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football Edit

Behind Enemy Lines: Rutgers

Rutgers made easy work of Texas State in the opener
Rutgers made easy work of Texas State in the opener (USA Today Sports Images)

It has not been exactly a smooth transition for Rutgers since entering the Big Ten to start the 2014 season, one winning season, one bowl game (a win over North Carolina in 2014) and a lot of recruits leaving the state of New Jersey and heading elsewhere (Ohio State has been a beneficiary of that).

Former Ohio State defensive coordinator Chris Ash is in year three with the Scarlet Knights as head coach and has found it to be tough sledding trying to rebuild a program to where it once was under current Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano.

Rutgers did start off the 2018 season on a high note with a 35-7 over Texas State in week one but the level of difficulty grows as the Scarlet Knights now have to head to Columbus (Ohio) to take on the Buckeyes. The same Buckeyes program that has not yielded a point to Rutgers in the past two seasons and put up an average of 57 points in those two games.

Is Rutgers starting to turn a corner though, or was week one really only a result of playing an inferior opponent and not much else has changed? We ask those questions and more as we head Behind Enemy Lines with Richie Schnyderite ofTheKnightReport.com to find out more about Ohio State's week two opponent.

BuckeyeGrove:  How much can Rutgers coaches and fans take away from the game against Texas State in week one? What was the biggest bright spot and what might be the biggest concern (if there is one) coming out of that game?

Richie Schnyderite: After game one the general feel of the fan base is pretty optimistic for this season. Artur Sitkowski made some bone headed freshman mistakes as a true freshman in his first ever game, especially with the three interceptions. However Sitkowski did do pretty solid throw 20-of-29 for 200+ yards on the year. The biggest bright spot was probably Raheem Blackshear, the stud running back led the team in receptions along with having two touchdowns too (one rushing & one receiving). The biggest disappointment was probably the special teams unit. They struggled to field punts and even got called for a roughing the snapper penalty.

BuckeyeGrove: Ohio State showed some glaring weaknesses in week one on defense, what do you think Rutgers might try and lift from Oregon State and try to implement in their game plan for this upcoming game?

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