PISCATAWAY — Kyle Flood certainly isn't in the prediction business, but the Rutgers football coach did make one bold statement leading into his team's Scarlet-White scrimmage.

"I think it's going to be a tremendous atmosphere under the lights,'' said Flood, whose team will cap spring camp Friday, 7:30 p.m., at High Point Solutions Stadium. "I think we'll have the best crowd we've ever had for a spring game, which is exciting to me. To have the dueling DJs that will be playing throughout the event, the entire pregame setup for before the game as the students get out of school, other people get off work on a Friday and come over and start tailgating, it will be a tremendous atmosphere.''

Attendance for the Scarlet-White scrimmage has only toppled 20,000 fans twice before — 20,114 in 2010 and over 21,000 in 2013 — but Flood is optimistic for a memorable atmosphere in what the program is billing as "Friday Knight Lights.''

"I think it will be the best atmosphere we've ever had for a spring game,'' Flood said Wednesday following his team's 13th practice of spring camp. "A number of high schools are bringing their teams down to the game so that's exciting for us as well.''

As for the format, Flood said he will meet with the coaches later Wednesday to decide whether it will be a game-like scrimmage or more situational. How his team shakes out on the injury front and the depth chart, Flood said, will impact how the exhibition is set up.

"We're going to get together this afternoon and we're going to look at what's available to us,'' Flood said. "Our preference is to have a 'scarlet' and a 'white' and play it as a game. My gut tells me we'll be able to do that, but until I get the medical report this afternoon I won't be able to say for sure.''



While he conceded that players on his injury-depleted offensive line will have to play on both sides, Flood said he hasn't decided whether he will split up Hayden Rettig or Chris Laviano, the top two quarterbacks vying for the starting competition, will be split on different teams or if they will back each other up.

Here's a look at some of the highlights from practice:

Location:

F-3 practice field.

Duration:

2 hours, 17 minutes.

Pads:

Shoulder pads and shorts.

Weather:

Mostly sunny, 73 degrees.

First word

Kyle Flood's post-practice opening statement:

"Good afternoon. I thought we had a lot of good situational work. I think some of the emphasis we've put on third down and two-minute the last week, we started to see that pay off a little bit today late in practice. I'm pleased with some of the progress we're making. We've got one more practice tomorrow to clean some stuff up before the spring game."

Take two

A pair of notable comments from Flood

1. On whether the quarterbacks vying for the starting job showed him what he wanted to see this spring: "Those are always tough questions because as coaches we always want more. We try to keep the expectations high. What I'm pleased with is how hard they're working at it. I see them making progress. We're certainly operating on a different level now than we were at the beginning of spring. I would say that about Hayden (Rettig) and Chris (Laviano). I think Gio (Rescigno) is a little tougher to gauge because he hasn't gotten quite the reps, although he had a rep today in practice that I thought was very telling that he's really starting to get it, getting us out of a bad play and into a good play. So that was exciting to see him do that. I'm pleased with how hard they're working and, ultimately when spring practice is over, that time between the end of spring and the beginning of training camp is going to be critical as well.''

2. On how Isaiah Johnson, a junior college transfer, has matured while manning the starting middle linebacker spot: "I don't know if I'd use the word maturation. He's only been with us for about two months now. But I'm excited about how he has fit into our program. That, to me, is the most telling part. He's out there and he's functioning within the defense, he's making plays within the defense, he's a physical football player, he's an excellent tackler, so those things are exciting to see.

"For any of the players that are either in their first semester or getting a chance to do this for the first time, ultimately I'm expecting a spike in their performance the first day we come back in the fall. If you're better that first day of training camp in the fall than you were in practices 13, 14 and 15, that means not only did you have a good spring, you had a great summer session and you've really been productive with your time. I think we'll do that.''

3 things to watch on Day 13 of Rutgers spring practice

Three takeaways

A trio of impressions from Flood, Dan Duggan and Keith Sargeant

1. Flood: The Rutgers coach offered a thumbs up for Anthony Cioffi, a rising junior who moved to free safety from cornerback late in spring camp.

"He looks good back there,'' Flood said. "Anthony is a good athlete. One of the exciting things about having him back there is he has tremendous ball skills. He was a really fine offensive player in high school. We've seen him block kicks here, we've seen with him interceptions, so he's a guy when the ball is in his area, he generally comes down with it. To have him back there with his range coming off the hash, I think he's going to have an opportunity to make some plays.''

2. Duggan: As expected, Ruhann Peele has been inconsistent this spring after missing all of last season due to a combination of an upper body injury and a suspension stemming from an arrest on assault charges.



Peele, who had 28 catches for 281 yards and a touchdown as a redshirt freshman in 2013, has played numerous receiver spots this spring. He had his best practice of the spring on Wednesday, capped by an acrobatic touchdown catch in the two-minute drill.



"He had a little bit of rust, but now he's starting to get the hang of it," said leading receiver Leonte Carroo. "Ruhann is a tremendous athlete. When it comes to that, it looks like he hasn't missed a step. But as far as learning football again, he has to get back in the swing of things. He's been doing a great job so far of that. The most important thing that I'm pretty sure the coaches wanted to see is how he would be coming back on the team being part of the team and he's been doing a great job with that. He's been playing well, being a great guy off the field, guy in the locker room, so it's been fun to have him back again."

Flood was more succinct in his review of Peele's performance this spring.

"I think Ruhann has had a good spring," Flood said.

3. Sargeant: After ranking fourth in the Big Ten with 33 sacks last season, Flood said getting to the quarterback has been an emphasis this spring.

"It's important to disrupt the quarterback, there's no doubt,'' said Flood, whose quarterbacks don't actually get hit during drills in practice. "Sometimes that means you sack them and sometimes that means you force the ball out of his hand or you force him off the spot he wants to launch the ball from. Disrupting the quarterback when you're playing against a high-level passer is important to every defensive game plan, there's no doubt.

"We've got a couple of dual-threat quarterbacks in this league as well. So you better make sure you account for them in the run game.''

Fourth down

Additional notes from the day

-- Rutgers incoming running back prospect Charles Snorweah, wide receiver Dontae Owens, and 2016 recruit Jonathan Pollock were among the recruits in attendance at practice.

-- Rutgers will hold its final practice before the Scarlet-White scrimmage Thursday.

Tweet of the day

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