Game Day 2011-09-01

After taking over as starter and throwing for 1,637 yards as a freshman, Chas Dodd returns as the unquestioned leader of a new offense, which will feature a traditional ground game to complement Dodd and his stable of receivers.

NEW B ALANCE

G2

G A M E DAY

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

T H E DA I LY TA R G U M

KnightsGameday RUTGERS VS N.C. CENTRAL

GAME 1: High Point Solutions Stadium, 7:30 p.m. TV: ESPN3 RADIO: 1450 AM

RU unveils adjustments against Eagles

BY ANTHONY HERNANDEZ ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

From the time head coach Greg Schiano walked away from the podium following the Rutgers football team’s 35-14 loss to West Virginia last December to the start of training camp, all the questions surrounding the program began to pile up.

Although all the answers will not be available immediately after the final horn sounds tonight in Piscataway, Schiano can be sure about one thing — the pile of speculation will finally begin to diminish.

That is if ever ything goes according to plan.

“To be in a game, no matter how much we try to simulate game situations, it is different,” Schiano said. “I’m anxious to see how some of them respond. Everybody responds differently when the lights come on. So I’m really anxious.”

Offensive line coach Kyle Flood has his group focused on the first installment of Frank Cignetti’s new pro-style offense, and he does not worry about their response to the punishment now-sophomore quarterback Chas Dodd took a year ago.

“Anything that happened in the past is the past,” Flood said. “Anything that’s going to happen three or four weeks from now we can’t control yet.

Our focus everyday has to be what it is that we’re doing right now.”

Senior right tackle Desmond Stapleton, who witnessed all 61 of the sacks that contributed to the Knights’ 114th national ranking as an offense, is also ready to end the criticism without looking back.

Especially not as far back as the squad’s opener last season, when the Knights allowed three sacks to Norfolk State in a 31-0 rout.

“We’re not thinking about the past.

We’re just looking forward to [North Carolina Central],” said Stapleton, who started all 12 games last season at left tackle. “We’re not looking back to last year. We’re just looking forward to this game and protecting Chas or [freshman quarterback Gary] Nova or whoever is back there.”

Even though the Knights make their season debut against a team making the jump to Football Championship Subdivision, the level of preparation put into the contest did not diminish for any members of the squad. The Eagles return nine starters to their spread

[

INSIDE the NUMBERS

SCARLET KNIGHTS (0-0)

N.C. CENTRAL (0-0)

PASSING CMP YDS TD INT. AVG. C. Dodd 55.2% 1637 11 7 148.8

CMP YDS TD INT. AVG. PASSING M. Johnson 57.1% 1119 6 8 147.4

RUSHING NO. YDS TD LNG AVG. 77 361 2 22 J. Deering 4.6 D. Williams 19 114 0 31 5.8

RUSHING A. Goforth J. Reid

NO. YDS TD LNG AVG. 38 192 3 29 17.5 3.1 29 90 1 20

RECEIVING NO. YDS TD LNG AVG. M. Harrison 44 829 9 66 18.8 44 418 2 29 M. Sanu 9.5 16 338 1 46 21.1 J. Deering D. Jefferson 10 166 1 53 16.6

RECEIVING G. Irvine C. Harris D. Roberts J. Manning

NO. 53 19 18 6

TKL SCK 79 1.5 0 77 0 48

DEFENSE

S. Beauharnais K. Greene M. Abreu

INT 0 3 0

THE DAILY TARGUM

offense from a year ago, a style of offense Schiano sees plenty of during Big East play.

Junior strong safety Duron Harmon and senior free safety David Rowe are sure to be tested if Eagles junior wideout Geovonie Irvine, who led the team with 53 receptions and five touchdowns last season, gets his hands on the ball.

NCCU’s running game could also prove problematic for a newlook defensive front, as well, with players jumping around at linebacker and defensive ends Marvin Booker and Manny Abreu, respectively, settling in on the edge.

But the offense will be the phase most fans have their eyes on, and junior wideout Mark Harrison and the rest of the unit are ready to get their attention.

“We feel so comfortable with this new offense, and we feel like it’s going to open a lot of doors for a lot of people,” said Harrison, who broke out last season with 829 yards and nine touchdowns. “O-line, wide

receivers, running backs and quarterbacks, we’re all just going out there as a group and collectively trying to perfect our tasks and everything that we do out there.”

Freshman running back Savon Huggins, New Jersey’s No. 1 recruit who will make his debut tonight for Schiano, is one of those players who may flourish in Cignetti’s system, along with Dodd under center.

Still, nothing is guaranteed in college football, and Dodd assuming the starting role at quarterback last season is evidence enough.

Just like Schiano, Dodd and the rest of the Knights are ready to put the memory of the last game they played behind them, hoping to stick to the script as much as possible and come out on top.

“I’ve been waiting since last year when we ended the season against West Virginia to get back here and just play again,” Dodd said. “Win or lose, I just want to play again. I know we’re all excited and ready to go.”

SCHEDULE Sept. 1 Sept. 10 Sept. 24 Oct. 1 Oct. 8 Oct. 15 Oct. 21 Oct. 29 Nov. 5 Nov. 12 Nov. 19 Nov. 26

NC Central N. Carolina Ohio Syracuse Pittsburgh Navy Louisville West Virginia USF Army Cincinnati Connecticut

YDS 758 231 161 41

DEFENSE

Roger Stewart M. Lewis X. Proctor

TD 5 1 1 3

LNG AVG. 59 14.3 28 12.2 8.9 19 3.7 15

TKL SCK 50 3 37 0 34 1

INT 1 1 0

INJURIES

INJURIES Probable — J. Deering Questionable — J.T. Tartacoff Out — R. Knight

Junior wideout Mark Harrison returns as the team’s leading receiver from last season with 829 yards and nine touchdown receptions.

]

7:30 p.m.

12:30 p.m.

2 p.m.

Noon TBA TBA 8 p.m.

7 p.m.

TBA 3:30 p.m.

TBA TBA

SCHEDULE Sept. 1 Sept. 10 Sept. 17 Sept. 24 Oct. 8 Oct. 15 Oct. 22 Oct. 29 Nov. 5 Nov. 12 Nov. 19

7:30 p.m.

Noon 6 p.m.

Elon 6 p.m.

Savannah St. 1:30 p.m.

SC State 4 p.m.

Morgan State 2 p.m.

Hampton Bethune-Cookman 2 p.m.

1 p.m.

Delaware State 2 p.m.

Florida A&M 1:30 p.m.

NC A&T State Rutgers

Central State

Key Matchup Rutgers offensive line vs. NCCU defensive line The unit that allowed a Division I-worst sack total last season earns a chance to prove its offseason development against NC Central, who makes the jump to FCS play. The starting five gave up three sacks last season in its season opener at home.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP: OFFENSE

MOHAMED SANU Wide Receiver

ANDRE CIVIL Tackle

DESMOND WYNN Guard

DAVID OSEI Center

ANTWAN LOWERY Guard

DESMOND STAPLETON Tackle

PAUL CARREZOLA Tight end

MARK HARRISON Wide Receiver

CHAS DODD Quarterback

JOE MARTINEK Fullback

DE’ANTWAN WILLIAMS Running Back

Junior 6’-2”, 215 lbs.

Sophomore 6’-3”, 275 lbs.

Senior 6’-6”, 295 lbs.

Sophomore 6’-4”, 280 lbs.

Sophomore 6’-4”, 301 lbs.

Senior 6’-5”, 280 lbs.

Sophomore 6’-2”, 241 lbs

Junior 6’-3”, 230 lbs

Sophomore 6’-0”, 200 lbs

Senior 6’-0”, 220 lbs

Junior 6’-8”, 193 lbs

BRANDON JONES Cornerback

DURON HARMON Strong Safety

DAVID ROWE Free Safety

LOGAN RYAN Cornerback

Junior 6’-1”, 186 lbs

Junior 6’-1”, 201 lbs

Senior 6’-0”, 195 lbs

Sophomore 6’-0”, 190 lbs

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP: DEFENSE

MARVIN BOOKER Right end

JUSTIN FRANCIS Tackle

SCOTT VALLONE Tackle

MANNY ABREU Left end

JAMAL MERRELL Linebacker

STEVE BEAUHARNAIS

Linebacker

KHASEEM GREENE Linebacker

Junior 6’-2”, 240 lbs

Senior 6’-4”, 275 lbs

Junior 6’-3”, 275 lbs

Senior 6’-3”, 260 lbs

Sophomore 6’-4”, 220 lbs

Junior 6’-2”, 235 lbs

Junior 6’-1”, 220 lbs

G AMEDAY

T H E DA I LY TA R G U M

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

G3

THE DAILY TARGUM

Savon Huggins, left, was plenty familiar with the Rutgers program and future teammates like Mohamed Sanu, right, in January, when he committed to the Knights.

Now one of the biggest recruits in Rutgers history, Huggins will make his collegiate debut tonight at High Point Solutions Stadium against North Carolina Central.

Huggins ready to manage expectations, attention

BY STEVEN MILLER SPORTS EDITOR

Students sitting behind the basket this February at the Louis Brown Athletic Center slowly began to realize who was in the crowd at the basketball game.

A small group began chanting the name — “Savon! Savon!” — and more fans caught on.

An All-American wide receiver sat to his left, a do-it-all playmaker to his right, and head football coach Greg Schiano in a nearby row, but only two weeks after verbally committing to Rutgers, Savon Huggins was the subject of the students’ attention.

A smile crept across Huggins’ face as he tilted his head and raised his hand in acknowledgment.

The Under-Armour AllAmerican from St. Peter’s Prep talks about humility and taking the constant attention that comes his way in stride, but he chose to stay in his home state for this very reason.

Huggins knows he is good.

He played offensive tackle for his first year of football, then moved to Jackson, N.J., became a running back, and “it’s been good ever since,” he said.

Huggins knows his impact comes both on and off the field.

He spent hours on the phone with Kaleb Johnson, who will likely see time on the offensive line as a true freshman, the night before National Signing Day, convincing the Jacksonville, Fla., native to join him in New Jersey.

And Huggins knows if he lives up to the hype as the top recruit in the state, more attention will follow.

“If ever ybody knows who you are, then the pressure is put on and ever yone likes you, but I just want to go around campus, go to class, have fun and hang out with my teammates,” Huggins said. “I came to college for that, as well, not just for football. Yes, [attention] may come, but I just want to be a normal kid.”

But there was little normal about Huggins’ high school career.

The 6-foot, 200-pound tailback received his first scholarship offer from Rutgers; then countless others followed.

He did not treat his recruitment like a chore or a chance for free trips across the country, but like a business decision, and those trips followed.

Huggins took five official visits and visited 11 campuses unofficially. He heard pitches from

Urban Meyer in Florida, Butch Davis in North Carolina and Brian Kelly at Notre Dame. And he countered with questions of his own.

Rutgers’ offensive line concerned Huggins, so he told Schiano.

Rutgers’ offense concerned him, as well, and he made that known.

But Schiano was also frustrated by the Wildcat-driven offense, so he brought in offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti from Pittsburgh.

Cignetti coached Detroit Lions tailback Jahvid Best at California, where Cignetti first recruited Huggins, then Philadelphia Eagles rookie Dion Lewis at Pitt, where he also recruited Huggins.

Then Cignetti joined Rutgers in early January, and he recruited Huggins a final time.

“Let’s go, baby,” said Cignetti, reminded of the pair’s history.

“Things happen for a reason.”

Now the Scarlet Knights return to a pro-style system that keyed their rise to prominence in 2006 and a rejuvenated running game will be the focal point.

There is a crowded backfield between Huggins, junior De’Antwan Williams, sophomore Jeremy Deering and redshirt freshman Jawan Jamison.

Schiano acknowledges ever y coach would like to have a workhorse back but is quick to temper expectations on Huggins, who is listed as costarter with Williams.

“Every back will tell you they get into a flow, and I think there’s truth to it, but I think you earn that right to be a workhorse back,” Schiano said. “If you’re productive, then you get that.

Until someone shows they are that back, you split it up. It’s a delicate mix of finding that guy, yet giving equal opportunities.”

Expect Huggins to get every opportunity.

He already did in two training camp scrimmages, when he combined for 223 yards and two touchdowns on 39 carries.

Ask Cignetti and running backs coach Chris Hewitt about their new toy and they describe the same traits: short-area burst, strength, balance and body control, but perhaps most importantly, the mental attributes to make decisions.

The one to attend Rutgers already started a chain reaction, beginning with a strong close to the 2011 recruiting season and an even better start this year.

“I think everybody wanted to stay around here at heart, but they needed that one big guy to do it so everyone else could jump on board,” said Huggins’ high school teammate and class of 2012 commit Michael Giacone. “When Savon did that, it was a real eye-opener because he had every offer in the country.”

With the offers come expectations that found Huggins long before he made his decision and even longer before he took the field for the Knights.

He is supposed to be the running back that shoulders the offensive burden for the next few years in Piscataway.

He is supposed to lead a rejuvenation of Rutgers football and be connected to the era like Ray Rice is to 2006.

And he knows it is coming.

After all, that is what he signed up for.

“I’m aware of it,” Huggins said.

“How can you not be? But I just take it in stride — soak it in. It’s going to happen, but if it gets to your head, that’s when you can mess it up and have it taken away from you. I’m tr ying to be respectful, knowing it’s going to come, but at the end of the day I still have to go to work.”

“That’s what I’m going to do.”

Schiano tabs Nova as backup to debut in opener

BY ANTHONY HERNANDEZ ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

For the second consecutive season, the Rutgers football team is certain it has its quarterback of the future starting in its home opener.

This time, the Scarlet Knights hope they are right.

Sophomore quarterback Chas Dodd debuts tonight against North Carolina Central in his first full season as the offense’s signal caller, and if nothing else, the Lyman, S.C., native understands just how quickly that can change.

But if it does change, Dodd has done all he can to prepare his replacement.

“I’m tr ying to help [freshmen Gar y Nova and Mike Bimonte] with ever ything,”

Dodd said. “Especially with Gar y being in the same position I was last year, I’m tr ying to help him as far as being in that role goes. Being the second guy, you have to stay calm and cool when you’re put in there, so I’ve definitely tried to take him and the other guys under my wing.”

At least with Nova at backup, offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti knows he is getting a guy familiar to winning.

The Don Bosco Prep product boasts an unblemished 24-0 record in his two years as a starter in high school, earning Bosco two state titles and a national title during that span.

The tradition is something Nova is confident can ease his transition to the Big East and even propel him into tonight’s

game, when Nova will likely get his fair share of playing time.

“I think it definitely prepared me, mental-wise and physically,”

GARY NOVA Nova said. “Just mentally building that never-give-up attitude and to face adversity and stuff like that. My high school coach, the morals that he has, Coach Schiano has a lot of so it’s been a nice transition.”

But if not for the hire of Cignetti, who brought with him a pro-style of fense from his time at Pittsburgh, Nova likely would never take a snap in a Knights uniform.

Cignetti helped recruit Nova at Pittsburgh before he made the move to the Banks and even got the 6-foot-2 signal caller to commit to joining the Panthers.

His pro-style offense is very similar to the system Nova flourished in at Don Bosco, where he completed 95 of 160 passes his senior season for 1,701 yards and 23 touchdowns.

“When I first met coach Cignetti at Pittsburgh I fell in love with him,” Nova said. “That’s probably one of the reasons I committed to Pittsburgh. I feel like I want to be around that guy for the next four years, and that

pro-style offense is what I feel I’d be best at.”

Just how many opportunities Nova will get in his first season remains to be seen, but head coach Greg Schiano repeatedly said he plans to play Nova in tonight’s opener.

Just like Dodd did when former Knight Tom Savage held the reins of the position, Nova has his ears open to anything Dodd has to of fer, and he is not holding anything back as a leader.

That should give Rutgers some assurance this time around that it has the right guy under center.

“He’s been there before. He’s done it,” Nova said. “So just hearing it from him and him showing us what to do has been a big help.”

T H E D A I LY TA R G U M

GAMEDAY

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

PA G E G 4

COURTESY OF SCARLETREPORT.COM

Tight ends coach Brian Angelichio, left, and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti spent the offseason implementing the pro-style offense they ran together at Pittsburgh after joining the Scarlet Knights’ coaching staff. Cignetti previously served as offensive coordinator at Pitt, California, North Carolina and Fresno State and has NFL experience.

STOLEN IDENTITY Schiano nabs Cignetti, Angelichio from Pitt to revamp offense after two seasons of Wildcat-dependent scheme clashed with RU’s philosophy

BY STEVEN MILLER SPORTS EDITOR

Greg Schiano stood at a podium in the Rutgers football team meeting room — the same place he stood days after a sixth consecutive loss ended last season and brought a promise to return to his roots — and offered a rare moment of candor.

Yes, he said, three days before Rutgers opens its season against North Carolina Central, the Wildcat-driven offense last year frustrated Schiano.

Yes, he said, almost eight months after hiring a new offensive coordinator, the head coach knew he wanted to return to a pro-style system as the losses piled up.

“But once you’re into it,” Schiano said, “you can’t make a change.”

Rutgers was so deeply entrenched in an offense better suited for the XFL — fun to watch for a week, then it should become defunct — there was nothing to do but wait.

So Schiano waited.

The running game continued to morph into snap-the-ball-to-thebest-playmaker-and-go. The offensive line continued to allow the nation’s most sacks. And in the moments when a quarterback was on the field, the passing game continued to be obvious.

Then Pittsburgh’s coaching staff fell apart — twice — and Schiano picked up offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti and tight ends coach Brian Angelichio.

Schiano found his solution to an offensive problem that persisted more than a year.

“The system itself has answers to defensive-generated problems,”

Cignetti said. “What’s the problem?

Here’s the solution. When you look at the three phases of offense — the running game, the protection game and the passing game — there is a true system that in my eyes is second to none.”

*** THE

RUNNING GAME:

Ultimately, this is what the transition was all about.

There are new protection and passing schemes, but after two years of a Wildcat-infused offense, there is a traditional running game.

“The heart of the matter is you have to be able to run the football and that’s who we are,” Schiano said. “That’s the region we live in.

It’s a tough-guy area. It’s a working man’s area, and … I think the kids grow up that way around here.”

The fullback, a forgotten player the past two years, will return as a multi-threat option who is as likely to carry or catch the ball as he is to block.

Joe Martinek will play fullback after starting at running back over the past three seasons, and Schiano envisions him in a Brian Leonard mold.

“There’s no question we want to run the football, and we want to have great play action off our runs,” Cignetti said. “That’s where the fullback really becomes a big part of it.”

Once an afterthought on the depth char t, junior tailback De’Antwan Williams experienced a rebirth practicing in Cignetti’s system, which reminded him of the pro-style running game he played in at Woodbridge (Va.) High School.

Williams will split carries with freshman Savon Huggins, sophomore Jeremy Deering and redshirt

freshman Jawan Jamison. Schiano and Cignetti acknowledge any coach would like to have a workhorse back, but they will get equal opportunities for now.

There will be plenty of them with a new commitment to the run.

“The key to running the ball is being efficient and giving it at-bats,” Cignetti said. “You have to run the ball enough that the defense respects the run.”

THE

PROTECTION GAME:

The offensive line’s struggles last season were impossible to ignore, and new offense or not, a lot will depend upon the improvement of the unit.

After the Knights allowed 61 sacks last season — the most in the nation — the new unit has a new look. Senior Desmond Wynn remains at left guard, but Desmond Stapleton moves from left tackle, where he started every game last season, to right tackle.

Sophomore Andre Civil has one career start to his name and will line protect Chas Dodd’s blind side, while classmate David Osei will start at center.

Sophomore guard Antwan Lowery made three career starts, and brings a mean streak to the offensive line at right guard.

“My presence rubs off,” he said. “When guys see I’m ready to hit they just jump on board.

Desmond Wynn, a powerful guy, is more physical than he’s been.

Andre Civil, a naturally strong guy, will hit anything. Osei is the same way and so is Stapleton. Guys are just willing to be physical this year to make improvements.”

Civil, Lowery and Wynn are all converted defensive linemen — something offensive line coach

Kyle Flood believes can be overlooked in their development.

“The best thing that happened to them is they got another year of experience under their belts,” Flood said. “Like any position in football, the more you play it, the more comfortable you are, the faster you learn and react. It’s another year of maturity, strength and knowledge, all of which plays a big role in getting better.”

THE

PASSING GAME:

A Pittsburgh native, Cignetti says the running game is “in his blood” — much like the N.J. attitude that helped motivate Schiano’s transition to a new offense.

But the run sets up the pass, and Cignetti spent the bulk of his career as a quarterbacks coach, whether with the New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers, California, Pittsburgh or Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

He took the West Coast offense he learned in Kansas City and New Orleans, and blended it with Norv Turner’s digit-system offense in San Francisco.

“Here’s what an NFL system is: multiple personnel groupings, multiple formations, multiple shifts, multiple motions,” Cignetti said.

“Why? Because you want to be able to get your personnel in the right positions to create matchups and give the offense an advantage.

What you truly want to do is keep the defense on their heels and keep them off-balance.”

That will mean taking advantage of Deering, a former wide receiver, and Martinek to catch passes out of the backfield, in addition to a stable of big-bodied wide receivers.

They will utilize the tight ends, coached by Angelichio, who helped

ease the implementation of a new offense with his familiarity of Cignetti’s system.

But Cignetti also learned from Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy and coached with wide receivers coach Jerr y Sullivan, each of whom coached Rutgers wide receivers coach P.J. Fleck in San Francisco.

“I knew coming here, ‘Wow, I have the best wide receivers coach in college football,’” Cignetti said.

“Everything I’m going to implement here he did at the highest level under the best coaches.”

*** Cignetti implemented his system twice — once in the spring and again in training camp — and Rutgers will finally unveil it tonight at High Point Solutions Stadium.

“That’s one thing I’ve been putting a lot of thought into,” Dodd said. “This offense is great in practice doing it against our guys, but it’s going to be different getting to go out against an actual team that we haven’t practiced against. The one thing we have to look at is the success Coach [Cignetti] has had with these other teams he’s been with. I’m excited to see how it will look against other teams.”

Cignetti produced first round draft picks in Jahvid Best and Jonathan Baldwin. Henry Hynoski is the starting fullback for the New York Giants. Dion Lewis was the Big East’s Offensive Player of the Year, and is now with the Philadelphia Eagles.

“But at end of the day, it’s about players not plays,” Schiano said. “And you just have to, as coaches, you have to put them in position to use their talents. So the focus has to be the talent of the player, the gift of the player.”