The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 137 BY ANDREW VAILLIENCOURT It's been a rough go for Rutgers since join- ing the Big Ten in 2014. The Scarlet Knights had a solid 8-5 record in year one, but have gone just 10-26 over the last three seasons — including a 4-8 finish in 2017. New Jersey's Big Ten team is hoping head coach Chris Ash can be the one to bring the program back to competitiveness, but it's a long road ahead. The squad returns 13 starters, but loses several key offensive weapons from its backfield and at wide receiver. Wide receiver Janarion Grant had 600 all-purpose yards last season in just seven games before an injury forced him to miss the remainder of the year. He was the team's biggest home-run threat and scored his only rushing touch- down against Michigan on a 65-yard run. Rutgers will need someone to replace him and running back Gus Edwards, who notched 713 rushing yards and seven total touchdowns in 2017. Sophomore Raheem Black- shear is a candidate to take over as the starter at running back after finishing last year third on the team with 238 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, plus 133 yards and two scores through the air. He also will return kicks in 2018, after handling some of those duties last year (16.7-yard aver- age on 20 runbacks). However, graduate transfer running back Jonathan Hilliman is considered the favorite. The former Boston College rusher totaled 638 yards and five touchdowns in 2017 behind star rookie A.J. Dillon, and had previously been the starter. Fifth-year senior tight end Jerome Wash- ington led the team in receiving last sea- son, and is in line to do that again this fall. He reeled in 28 passes for 282 yards and a touchdown a year ago. The 6-4 target will serve as a safe option in the passing game for whoever plays quarterback. Fifth-year senior quarterback Giovanni Rescigno — a Macomb Township, Mich., native — is back after starting seven games last season. He wasn't particularly effective, however, completing just 47.0 percent of his passes for 517 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. The Scarlet Knights have opened up the competition this spring and summer and see it as a three-way battle between Rescigno, true freshman Artur Sit- kowski — who enrolled this spring — and sophomore Johnathan Lewis. Lewis played in seven games last year and threw for 167 yards with two scores and four interceptions while rushing for 111 yards and four touchdowns. He is more of a run- ning quarterback and provides some upside. Sitkowski may be the favorite to win the job, despite being the youngest. A three-star recruit that attended IMG Academy in Bra- denton, Fla., he would allow the program to build around a freshman over the next few seasons. His senior season at IMG, he helped lead the prep powerhouse to a perfect 9-0 record and threw for 370 yards with two touchdowns in seven games. Whoever plays quarterback will play behind four of the six offensive linemen that started at least five games last year, but may have trouble finding receivers. Outside of Wash- ington, redshirt junior tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart — Washington's backup — caught the second most passes of returning players with 11. No returning wide receiver caught more than eight passes in 2017, and the leader in terms of yards is sophomore Bo Melton, who caught four balls for 83 yards. Rutgers had the No. 128 offense in the country last year out of 129 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, averaging only 262.7 yards per game. The bright spot for Rutgers is on defense. It brings back eight starters, including four of the five defensive backs that held sig- nificant roles. Senior Blessuan Austin was expected to be the team's top cornerback, but he tore his ACL four games into 2017. The 2016 All-Big Ten honorable mention is back this fall and has high expectations after he nabbed an interception against Nebraska. Fifth-year senior cornerback Isaiah Whar- ton started all 12 games and racked up 40 tackles and nine passes broken up. He paired with junior cornerback Damon Hayes, who took over as a starter after Austin went down, and secured 10 passes broken up and one interception en route to honorable men- tion All-Big Ten honors. Rutgers also returns its top two lineback- ers in seniors Trevor Morris and Deonte Roberts. They were first and second on the team in tackles in 2017, respectively, and combined for 222 stops. The Scarlet Knights haven't proven to be much trouble for the Wolverines the last two seasons and shouldn't be again in 2018. Notes Rutgers loses both its starting punter and kicker in 2018 … Ryan Anderson, the punter, was named first-team All-Big Ten last season by both the coaches and the media … Rutgers' three conference wins in 2017 were more than it had in 2015 and 2016 combined (one). ❏ The Knights Are Looking To Make Progress In Chris Ash's Third Year 2018 SCHEDULE Date Opponent 2017 Result Sept. 1 Texas State — Sept. 8 at Ohio State L, 56-0 Sept. 15 at Kansas — Sept. 22 Buffalo — Sept. 29 Indiana L, 41-0 Oct. 6 Illinois W, 35-24 Oct. 13 at Maryland W, 31-24 Oct. 20 Northwestern — Nov. 3 at Wisconsin — Nov. 10 Michigan L, 35-14 Nov. 17 Penn State L, 35-6 Nov. 24 at Michigan State L, 40-7 PLAYERS TO WATCH Offense: Jonathan Hilliman, 5th-Sr., RB — The Bos- ton College transfer has rushed for 2,238 yards in his career and scored 28 total touchdowns (two receiving) … Led the Eagles in rushing in 2016 … Named third-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference in 2014 after rush - ing for 860 yards and 13 scores. Defense: Trevor Morris, Sr., LB — Was an All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2017 by the media … Had a team-high 118 tackles last season … Averaged 9.8 tackles per game in 2017, good for No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 18 nationally … Had the most tackles in the Big Ten during conference play (102). Fifth-year senior tight end Jerome Washington was a former four-star recruit out of junior college that played the 2015 season at Miami (Fla.) before transferring to Rutgers, which he led in receiving last year. PHOTO COURTESY RUTGERS RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS • NOV. 10 • GAME 10 QUICK FACTS All-Time Series: U-M leads 3-1 First Meeting: Rutgers 26, U-M 24 (Oct. 4, 2014, at Piscataway, N.J.) Last Meeting: U-M 35, Rutgers 14 (Oct. 28, 2017, at Ann Arbor) Head Coach: Chris Ash, 6-18 at Rutgers and overall (3rd year) 2017 In Review: 4-8 overall, 3-6 Big Ten (5th East) Final 2017 Ranking: Unranked Returning Starters: 13 (6 offense, 7 defense, 0 specialists) Last Bowl Appearance: 2014 (Quick Lane Bowl vs. North Carolina, W 40-21) Big Ten Championships (last): 0 (One conference title in the Big East in 2012) RETURNING LEADERS Passing: Giovanni Rescigno (517 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT) Rushing: Raheem Blackshear (238 yards, 3 TD) Receiving: Jerome Washington (282 yards, 1 TD) Tackles: Trevor Morris (118) Sacks: K.J. Gray, Jon Bateky and Julius Turner (1.5) Interceptions: Jawuan Harris (3)