Greg Schiano, Kyle Monangai speak with media ahead of home game against Wagner
Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano and junior running back Kyle Monangai spoke to the media ahead of the Scarlet Knights' (3-1, 1-1) game against Wagner on Saturday.
Schiano began his press conference by commenting on junior quarterback Gavin Wimsatt's effective start to the season. So far, Wimsatt totals 587 passing yards and 172 rushing yards through four starts at the helm of the offense.
"(Wimsatt) is getting a better understanding of exactly what we want to do on offense, what his job is, and he’s trusting his training," Schiano said. "He’s done a nice job not only throwing the ball but running the ball and being a complete quarterback."
Schiano believes that Wimsatt is on the right track and making the necessary progress in order to grow. Wimsatt has shown some of his best features throughout the last few weeks, and Schiano emphasized that he is working in the right direction.
"I just look at (Wimsatt's) trajectory — as long as he keeps the nose up, eventually he’s going to get to a level where we all want him to (be)," Schiano said.
After being defeated by Michigan last weekend, Schiano emphasized to the media that Rutgers is still working.
When the Knights played the Seahawks (2-2, 2-0) last year, the former was facing a 21-game losing streak. This season, Wagner is coming off a two-game winning streak and has developed much more as a team from last season, according to Schiano.
"Wagner is a much-improved football team," Schiano said to the media yesterday. "They’re on a two-game winning streak. They sit on top of their league."
Rutgers faced off against the Seahawks for the first time last September. Despite the game being a 66-7 blowout in the Knights' favor, Schiano believes that the team will bring competitiveness to the field on Saturday.
"I think the competition is going to bring the best to the top," Schiano said. "But we’re going to continue to have competition in several spots on the offensive line."
Monangai was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week following Rutgers' win against Virginia Tech almost two weeks ago. He briefly spoke on some of the strengths of the Knights' offense and what it takes to be successful on the field.
"We like to run the ball a lot and tire our defenses out," Monangai said. "Our ability to just get different guys involved, a lot of guys produce for us. It’s not just one person that’s producing the most. Whether it’s me, (Wimsatt), any of the receivers, tight ends, we are all involved, and we all have to do our job to enable for us to succeed."
Monangai additionally spoke on how he believes Rutgers will fare against Wagner this weekend. He mentioned some of the Seahawks’ strengths and how, if the right preparation isn't made to defeat a team, then any team can easily pose a threat.
"They got some talented players," Monangai said. "They do different things that we’ve seen from other teams so far ... Like any opponent, you have to prepare well. If you don’t prepare well, any team could be a threat to you."
The Knights' game against Wagner will kick off at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at SHI Stadium on Busch campus and broadcast on the Big Ten Network and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
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