The Rutgers Scarlet Knights lost to the Michigan Wolverines last weekend 52-17. Despite surprisingly winning at halftime, a poor Rutgers offense led to a Michigan dominated second half. This week, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights will face the Michigan State Spartans in hopes to get back on track and close out the season on a high note. Here are three Rutgers players to watch in this weekend’s matchup.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights: Kyle Monangai
Rutgers Scarlet Knights running back Kyle Monangai is in his sophomore season and has done fairly well on a poor offense. This season, Monangai has totaled 229 rushing yards from 66 attempts and two touchdowns, according to Sports Reference. Despite being a runningback, Monangai has also totaled 11 yards from three receptions. Between Monangai and Samuel Brown V, the run game is not bad for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Maybe this weekend against Michigan State the offense can get something going where they can rely on rushing the ball and avoid turnovers.
In the first have against Michigan, Rutgers actually was up 17-14. Monangai was not able to get anything going against the Wolverines though. He only had four carries for 17 yards and no touchdowns, according to ESPN. Just four carries are not enough to get any momentum going. It will be interesting to see if he gets more carries this weekend against Michigan state, as the Scarlet Knights look to come back from a horrible loss.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights: Deion Jennings
The Rutgers defense has been the highlight of the team this 2022 season. Senior linebacker Deion Jennings has done well for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Jennings has a total of four pass deflections, 78 combined tackles, 40 of which were solo. Jennings also has a total of 5.5 tackles for loss this season according to Sports Reference. All he has missed out on this year is sacks, but that could change this weekend. Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne has been sacked 15 times this season according to ESPN. Potentially this week Jennings can get his first sack.
The Rutgers defense held off Michigan as long as they could last weekend, but it was not enough. Jennings had a total of 10 combined tackles, and only three were solo, according to ESPN. The senior linebacker will want to try to increase those stats this weekend against the Michigan State Spartans.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights: Gavin Wimsatt
The quarterback position for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights has been the weakest component of this team. Sophomore quarterback, Gavin Wimsatt has gotten the start when healthy, with Noah Vedral as his backup. This season, Wimsatt has completed 30 passes out of 69 for only 351 yards, according to Sports Reference. He has also only thrown two touchdowns and eight interceptions. This will need to improve this week against Michigan State, especially after a poor game against Michigan.
Last weekend, Wimsatt played very poorly. The quarterback completed only 14 passes out of 29 for 166 yards. He also threw one touchdown and three interceptions, according to ESPN. The turnovers were what led to a dominant Michigan second half. If Rutgers wants to win this weekend, Wimsatt will have to avoid throwing interceptions, or the coaching staff may need to make yet another switch.
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights will kick off against the Michigan State Spartans at noon this Saturday. Be sure to watch for these three players and how they push to get their team a win.
For more NCAA and NFL Content:
Read my most recent article on which Penn State players to watch this weekend vs Maryland. Also, check out my most recent NFL Underestimated Spotlight Player. Read here for why the NFL needs to ban turf in their stadium immediately.
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