Ryan Dunleavy and Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

What Rutgers offseason? No such thing.

The football team's first game on Labor Day weekend is just around the corner, but some other Rutgers fall sports get underway before the end of August.

And two Rutgers winter sports -- men's basketball and wrestling -- are competing for the top headlines.

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NJ Advance Media's Rutgers beat writers Ryan Dunleavy and Keith Sargeant have the pulse of all those stories and more -- even if they don't always agree in the way they see it.

The third installment of the Bickering Beat Writers series starts with some football training camp questions but shifts to basketball and beyond to the Big Ten.

Who's opinion is correct? Tell us in the comments section. Or leave a question for us to answer next time.

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

WHO IS THE MOST IMPROVED PLAYER IN FOOTBALL TRAINING CAMP?

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Dunleavy says...

The ultimate compliment paid to defensive tackle Jon Batkey is that Rutgers changed the alignment of its front to make room for him. In spring camp, Bateky was the third defensive tackle, behind Kevin Wilkins at three-technique and Sebastian Joseph at nose tackle.

Defensive line coach Shane Burnham recognized three game-ready defensive tackles and less proven options on the edge, so the quick-twitched Wilkins moved to end to make room for Bateky. It gives Rutgers more 300-pounders to stop the run.

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Here's another compliment paid to Bateky, who had four tackles for loss among his 14 tackles in 12 games as a sophomore backup last season.

"Jon Bateky is playing at a very high level," coach Chris Ash said. "Jon Bateky is a very underrated player that I think (we are) going to expect to see big things out of this year."

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Sargeant says ...

I remember chatting with ex-Rutgers right guard Chris Muller about Kamaal Seymour last October, just as Seymour was about to make his first collegiate start at right tackle, and Muller said something that stuck out to me. "Kamaal is physically probably the most gifted kid I've ever met,'' said Muller, who lived up to the billing as a four-star recruit by starting for four seasons along Rutgers' offensive line. "You can say only a month ago he was playing defense. He's never played (offensive line) so his learning curve has been tremendous. He's really treating it like a pro.''

At this time last summer, Seymour appeared destined for a second straight season participating with the scout team as a reserve defensive tackle. Then he was moved to right tackle, and the results were miraculous. The 6-6, 312-pounder from Brooklyn ended up starting the final five games last fall, anchoring an offensive line that markedly improved once he entered the lineup.

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Flash forward to this summer and the redshirt sophomore is entrenched as Rutgers' starting right tackle.

"Kamaal plays so much smoother right now,'' Rutgers offensive line coach A.J. Blazek said last week. "There’s some of the offensive football IQ that he can teach in our meetings. His technique is still constantly evolving. His biggest (area of improvement) is now he’s starting to communicate, which up there that’s so critical. Because everybody might know what they’re doing. But if they're not all saying it. (Seymour's) communication is good.''

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

WHAT IS THE FOOTBALL TEAM'S BIGGEST AREA OF CONCERN HEADING INTO THE SEASON?

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Dunleavy says...

Rutgers essentially had the same offseason philosophy for fixing its issues at quarterback and kicker: Bring in a wealth of new bodies and see if the cream rises to the top.

At quarterback, there is hope it worked with Louisville graduate transfer Kyle Bolin and "bright future" true freshman Johnathan Lewis challenging incumbent Gio Rescigno. Walk-ons Rob Nittolo and Tom Flacco also joined the party.

There is less reason for optimism at kicker midway through training camp.

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One year after Rutgers punted over kicking 45-yard field goals, success on longer kickers hasn't been much better. A 53-yarder during Saturday's open practice landed two yards into the end zone.

Expect Andrew Harte, David Bonagura and Justin Davidovicz to all be used at some point because it's not difficult to envision Rutgers losing a one-score heartbreaker because of a missed field goal or blocked PAT.

Ryan Anderson has provided a lift in punting. And there is more speed in the coverage teams to help cover short kickoffs.

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Sargeant says ...

Earlier this month, I did a ranking of Rutgers’ position groups and it struck me that Rutgers actually has legitimate Big Ten talent throughout its starting lineup. But then you look at the depth — particularly along both the offensive and defensive line, at wide receiver and at linebacker — and you can see why a lot of things will have to go right in order for the Scarlet Knights to defy their low preseason expectations.

Injuries happen in college football and it would be naive to think that Rutgers won’t be bitten by the injury bug this season. Already a season-ending injury suffered by strongside ‘backer Tyreek Maddox-Williams weakened a linebacker corps that will be fueled by talented-but-inexperienced backups.

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If you don’t believe that depth is a major concern, just ask Chris Ash, who told the Big Ten Network early in training camp his biggest concern was depth in the trenches.

“It’s really hard to get talented, big guys,’’ he said. “You need to develop them. And that takes a lot of time. You have to recruit them, develop them, and that’s really our biggest concern right now, is the depth up front on both sides.’’

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Rutgers' RB depth chart: 'You can't keep 5 guys happy'

What to do with Martin, Edwards, Hicks, Blackshear and Sneed?

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Why is Michigan hiding its roster?

Jim Harbaugh's latest silly imitation

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Sit in a pool or a hot tub at Rutgers football opener

What's on tap for the "War Before the Shore" at Rutgers?

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Saed Hindash | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

THE LAST RUTGERS PLAYER WITH 10 OR MORE SACKS WAS IN 2005, SO OVER/UNDER 10 FOR KEMOKO TURAY IN 2017?

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Dunleavy says...

Say this for Turay: He is not afraid to set high goals, choosing 13 as his desired target.

While 12 years of Rutgers history -- an era that includes Jamaal Westerman, who ranks third in program history with 26 sacks in his career -- says to pick under 10 for Turay, I'll take the over.

Turay had 7.5 sacks as a redshirt freshman in 2014, when he essentially was a just chasing after the ball on third downs like it had a honing device.

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Turay has the means (a more refined skill plus he is healthy and quick as ever off the edge after multiple surgeries), motive (he wants to play in the NFL and regain his status as a possible first-round pick) and opportunity (he is expected to be a three-down player for the first time in his career) for a career year.

He will probably face constant double-teams because Rutgers doesn't have another bona fide pass-rusher to draw attention away, but Turay has been unblockable in training camp -- and no one is more aware of not letting him ruin a play than his own offensive teammates.

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Sargeant says ...

Wait a minute, Ryan ... I know you don't read that deep into my stories but did you miss the first paragraph of my Kemoko Turary feature last week, when I pointed out: The last time Rutgers had a player register double-digit sacks in a season was 2005, when Val Barnaby and Ryan Neill each recorded 10.

I'll take the under and this isn't to say that I don't think Turay is poised for a big season. I do. It's just that, for as much as he's run roughshod through Rutgers' o-line this summer, he still has yet to prove he's an every-down defensive end.

If he's only in on passing situations then you better believe opposing coaches are going to scheme for ways to bracket Turay off the edge.

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QB Kyle Bolin surprise choice among Rutgers captains

What does it mean? Who are the others?

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Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

FOOTBALL IS GOING TO SCORE IT'S BIGGEST UPSET WIN IN 2017 AGAINST ...

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Dunleavy says...

In all likelihood, Rutgers won't be favored in more than one Big Ten game -- and even that isn't a given. It's possible Rutgers will be an underdog both at Illinois and home for Purdue once October rolls around.

But I wouldn't count either of those as a big upset, even off a winless Big Ten season.

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I'll say Maryland is the biggest upset win. The Terps went to a bowl with a friendly schedule and a veteran quarterback last season, giving a false perception that the rebuild is further along than may be true.

My hesitation here is that Rutgers could lose home-field advantage because of fans who think boycotting a game at Yankee Stadium game will send a message to an athletic department that already has heard it loud and clear.

I'd be tempted to say Nebraska in the Big Ten opener if the game wasn't on the road in the nation's premiere house of sellouts.

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Sargeant says ...

Rutgers has played Indiana three times since joining the Big Ten and come away victorious in two of those tilts. Sure, both triumphs occurred under the previous coaching regime but Indiana needed to rally from 11 points down to eke out a 33-27 win last November.

Last I checked, Indiana is breaking in Tom Allen as a rookie head coach so who knows what the Hoosiers will be by Nov. 18, when the Scarlet Knights come to Bloomington for what clearly will be the biggest game in the Big Ten on that mid-November afternoon.

Expect a Rutgers team that will get better this season as its’ inexperienced-but-talented freshmen progress to pull off a road upset over Indiana.

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Which Rutgers alums are in NFL training camps?

7 pairs of Rutgers alums are teammates

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Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

SHOULD THE MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM HAVE SCHEDULED TOUGHER IN 2017-18?

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Dunleavy says...

I made my opinion pretty well known on social media when the schedule was released: When two of your three best players are seniors and the third is flirting with the NBA, you need to be thinking about the NIT.

Yes, a NIT berth in Year 2 for coach Steve Pikiell would mean speeding up the plan. So what? His recruiting already is exceeding expectations.

It's not a failure if Rutgers doesn't make the NIT -- it hasn't in the last 11 seasons under four different coaches -- and just finishing with a winning record is a nice goal.

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But this isn't the same NIT where then-athletics director Bob Mulcahy can use some of his pull to get Rutgers a series of home games en route to the 2004 NIT Final. This is a tournament where strength of schedule matters for at-large berths.

And a non-conference schedule featuring 13 home games to no road games plus 11 mid- and low-major opponents to two high-majors isn't enough to warrant consideration without an 18-win season.

Fans are optimistic about Rutgers men's basketball again. Give them another reason to buy tickets.

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Sargeant says...

NIT? Really, you're thinking ahead to the Not In Tournament, Dunleavy? I call 'not it' on covering the first-round NIT trip next March. I'll say this: the No. 1 goal for Rutgers this season should be achieving .500 — something the program hasn't done since Gary Waters' final year in 2005-06. That would be significant Year 2 progress, and basically the only way for the Scarlet Knights to accomplish that is by scheduling, as you put it, "soft.''

The Scarlet Knights will be favored to win 11 of their 13 non-conference games. Give them wins in those games. That would mean they'll need to win five Big Ten games to finish the regular season 16-15 and guarantee a .500 or better campaign.

The non-conference schedule is about building confidence by securing wins. Rutgers plays 15 of its 31 games (48 percent) against foes that played in the NCAA Tournament last season, including seven versus teams ranked in either the USA Today or CBS Sports Top 25 preseason rankings.

If you're worried about boasting the kind of RPI it takes to reach the NIT, consider this: Rutgers' non-conference strength-of-schedule ranked No. 338 out of 351 teams nationally last season. Ultimately, after Big Ten play, the strength-of-schedule finished at a respectable No. 92. The Big Ten is expected to be stronger this season so there’s reason to believe that Rutgers’ RPI should be stronger if it takes care of business, like last season, against all of the cupcakes on the schedule.

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AP Top 25 college football poll

NJ.com's Keith Sargeant shares his ballot

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Rutgers football injury analysis

What Chris Ash's trainers found when they studied 2016

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RVision

SO WHEN WILL THE MEN'S BASKETBALL MAKE THE NCAA TOURNAMENT AGAIN?

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Dunleavy says...

I hate to pour cold water on a top 10 national recruiting class, so I'll let my friend Jerry Carino's research do it. His report in the Asbury Park Press shows that each of Rutgers' previous four coaches also recruited at this level once before -- without it leading to a NCAA Tournament berth.

Rutgers hasn't been to the Big Dance since 1991 -- the longest drought among Power Five conference teams.

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It's amazing how quickly Pikiell flipped the roster and the places he has gone to uncover gems to do it. There is a strong chance that the 2018-19 roster is made up entirely of his recruits, maybe with one exception.

Still, the four recruits in the 2018 recruiting class aren't even signed yet. And then they have to stay together and develop. So talk of a NCAA Tournament is premature, even in a sport where freshmen can win big.

I'll say 2020-21, when 2017 signee Geo Baker is a senior and these incoming recruits are juniors and the Big Ten looks like ... well, who knows.

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Sargeant says ...

Honestly, I think that’s a good call considering Steve Pikiell, in his previous stint at Stony Brook, struggled through his first three seasons before showing modest improvement in Year 4 and then turning the corner in Year 5 with 22 wins and a postseason berth.

But I'll be an optimist and go one year before that. Rutgers is scheduled to open its sparkling practice facility in June 2019 so I'll say the team builds on that momentum and snaps its nearly three-decade NCAA Tournament drought in 2019-20.

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Matthew Emmons | USA TODAY Sports

DID RUTGERS IMPOSE ENOUGH OF SELF-SANCTIONS TO SATISFY NCAA?

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Sargeant says ...

First, a refresher on what Rutgers actually proposed to the NCAA as its recommended sanctions against the football program:

A one-year period of probation to commence with the release of the Committee on Infractions decision on this matter, during which the University's Office of Athletic Compliance will be required to prepare reports on the progress of self-imposed sanctions and other penalties and present those reports to the President of the University and the Office of the Committee on Infractions;

A $5,000 fine payable to the NCAA

A reduction in the number of permissible, off-campus recruiting days by a total of 10: five days in the fall evaluation period and five days in the spring evaluation period during the 2017-18 academic year;

A limitation of 36 official visits (for high school seniors and transfer students) in football during the 2017-18 academic year, a reduction by four from the average number of visits used during the four most recent academic years and 26 fewer than permitted under NCAA legislation;

A probation on initiating telephone calls, contact via social media, and written correspondence with prospective student-athletes for a one-week period during the 2017-18 academic year.

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After Rutgers officials met with the NCAA's Committee on Infractions to discuss the case in mid-July, it's expected that the NCAA will announce Rutgers' penalties at some point between early-September and mid-October.

Obviously the worst-case scenario is a bowl ban. But Rutgers officials are confident that the NCAA won't impose that penalty. There's also a possibility that the NCAA will vacate Rutgers' wins from 2012-15 considering university officials conceded that 14 players that failed drug tests were permitted to compete without being subject to disciplinary actions required by the policy the school's drug policy. Again, Rutgers officials are confident that the NCAA won't impose that vacating-wins penalty.

I'm not so sure. In a series of sanctions against the Louisville men's basketball program announced last month, the NCAA mandated that Louisville vacate wins between 2012-14. At its core, Rutgers' drug-policy infraction involves ineligible players so it stands to reason that the NCAA has the authority to vacate wins out of Rutgers' record book.

Remember, the NCAA spent nearly a decade looking into Rutgers' football-ambassador's program and had been investigating the issues with the drug policy and Kyle Flood's academic improprieties for more than a year. It's hard to believe the NCAA will simply accept the university's recommended sanctions without imposing a few of their own.

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Dunleavy says...

Predicting what the NCAA is going to do in any violations case is foolish. But there are several Big Ten fan bases that think I'm a fool, so...

I think common sense prevail here and the self-imposed sanctions are enough.

Maybe if the Scarlet Knights had built a monster program under the premise of cutting corners, there would be reason to knock them down a peg.

Maybe if the coach in charge and/or athletics director was still at Rutgers -- the way Rick Pitino and Tom Jurich are at Louisville, Jim Boeheim is at Syracuse and Roy Williams is at North Carolina -- there would be reason to drop the hammer.

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I think there is much more uncertainty on the fates of the possible show-cause orders that could prevent Kyle Flood, Darrell Wilson and Dr. Robert Monaco from working in college athletics again.

I'm hard-pressed to come up an example of a team that went before the NCAA with such a thorough house-cleaning as Rutgers. Excluding times a coach left on his own a la John Calipari.

As for Rutgers, a popular form of vitriol from opposing fan bases is Rutgers couldn't even win big when it was cheating. Harsh as it sounds, that probably works in Rutgers' favor.

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Behind the making of Big Ten's next top cornerback

Could Blessaun Austin's skill set force a change in Rutgers defense?

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NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

WHAT'S YOUR SOLUTION TO STUDENT-ATHLETES TRANSFERRING IN CONFERENCE?

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Dunleavy says...

We're talking about this issue because of the Nick Suriano transfer saga. The Cliff Notes version is the all-time great New Jersey wrestler has been granted a transfer release from Penn State to Rutgers but the Big Ten must decide whether or not to waive the penalty of a lost year of eligibility for an in-conference transfer.

This could be the next frontier of the debate on transfers and student-athlete rights, especially since Penn State is making Suriano's wishes difficult.

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Many college sports fans aren't aware, but the NCAA mandate that an out-of-conference transfer must sit one year only applies to football, men's and women's basketball, and baseball. -- not other sports. Other conferences have a similar lost eligibility rule to the Big Ten to discourage in-conference transfers.

I think the solution is very simple: Allow student-athletes in any sport to transfer once to any school they wish (including in-conference) and enforce the one-year sit-out regulation (but not lost eligibility) in all sports.

If college sports is about education -- and, since athletes are not paid, that's what we are saying -- then why should the Big Ten or NCAA have the right to penalize a student for wanting to obtain a degree from a different school?

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Sargeant says ...

I hate to agree with Ryan, but his solution is fair. As it stands, the Big Ten in-conference transfer rule in wrestling is archaic. The Big Ten, in its press release off the NCAA Championships last March, touted the fact that two of its wrestlers claimed National titles and 34 others earn All-America status.

By restricting Nick Suriano's ability to transfer to Rutgers, the Big Ten is essentially encouraging the Jersey native to go win a National Championship for another conference.

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Which Big Ten football coach has the biggest Twitter following?

Some coaches are still holding out

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Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2017-18, WHICH RUTGERS TEAM WILL BE MOST IMPROVED?

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Dunleavy says...

Considering the poor performance of Rutgers on the whole in 2016-17, there are a lot of choices. To me, start with the ones that have the greatest room for improvement and identify possible quick-fixes.

That's why I say women's basketball. Coming off a historically bad six-win season with 11 straight losses to close out, coach C. Vivian Stringer completely overhauled her roster for the second straight offseason.

Seven of the 14 players on the roster have never played for Rutgers, including potentially four starters.

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With All-Big Ten guard Tyler Scaife back from her medical redshirt season -- she was cleared to resume practicing over the summer -- to lead the way, Rutgers should be on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.

Consider that some of Stringer's best coaching has come when she is feeling outside pressure from naysayers. There are plenty of those as she enters the final year of her contract again. Last time that happened, Rutgers went 28-9 and won the WNIT.

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POLITI: Chris Ash must change the narrative

The real No. 1 goal for 2017

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Sargeant says ...

Considering the Rutgers men’s soccer team finished 1-14-2 overall and 0-6-2 in Big Ten play last fall, it’s hard to fathom Dan Donigan’s squad won’t show improvement this season. After all, the team mixes in 13 returning letterwinners with 13 newcomers and gets back three players — Miles Hackett (7 goals, 3 assists), Brian Hawkins (2 goals, 3 assists) and Erik Sa (2 goals, 5 assists) — who sat out last season after keying the 2015 team’s run to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

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The Scarlet Knights split their two preseason contests, topping UConn, 1-0, before falling late to Monmouth in West Long Branch. The 2017 schedule is brutal, with a season opener at No. 2 Wake Forest followed by a trip to face No. 4 North Carolina. But Donigan has recruited well, and there are enough pieces in place to believe the Scarlet Knights will be much improved this fall.

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Andy Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Chris Ash updates Rutgers QB battle

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NJ.com Rutgers men's basketball coverage

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NJ.com Rutgers football coverage

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Ryan Dunleavy can be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy.

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.