grew up an hour south of Iowa City in Ottumwa as a fan of the Hawkeyes.

He’ll now face them as a head coach Saturday. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR / SEPTEMBER 2016 The connection to the opposition is one of many among the Rutgers coaching staff, but perhaps none is more closely tied to the program than offensive line coach AJ Blazek.

Blazek was a two-time letterwinner at center for the Hawkeyes under current head coach Kirk Ferentz, finishing his collegiate career in Iowa City after an All-American career at Butler County Community College in Pennsylvania.

A co-captain in his senior year in Iowa City with current Hawkeyes tight ends coach Levar Woods, he

was named an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention selection as Iowa went 3-9 in Ferentz’ second year as head coach of the Hawkeyes.

Now the longest tenured head coach in the Big Ten, Ferentz will be the first head coach and his alma mater the first opponent Blazek will face as a coach in his return to the conference.

“I’m excited about it. I really am,” he said. “When (head coach Chris) Ash offered me the job back on Christmas Eve, it’s the first thing I did, say, ‘Hey, hopefully we get a cross over with Iowa early on’ and to be the first Big Ten game

I’m coaching in the Big Ten is something I’ll always remember.”

Comparing it to coaching against “your dad or your uncles,” Blazek said his situation isn’t quite the same as Niemann’s, but it has its similarities.

Ash, unlike his assistants, has no connection to Iowa from a coaching and playing standpoint, but growing up in Ottumwa, a small city roughly an hour of south of Iowa City, he rooted for the Hawkeyes in his childhood.

A fond memory he shared was receiving a football autographed

by College Football Hall of Famer

Chuck Long, who played quarterback at Iowa between 1981-85, as a combined birthday and Christmas gift — his birthday falls on Christmas Eve. Ash wound up working alongside Long as his defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator in 2007 and 2008 when he was the head coach at San Diego State.

“When I was growing up as a kid, I did, I cheered for Iowa,” he said. “A birthday gift I got, actually it was a Christmas gift that I got at one point it was an autograph at Chuck Long football. Chuck was playing at Iowa, and I believe it was 1985 ... So that was one of my best birthday gifts.”

The first-year head coach went on to play defensive back at Drake in Des Moines under Niemann before coaching alongside him as a graduate assistant. Ash then moved to Ames and coached at Iowa State, Iowa’s main rival, for seven seasons, so playing against his childhood team is nothing new.

Niemann has taken part in his fair share of games against Iowa, having coached or played for every Division I program in the state aside from the Hawkeyes, but with his son on the other sideline, this one is likely the most unique.

He and Blazek both expressed interest in meeting up with their friends and loved ones after the final whistle to exchange pleasantries and catch up before the Hawkeyes take off and return to Iowa City regardless of the final result.

Still, Niemann does have an ideal scenario in mind that most of, if not all, of the Rutgers coaching staff and fans alike could agree with.

“I hope we win the game and I hope (Ben) plays great,” he said.

For updates on the Rutgers football team, follow @briannnnf and @TargumSports on Twitter.

Defensive coordinator Jay Niemann will see his son Ben on the other side of the ball when playing Iowa this Saturday at High Point Solutions Stadium. A junior linebacker, the older Niemann son leads the Hawkeyes in tackles with 23 in the first three games of the season. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR / SEPTEMBER 2016

Gameday Page 6

September 23, 2016

BEAUTY AND

Darius Hamilton recorded a career high 10 tackles against New Mexico last weekend after recording only four tackles through his first two games. In the week leading up to the Knights’ game against the Lobos, Hamilton was a full particiapant at practice for the first time in over a year. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR / SEPTEMBER 2016

Hamilton returns to old self with dominating performance eric mullin associate sports editor

It was just an ordinary Tuesday practice for the Rutgers football team during the week leading up to its showdown with New Mexico.

But for Darius Hamilton, it was much more than that.

For the first time in over a year, the three-time captain on the defensive line wasn’t sporting the No. 91 green practice jersey — indicating that he is a limited participant — that his coaches, teammates and the media had grown accustomed to seeing him in.

Instead, the defensive tackle was matching the rest of his fellow Scarlet Knight teammates with a red jersey, taking part in a full practice for the first time since injuring his right knee — which caused him to miss all but a handful of snaps in the 2015 season — last training camp.

“No doubt,” Hamilton said when asked if it meant something to him to be a full participant at practices again. “And those first two days were absolutely brutal. That Tuesday and that Wednesday were probably the worst I felt from a conditioning standpoint in a while, but I mean it’s paying off and it’s gonna continue to pay off.”

Hamilton officially made his long-awaited return to the gridiron in the Knights’ season opener against then-No. 14 Washington.

But it was in Rutgers’ latest game against New Mexico that the Darius Hamilton of old — the same one who earned Third Team All-Big Ten honors in 2014 — made his return in the stat sheet.

The Don Bosco Prep product recorded double-digit tackles in a

game for the first time in his career, taking down 10 Lobos ball carriers.

Half of his tackles were solo and one came for a loss of 2 yards.

And it was no coincidence that the same week Hamilton began taking full reps at practice, he would go on to have his best game of the season.

“What’s really helped me the most, honestly, has been getting out to practice, being able to do all the drills, getting my wind under me,” Hamilton said after a 37-28 win over the Lobos. “I mean there wasn’t a time out there today where I was gassed. Those first two games, I couldn’t have looked at you guys and said that. So just being out there, not being limited, getting all the reps. It’s really paying off.”

While his coaches were very complimentary of Hamilton’s play through the first two games, the West Paterson, New Jersey, native was critical of himself for his lack of production. Against Washington and Howard, he had just four combined tackles, with none coming for a loss.

Playing at an increased weight of around 285 pounds, Hamilton has gone through an adjustment period with the added 40-plus pounds of new weight on his frame.

He added on that extra weight to increase his durability and strength in the trenches, something he has said he is already reaping the benefits of.

But regardless of having to adjust to playing with his new body, Hamilton felt obligated to have the kind of performance he did against New Mexico after falling short of his expectations for two straight games.

“It was huge. Just from a psyche-level I guess,” Hamilton said of his upping his production against New Mexico. “It’s something that I felt compelled to do and luckily I was able to go out there and execute.”

The defensive line was long considered to be the strongest unit Rutgers had to offer in 2016, in large part due to the return of Hamilton.

That preseason notion has been carried out through the first quarter of the regular season, but the formula for success up front hasn’t been all Darius Hamilton, all the time.

Fellow senior captain Julian Pinnix-Odrick leads the Knights in total tackles (20), tackles for loss (4.5 for 22 yards) and sacks (3.5). At the other defensive end position opposite Pinnix-Odrick, senior Quanzell Lambert has 10 tackles.

Up the middle next to Hamilton, junior Sebastian Joseph has played a substantial role in Rutgers’ run defense.

In addition to that starting unit, junior Darnell Davis and sophomore Kevin Wilkins have rotated in up front to combine for 14 tackles.

“You look at the first game against Washington, I thought the strength of our defense was the D-line,” said head football coach Chris Ash. “What Howard did to us didn’t necessarily have anything to do with the D-line ... Then you look at this last week, the D-line is the reason that we were able to end up defending that option fairly well in the last three quarters of the game because of the way they played.

Again, just like all the positions, we’re not where we want to be yet, but I like the progress that I’m seeing, the work ethic, the chemistry

of that group. Their performance continues, to me, to get better every Saturday.”

With the Knights entering Big Ten play this Saturday with a noon matchup against Iowa at High Point Solutions Stadium, they’re going to need that front four to be stout against the Hawkeyes and the eight conference opponents that follow.

If Darius Hamilton continues to play and produce like he did against New Mexico, that’s a good start for a defense that is going to be tasked with containing dangerous, multi-faceted offenses on

most of the remaining Saturdays this season.

“He’s a tremendous football player and a really good leader,” said defensive coordinator Jay Niemann on Hamilton. “His quality of play these first three games has been very, very good. So certainly we’re better up front with him than we are without him. We really appreciate the contributions he’s made and look forward to a lot more of the same kind of play throughout the remainder of the year.”

For updates on the Rutgers football team, follow @EricMullin_ and @TargumSports on Twitter.

Junior Darnell Davis has been a key depth player on the Knights’ defensive line, recording six solo tackles with two coming for a loss.

DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR / SEPTEMBER 2016

Gameday Page 7

September 23, 2016

THE BEASTS

Unsung heroes play big role on Knights’ strongest unit Brian Fonseca Sports Editor

Just over six minutes remained in the first quarter of the Rutgers football team’s matchup with New Mexico at High Point Solutions Stadium last Saturday when the visitors went for the first of three fourthdown conversion attempts they’d make throughout the contest.

The Lobos led 7-0 after a muffed punt gave them a second chance on their first drive of the game and, knowing the Scarlet Knights’ struggles in the first quarter of their first two games of the season, looked to pounce on their hosts while they had the momentum.

But with just 1 yard to gain, New Mexico was stopped in its tracks, running back Tyrone Owens rushing for no gain as he was stuffed by junior nose tackle Sebastian Joseph and senior defensive end Julian Pinnix-Odrick at the line of scrimmage.

The tackle was the second of five that Joseph collected on the day — less than half of what teammates Pinnix-Odrick and senior defensive tackle Darius Hamilton collected — but the standard stat didn’t take away from an outstanding performance.

“Sebastian really showed up in the interior runs that we had to try to stop against New Mexico (and) had a big part to do with a critical fourth-down stop stop and again I think he played his best game,” said defensive coordinator Jay Niemann. “​​JPO and Darius get a lot of the dis-

Senior defensive end Quanzell Lambert ranks ninth in tackles on the team with 10, but his experience and presence provide a huge impact for the Knights. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR / SEPTEMBER 2016 cussion, it revolves around them, but there are others in there playing well also.”

Joseph is a crucial component of a defensive line that head coach Chris Ash has called the strength of the team on multiple occasions, but along with senior defensive end Quanzell Lambert, Joseph doesn’t get as much attention as Pinnix-Odrick and Hamilton.

Lambert had the fourth most tackles for Rutgers against New Mexico and ranks ninth on the

team in tackles through three games, but if you ask him to verify those numbers, he likely wouldn’t be able to.

“Just going out and do your job,” Lambert said of his approach to the game. “It’s not really about the stats for me … I really don’t even know my stats to be honest. I just go out there and play for the guys to my left and my right and behind me and all the people on the sideline and my family and everything ... what’s important right now is winning the game.”

Lambert signed with Rutgers as a four-star recruit and the sixthranked player in New Jersey in the heralded 2012 recruiting class, which also brought to the Banks Hamilton, who was the top recruit in the state in the class, and Leonte Carroo — the Knights’ all-time receiving touchdown leader now playing wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins in the NFL. Just as he was in the recruiting rankings, Lambert has been overshadowed by his colleagues despite

putting up solid numbers — 81 tackles, five sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss in 39 career appearances — in the three seasons after redshirting and changing to the defensive end from inside linebacker.

The likely cause for the low amount of attention isn’t due to the lack of production, but rather in the way he’s produced on the field, in a fashion mirroring his demeanor — quietly and consistently.

“Quanzell, no one really talks about Quanzell, but he’s just a steady-eddy like I said in the spring,” Burnham said. “He just shows up, never busts, always in the right spot at the right time and generally, if there’s a play to be made, he’s made it.”

The oldest veteran member of the unit echoed the sentiments of his position coach and both of his teammates, repeating the importance of his two fellow starters on the defensive line. “(Joseph) made a lot of plays in the backfield, was in position a lot, played with his hands probably the best that I’ve seen him play with his hands in a while.” Hamilton said. “And I can’t say enough about Quanzell, he’s definitely an unsung hero ... He never really says much, you’ll never really hear Quanzell talk too much, but he comes to work (and) he’s probably one of the best at what he does week in and week out.”

For updates on the Rutgers football team, follow @briannnnf and @TargumSports on Twitter.

Junior nose tackle Sebastian Joseph was showered with praise following his performance against New Mexico last Saturday, with both his position coach, defensive coordinator and one of his captains saying it was the best performance he’s had since the new coaching staff arrived in Piscataway last winter. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR / SEPTEMBER 2016

Brian Fonseca Sports Editor

Kirk Ferentz has been at the helm of the Iowa football team for quite some time — 18 years to be precise.

The longest-tenured football coach in all of college football alongside Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops — who worked alongside Ferentz at Iowa when both were assistants throughout the 1980s — won’t be leaving Iowa City any time soon after signing an extension to bring his contract to 2026.

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