Rutgers football scores record 66 points in win over Wagner
The Rutgers football team followed an exciting road win at Boston College with a dominating 66-7 victory in its home opener against Wagner yesterday. The Scarlet Knights (2-0, 0-0) scored nine touchdowns and recorded 575 total yards from scrimmage in the blowout win against the Seahawks (0-2, 0-0).
On the team's first drive, sophomore running back Kyle Monangai finished a 62-yard drive for his second touchdown of the young season, giving the Knights an early 7-0 lead.
After the Seahawks went three-and-out on their next possession, sophomore quarterback Evan Simon found senior wide receiver Aron Cruickshank wide open for a 40-yard strike, making the score 14-0 in favor of Rutgers.
On the very next play on offense for the Knights, sophomore quarterback Gavin Wimsatt threw a strike of his own to sophomore wide receiver Chris Long for a one-handed touchdown.
The touchdown pass was the first of Wimsatt’s collegiate career while the snag was Long’s first collegiate touchdown and first collegiate catch. Rutgers led 21-0 with 3:35 remaining in the first quarter.
After the Knights defense forced another Wagner punt, senior tight end Johnny Langan, who sometimes doubles in the offense as a quarterback, threw a dart over the middle to junior wide receiver Isaiah Washington for 43 yards and the score as the first quarter expired.
At the end of the first quarter, Rutgers held a 28-0 lead.
The Seahawks were able to get on the board after Nick Kargman found Jayvin Little in the back of the end zone for the touchdown. The touchdown was the only one Wagner would score the entire game.
The next Knights score came from a made field goal from junior placekicker Jude McAtamney. The final touchdown of the half came when Langan made a reaching grab for his first collegiate receiving touchdown on a pass from Simon. Rutgers was up 38-7 as the first half concluded.
The Knights returned from halftime with another pulverizing drive. This one was capped off by last week’s hero and sophomore running back Al-Shadee Salaam, who glided into the endzone on a touchdown from 25 yards out.
With the touchdown, Rutgers increased its lead against the Seahawks up to 45-7 at the 12:06 mark of the third quarter.
After the Salaam score, sophomore defensive back Max Melton picked off Kargman for the quarterback’s second interception of the game. From then on out, the Knights primarily used their run game to take time off the clock.
Freshman running back Samuel Brown V and freshman wide receiver Rashad Rochelle both scored their first collegiate touchdowns in the later part of the game. Brown ended up scoring Rutgers' last touchdown and his second on the day.
When it was all said and done, the 66 points scored were the most any Knights team has ever scored under head coach Greg Schiano.
Rutgers will head to Philadelphia to face off against Temple at 2 p.m. next Saturday. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
“A game like today was great, number one ... for maturity to stay focused and, number two, to get a lot of different people playing time,” Schiano said. “Eight or nine guys scored touchdowns. I don’t care who you are — that’s good for your confidence.”
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