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Garrett Stepien


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Rutgers hires Chris Ash as next head football coach

As soon as Chris Ash took the podium, it was easy to see why University President Robert L. Barchi and Athletic Director Patrick Hobbs hired the energetic 41-year-old co-defensive coordinator from Ohio State as the next head football coach at Rutgers. With a jam-packed team room at the Hale Center flooded with journalists, cameras and other onlookers waiting for the Scarlet Knights' next head coach to speak, Ash might have very well won his opening press conference from the moment he took the podium. "I'm gonna try to lighten this room up a little bit," he said after thanking Hobbs for introducing him. "There's a lot of serious looks in here and we've gotta get some smiles going here at Rutgers right now." If his first impression was any indication, Ash could be the one to turn the Rutgers football community's frowns upside-down. After his Memorandum of Agreement was signed in an approval meeting with the Board of Governors on Old Queens Campus in New Brunswick, Ash arrived at the football program's training facility at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway and made a splash in his introductory press conference. His contract will pay him a base salary of $2 million annually over the next five years, with a $100,000 increase in each year starting March 1, 2017, to headline other incentives of the deal. He takes over after Kyle Flood's four-year tenure where he went 27-24 with three bowl appearances, but with hopes of getting the Knights back on track after a tumultuous 2015 season where they regressed in a 4-8 season with a 1-7 record in their second year in the Big Ten Conference. Even more so, Rutgers aims for Ash to straighten up a program that saw seven players arrested over the course of the season with two investigations — one where the head coach, Flood, was suspended for three games with a $50,000 fine for impermissible contact with a faculty member. But Barchi, who placed his trust in his newly-appointed athletic director to make the best decision for the future of the football program, knew all along that Ash was the perfect fit. "Over the course of the last week, I've had the chance to spend a fair amount of time with Chris (Ash) and I have to say that I have come to the firm belief that he is the right person for this job," Barchi said.Dec 7 2015
Sports

Rutgers faces reality as regular season winds down, hosts Maryland for Senior Day

It's hard to imagine anyone around the Rutgers football program saw these results coming. But take it or leave it, 11 games later, here the Scarlet Knights are. Rutgers (4-7, 1-6) has gone through more lows — many, in fact — than highs in its second year as a member of the Big Ten. Behind the madness bestowed in the seemingly never-ending cycle of suspensions and arrests that plagued the Knights with headaches from distractions off the field — the latest of which came Friday night in an NJ Advance Media report detailing how head coach Kyle Flood and Athletic Director Julie Hermann were fighting for their jobs, according to anonymous sources — the 2015 season has been turbulent, to say the least. With Maryland (2-9, 0-7) entering Saturday's noon kickoff at High Point Solutions Stadium in a rut of its own on a seven-game skid, much still remains on the line for Rutgers — in the present and the future — in its regular season finale. "It's been a long season," said junior defensive tackle Julian Pinnix-Odrick, who had to step in as the starter at the three-point technique after senior Darius Hamilton suffered a season-ending injury. "It wears on you, but it's football and love to do — and that's why we come out here to play everyday." As far as the Knights are concerned on the field, they still believe the Terrapins present a legitimate threat. Last year, Rutgers ruined Maryland's Senior Night festivities with what was then the largest comeback in program history, a 25-point come-from-behind victory on Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium in College Park. With that, the Knights understand that anything can happen in the one-week season that Saturday poses. But Flood doesn't dwell on what happened between the two Big Ten newcomers in their first meeting as conference opponents a year ago. "I evaluate us on a year-to-year basis and over time.Nov 28 2015
Sports

Rutgers hits reset button for Kansas

Last week, the Rutgers football team couldn’t have wanted anything more than to get away from the suspensions and arrests lingering throughout the program when it departed for Happy Valley. But soon enough, the end result made the Scarlet Knights rush back to the Banks in a heartbeat. The fallout from a 28-3 road loss in the team's Big Ten Conference opener at Penn State didn't help ease the pain in Piscataway. Rutgers (1-2, 0-1) had an opportunity to silence the outsiders with a national television audience tuned in on Big Ten Network and a crowd of 103,323 on-hand at Beaver Stadium. But that disappeared after the first 15 minutes of football. Interim head coach Norries Wilson, who conducted a unique press conference in the visiting team media room after the game and emphasized the need for improvements everywhere following a messy showing, made that clear once more at Monday’s press conference. “I'm not happy with the production that we had on Saturday,” Wilson reiterated. But when the Knights take the field at High Point Solutions Stadium on Saturday at noon, the circumstances set the stage for a return that should feel more than welcoming. Factor in an opponent facing much more turmoil — at least on the field — with Kansas (0-2) visiting the Banks for the first meeting between the two football programs and suddenly a beacon of light at the end of the tunnel dimly peaks its way through the cracks. Winless in their last 33 games away from their friendly confines at Memorial Stadium, the Jayhawks haven’t been able to put together anything close to promising on the football field outside of Lawrence, Kansas.Sep 25 2015
Sports

Wagner shocks Rutgers with 10-run rally

When John O’Reilly recorded a routine groundout to shortstop to end the top of the seventh inning, a career-day on the hill came to a close. Through his career-high seven innings of work, the freshman right-hander exited the game in line to extend his team-best wins tally to four on the season after keeping the Wagner bats quiet with only one run on three hits. But in the eighth inning, the unthinkable happened. Rutgers head baseball coach Joe Litterio turned to Colin Bohnert in relief, but the Seahawks shelled the sophomore right-hander for four earned runs on four hits in what eventually snowballed into a 10-run frame. With only six more outs to spare when they returned to the plate in the bottom half of the inning, the Scarlet Knights couldn’t climb back out of the seven-run deficit, dropping an 11-4 midweek battle to Wagner (9-10-1) on Tuesday at Bainton Field. The defeat deepens the non-conference mark to 5-16 on the year for Rutgers (10-20, 5-4). In a game that was not originally on the regular season schedule, the Knights were practically in cruise control throughout the first seven frames. After drawing first blood in the bottom of the first on junior second baseman Chris Suseck’s RBI single through the right side, Rutgers gradually built its lead. Suseck was perfect at the plate and on the basepaths, going 3-for-3 with two walks, an RBI and a stolen base. The rest of the lineup hopped all over the Seahawks’ pitching staff. Rutgers pounded out 13 hits, but still managed left 14 runners on base.Apr 8 2015