COLUMN: What Rutgers football needs to focus on in 1st bye week
After a dominant first two weeks of the season, the Rutgers football team is off with the first bye week of its young season. After they rest up, the Scarlet Knights (2-0, 0-0) will hit the ground running with a strong Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opponent, Virginia Tech, and then comes nine straight weeks of Big Ten opponents.
With two games under Rutgers' belt, fans have had a glimpse of the team's potential. But, there is a sense of anticipation for a more refined performance in certain aspects of the Knights' game.
Here are three keys for Rutgers to focus on during the bye week.
Early offensive production
The Knights have scored a combined 93 points in their two wins this season, and the new-look offense has clicked early on.
One thing the team can work on is scoring more points early. Against Howard to open the season, Rutgers could only amass 7 points in the first quarter. The lack of early offensive production was much of the same against Akron, as the Knights once again only mustered one touchdown-scoring drive in the opening 15 minutes.
In both games, senior quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis and senior running back Kyle Monangai found their groove as the game progressed. But when it comes to games against Big Ten opponents, Rutgers cannot afford a slow offensive start that could put them down early.
As fans have seen, Monangai is the centerpiece of this offense, and getting him going early will be crucial as defensive opponents get more challenging. Also, getting out to a fast start and not falling behind allows the offense to be run through Monangai, a proven recipe for success.
Going down early could lead to a more pass-first offensive attack, taking the ball out of the hands of a running back capable of making big chunk plays and sparking the offense.
Deep shots over the middle
With Kaliakmanis becoming the new signal caller, the Knights' offense now has a solid passing option to complement their tough ground game. One aspect of the passing game that has not been seen is Kaliakmanis' ability to throw the ball deep over the middle.
The only deep ball he connected on was a 58-yard touchdown to senior wide receiver Chris Long against the Zips (0-2, 0-0). As the season progresses and Kaliakmanis becomes more comfortable running the Rutgers offense, offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca needs to open up the playbook and let his quarterback show off his arm talent.
In future games, opposing teams will try stacking the box to contain the Knights' dominating run game, and a play-action deep ball, with good protection, could be the perfect way to catch defenses sleeping. Adding the threat of taking the top off a defense with the deep pass makes the offense much more difficult for teams to game plan against.
Getting after the quarterback
Rutgers is a team that, year in and year out, has a highly touted defense that can wreak havoc for opposing offensive coordinators. In the 2023 season, the Knights recorded 21 sacks, with senior linebacker Mohamed Toure leading the team with 4.5 sacks.
So far this season, Rutgers has not gotten to the quarterback as frequently as many would have anticipated. The Knights have recorded just three sacks, putting little pressure on opposing quarterbacks. With Rutgers losing Toure for the season, players like junior linebacker Dariel Djabome and senior defensive lineman Malcolm Ray must keep their play up this season. Djabome has accumulated 19 total tackles in the first two games of the season, while Ray recorded one sack against Akron.
Once the Knights get into Big Ten play, they must prevent opposing quarterbacks from having a clean pocket to throw from. The more pressure the defense can apply, the less time quarterbacks have to read through their progressions, and the more likely they will make a game-changing mistake.
There have been many positives to take away from Rutgers' first two victories, but there is always room for improvement. With a challenging Big Ten schedule, the Knights must stay sharp as the season progresses to keep pace with the top teams in the conference.
Overall, Rutgers has put itself in a good place heading into Blacksburg, Virginia, to take on its biggest test of the season so far against the Hokies (1-1, 0-0).
For more updates on the Rutgers football team, follow @TargumSports on X.
To view more of Nicholas Hart's work, follow @nhart03 on X.
