Gavin Wimsatt's growth on, off field is leading Rutgers football to success
Junior quarterback Gavin Wimsatt has shown strides in his growth on and off the field for the Rutgers football team — just ask junior running back Kyle Monangai.
"He's calm, cool and collected," Monangai said of Wimsatt at the beginning of the season. "(He) goes through his reads, puts the ball where it needs to be. I don't think there's many quarterbacks that are better than him."
Senior wide receiver JaQuae Jackson feels the same way about the starting quarterback.
"(Wimsatt) is a competitor, that's one thing about him … He's the leader of the offense, so he's going to make sure we chop every moment and we get the offense going every time," Jackson said. "The ceiling's so high for that kid. He's going to be a great quarterback."
Head coach Greg Schiano is also impressed by Wimsatt's growth as a quarterback.
"I think what (Wimsatt) is doing is he's getting a better and better understanding of exactly what we want to do on offense, what his job is, and he's trusting his training," Schiano said before the Scarlet Knights (4-1, 1-1) played against Wagner last Saturday. "He's done a nice job not only running the ball but running the ball and being a complete quarterback. So we just need to keep building on that."
Last season, Wimsatt got injured and only was called on for a handful of starts. When he did play, he disappointed fans with a 44.8 completion percentage for 757 passing yards, five touchdowns and seven interceptions in eight games.
In his third season on the Banks, though, he's clearly shown growth. He's thrown the ball out of bounds instead of forcing the ball down the field to a receiver in double coverage. He's stayed patient in the pocket instead of making rash decisions. He's utilized his legs more and has better ball control.
In every facet of his game, Wimsatt has shown improvement.
"I think it goes back to trusting my training. Trusting what I see (with) smart, quick decisions," Wimsatt said.
In the home opener against Northwestern, Wimsatt had a completion percentage of more than 50 percent, totaled 163 yards through the air and had his first-ever rushing touchdown. Rutgers won 24-7.
Against Temple the following week, Wimsatt impressed again with 198 air yards and a passing touchdown in a commanding 36-7 victory. His highlight of the night included a beautiful pass deep down the field to Jackson for 61 yards.
Wimsatt helped his team improve to 3-0 to start the season for the third consecutive year with a two-touchdown day in a 35-16 win over Virginia Tech. One of his touchdowns came on a short, nicely thrown-out route to senior wide receiver Christian Dremel, while his other score came on the ground in a 34-yard scamper to the endzone.
The Knights traveled to their opponent's home state to take on Michigan. On the third offensive play of the game, Wimsatt found Dremel streaking over the middle for a 69-yard crowd-silencing score. Rutgers lost that game 31-7, but Wimsatt still threw for 180 yards in front of a hostile environment.
In a 52-3 blowout win over the Seahawks (2-3, 2-0) last week, Wimsatt scored three total touchdowns for the first time in his career, with one coming in the air and two coming on the ground.
So far this season, Wimsatt has totaled five passing touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns and more importantly, Wimsatt has only thrown one interception with no fumbles. His dual-threat ability has opened up the playbook for the Knights, which has led to more offensive success.
After the season-opening win against the Wildcats (2-3, 1-2), Wimsatt credited his teammates for his growth as a player.
"It makes me more confident when I know the guys in front of me and beside me, they all have my back," Wimsatt said. "We were just going to take each play, one play at a time. Just having that mentality with the group, it makes you more confident."
Rutgers and Wimsatt will look to keep their positive momentum as they enter a seven-game stretch of Big Ten games, starting with a road test against Wisconsin this Saturday.
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