Targum sports desk gives thoughts on 2022 Rutgers football season
The Rutgers football team finished the 2022 season on a five-game losing streak. The Scarlet Knights (4-8, 1-8) won their first three games of the season but struggled during conference play. Head coach Greg Schiano will now enter an offseason with much uncertainty and intrigue.
After this disappointing end to the season, The Daily Targum sports desk gave its thoughts on the 2022 season and outlined thoughts on the upcoming offseason.
Dylan McCoy, head sports editor: "Watching Rutgers play football feels like a rinse and repeat process every fall. They beat far-outmatched non-conference opponents before struggling and being one of the worst teams in Big Ten play. Head coach Greg Schiano and his team continue to suffer as a mix of injuries, offensive struggles and coaching saw the Knights end the season with a hard-to-watch November.
"Different aspects of this team like the inspiring defensive line and (freshman running back Samuel Brown V) give me hope for the future, but Schiano is going to need to make the right hire at offensive coordinator this offseason if he wants any chance at a Bowl game next season."
Jack Bisaha, associate sports editor: "From a presentation standpoint, the football season was a massive success. The Rutgers Boardwalk did a great job drawing fans to the game and creating a hype game day environment, while the new light system made for electric atmospheres inside (SHI Stadium on Busch campus).
The product on the field was a completely different story. Untimely injuries, a handful of inexcusable losses and a 37-0 shutout to Maryland to end the year makes for a fanbase uncertain about the future. Despite this, I am optimistic about the future. (Sophomore quarterback Gavin Wimsatt) has plenty of room to grow and Rutgers has a young core on defense that it can build around. It was a disappointing year, but fans have to believe that better days are ahead."
Ellis Gordon, correspondent: "To say the season was disappointing is an understatement. The only thing that went right for Rutgers this year was the defense. This is going to be a crucial offseason, but fans should have some hope if Schiano is able to hire a good offensive coordinator. Many players will return from injury, the defense is young and talented and (Wimsatt) and the offensive line should improve. But if the Knights spend another year in the cellar, Schiano may be on the hot seat."
Allison Girardi, correspondent: "This season was obviously disappointing. While no one was expecting Rutgers to go out and have a perfect season, I think we all were expecting more of an improvement than what we all saw.
"The offense was the biggest disappointment and is obviously the thing that needs the most work. It is not impossible for Rutgers to change things around if they can find the problems with their offensive coordinator, whether that means finding a new one or working out the kinks with (interim offensive coordinator Nunzio Campanile).
I’m excited to see what comes of the offseason because there is so much room for improvement that Rutgers can capitalize on now."
Josh Meyers, contributing writer: "Rutgers football's final loss summed up the season really well. After winning the first three games of the season, the Scarlet Knights won 1 game out of their final 9 games, all in the Big Ten Conference.
A strong defense throughout the season was not held up by a downright bad offense and a boatload of key turnovers and mistakes. Disappointment has been the big word for the football team since joining the Big Ten, and frankly, most of the fans are just immune to it at this point. With multiple key players graduating, Rutgers is on a crash course to another disappointing season next fall unless something drastic changes and (Wimsatt) shows off the talent that got him recruited at a young age."
Andrew Rice, contributing writer: "This season was a little disappointing. After going 5-7 last year, I believed we had a legitimate chance to make a Bowl game. But this team has a lot of young players like (Wimsatt) who have tremendous upside and will hopefully continue to develop."
Eddie Kalegi, contributing writer: "For the second consecutive year, the Rutgers football season started out promising before reality set in during the Big Ten slate. The Scarlet Knights had little to celebrate aside from a home victory over Indiana and a comeback win against Boston College.
"The pressure will be on (Wimsatt) as he begins his first full season as the Rutgers quarterback in 2023, as well (Schiano), who will need to make use of the increasingly active transfer portal to improve the roster which, in his fourth season, will include almost exclusively his own recruits."
Camden Markel, contributing writer: "While the season got off to a hot start with a road win over Boston College, the rest of the season was a bit of a disappointment as the Knights missed on a few opportunities to pull off big wins.
"Moving forward, it’s vital to hire a talented offensive coordinator and hit the transfer portal hard. Improvement on the offensive side of the ball and development of the younger players is something we’ll be hoping to see. 2023 will be a very telling season regarding where this program is at as we enter year four of Schiano 2.0."
Joseph Henry, contributing writer: "For my thoughts on the football season, I’d say a disappointing season in terms of wins but the defense has established itself as a great unit. The offense has been revealed as a true issue for the team that needs to be revamped for next year, and that’ll start off with the offensive coordinator job. To only win one game after starting off with three wins is brutal. For next season, I feel like all the success depends on the offensive and specifically quarterback."
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