Rutgers Scarlet Knights College Football Pregame Quote, 10/03/2022

Appreciate you coming out. Try to answer anything I can.

Preparing for Nebraska with a coaching switch, what are differences you’ve encountered in the preparation?

Well, they changed head coaches, I guess, it’s, what, two games ago? But then they changed defensive coordinators one game ago and they had a bye week.

So defensively, we really only have one game to go off of. So we’ll be prepared for things they did previously and things that they did a little different in their last game.

Offensively, the offensive coordinator was there the whole season. Coach Whipple, an established coach over the years, NFL and college, excellent coach. You know, we have guys that have coached against him over the years and guys kind of have a feel for each other.

So we’ve got to play whatever comes. That’s the reality of it all, and you break the tape down, and you get ready but you know, on any game, you’re going to see things that you didn’t practice. Just have to be able to have rules.

What do you feel like are the biggest steps Evan has taken forward in the expanded role and what do you feel like is the next step for him to achieve a higher level of consistency?

Yeah good, question. Evan is growing up right in front of our eyes. He’s doing things, some things better. There’s some things that he still struggles with.

I think the thing that he’s really done a good job is he’s run the operation, he’s hung in there. He’s been hit and he’s bounced up. You know, that’s a very physical game Saturday, very physical. Tough one to play and then have to play on a short week and Evan was part of that. He got hit.

But I think he’s definitely arrow pointed up. He’s getting better. He’s learning. We’ll see how it all fits together in the quarterback, who is available and how it all fits together.

A couple availability questions. With Aaron, have you heard anything from the Big Ten or anybody about a potential first half suspension after he got ejected?

No.

Do you anticipate him being available to this point?

As of now, sure.

And any guys that missed the game on Saturday, Desmond, Robert, Gavin, any idea whether they will be ready or be out for sure, any of their statuses at this point?

I don’t know anybody that’s out for sure but I don’t know if they will be ready, especially on the short week, it will be a challenge. But they are getting better. You no, it’s just a matter of there’s getting better where you can get back to practice and then you have to practice before you can play.

So it’s all going to be a timing issue.

You guys are only averaging 1.25 offensive touchdowns per game against FBS opponents. What is the biggest obstacle for the offense to score more points?

We probably have several. Some of it’s coaching. Some of it’s playing. Some of it’s execution. You know, there’s a lot of things. We’re working on it, though. We are going to be okay.

Vedral was at quarterback, usually it was a run play. Are we going to see more of Vedral in the coming weeks?

Hopefully if he continues to get better. We had a specific plan for Noah in that game, things we felt he could do. Part of working his way back to being full go is the games, right.

So it’s literally practice, rehab and the games and there’s things he can do, so we are going to use him for the things he can do.

And the things that right now he struggles with, we won’t do. But I think he’s getting better, so hopefully pretty soon he’ll be back to doing everything he’s capable of.

Can you talk about the progress of Sam Brown and what’s enabled him to have so much success so early?

Well, Sam is a very talented young man and he works extremely hard. From the day he set foot on this campus, he was not an early enrollee, and he stepped foot on our campus in early June and has just been attacking the position, attacking the job as far as learning. He’s a sponge. He’s physically gifted and I think he feels very much in place. You know, it’s not too big for him. Now it’s a matter of how do we work the rotation and utilize every guy’s strengths, because I do think they have unique abilities, all of them and I think there’s a place for all of them, too.

Five Power Five coaches fired in five weeks. Any thoughts on the current trends where it seems like coaches are being fired earlier in the season and buyouts are not taken into account? Paul Chryst had a $10 million buyout or something like that.

Not really. Kind of stick to our own program. Paul is a friend and Paul is an excellent football coach and an excellent man, so I only wish him the best.