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Pac-12 Networks

What they said

After a rocky on-field start to the Chris Ash era, Rutgers has a gift-wrapped chance to lick its wounds against Howard, which struggles to compete at the FCS level.

Ash, offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer and defensive coordinator Jay Niemann met the media Monday to discuss a range of topics from quarterback Chris Laviano's play to Rutgers' home game traditions to a defensive bright spot in the 48-13 loss to No. 14 Washington.

Scroll through the slideshow to see 10 things they had to say.

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Elaine Thompson | AP

Chris Laviano's lack of ball security is his major strike

If there is one thing that could cost Chris Laviano his apparent stranglehold on Rutgers starting quarterback position, it's ball security.

Laviano threw an interception that nearly was returned for a touchdown and lost a fumble at the end of a scramble during the loss to Washington.

"There were goods and bads," Ash said in assessing Laviano's play. "The number one thing negative on Chris is he did not have good ball security. He put the ball in harm's way, and he needs to get that fixed. That's a big deal. We talked a lot about that in the decision-making process to name Chris the starter."

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media

Drew Mehringer read angry Tweets from fans

One of the common fan complaints with last season's offensive attack was the lack of deep throws, especially when Leonte Carroo wasn't on the field.

That didn't change much in the debut of offensive coodinator Drew Mehringer's spread -- and the fans didn't let it slide by on social media.

Because Mehringer is a social-media-active 28 year old, he saw it.

"If you look at my Twitter feed, I got hit on the deep ball thing quite a bit," Mehringer said.

"We took a few shots down the field and didn't connect. Part of our job as an offense is to play a team game as well. And so staying on the field at certain points in the game was more important than taking vertical shots down the field and not connecting on them."

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Elaine Thompson

Rutgers is not going to overlook Howard

Howard isn't exactly FBS-buster Appalachian State, which famously beat Michigan in 2007 and took Tennessee to overtime last week.

Picked to finish next-to-last in the 11-team MEAC coming off a one-win season, Howard would be an easy opponent to overlook.

"It's not a team that we'll take lightly," Ash said. "It's not a team that we'll overlook. I know when you look at the matchups like a Big Ten school versus a school like this, that's what a lot of people think, and that's not going to be the case here."

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Elaine Thompson | AP

No changes to the depth chart

Rutgers depth chart is exactly the same in Week 2 as it was in Week 1, with no changes to the starter at halfback (Justin Goodwin), right guard (Chris Muller) or in the secondary (Blessuan Austin, Isaiah Wharton, Anthony Cioffi and Saquan Hampton).

"There's battles all the time," Ash said. "Just because a guy is named the starter for Game 1 doesn't necessarily mean he's entitled to be the starter for game 2. You earn your reps on the practice field. Obviously there's some guys that when you at the depth chart, they have an inexperienced guy behind him. There's some other positions that probably have a little more competition."

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Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Rutgers did its homework on Ahmir Mitchell

The reason that former Cedar Creek High School star Ahmir Mitchell was suspended at Michigan remains publicly unknown, but Ash said he properly vetted the wide receiver before adding him to a program that repeatedly stresses high character.

"I can tell you that any player we bring into the program -- whether it's out of high school, junior college, prep school or transfer -- we're going to do our homework on," Ash said. "We're going to talk to everybody we need to talk to feel comfortable about his ability to fit our culture and do the things we want him to do."

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Jennifer Buchanan | USA TODAY Sports

Chris Ash is keeping a fan-favorite Rutgers tradition

The Scarlet Walk -- a pregame tradition by which Rutgers coaches and players walk past and tap the statue representing the first college football player amidst a crowd of fans -- isn't going anywhere under Ash.

But it could be tweaked a little from the way the predecessors Greg Schiano and Kyle Flood did it.

"As we come through the Scarlet Walk, we may add a couple new wrinkles to it -- that's yet to be determined," Ash said. "We'll decide that logistically here this week."

Ash has been involved in trying to improve the gameday experience for fans because he remembers thinking Rutgers had an intimidating atmosphere when he was a visiting coach at Arkansas and Ohio State.

He called the end result "a first-class production that fans are going to be really excited about being a part of."

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media

This is Mehringer's first time with a wildcat package

In his previous stops at Ohio State, James Madison and Houston, Mehringer has been around the power spread offense at its best.

But he hasn't been around a true wildcat package like the one Rutgers unveiled with wide receiver Janarion Grant getting six carries against Washington. It reminded some Rutgers fans of a version of the old Mohamed Sanu- and Jeremy Deering-led "WildKnight' offense in 2009 and 2010.

"To be honest with you, that's the first time I've personally been involved with an in-depth wildcat-type package and Janarion did a nice job with it," Mehringer said. "I think there's things we expand with it -- whether that be formationally or scheme-wise. Maybe it's not all Janarion, all the time. I think it will change week-to-week to make sure that we have the same numbers advantage that we had in the Washington game because every week is a little bit different."

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RVision

Darius Hamilton played better than his stats

Though he only finished with one tackle against Washington, defensive tackle Darius Hamilton impressed his new coaches playing in just his second game since the 2014 Quick Lane Bowl and his first since shutting it down last season with a right knee injury.

"We identified him (grading the film) as a guy who we felt played at a championship-caliber level," defensive coordinator Jay Niemann said. "He did a very good job against a lot of double teams and things like that, with the added weight and strength he's put on."

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RVision

Was there a bright spot for Rutgers defense?

Rutgers surrendered 24 first-quarter points -- on three touchdown passes of 38 yards or more -- and 380 total yards of offense. For a while, it seemed Rutgers was headed down a familiar path after allowing 16,666 total yards of offense over the last three seasons.

"Particularly, on third down, I thought we did a really nice job getting him off of his point," Niemann said. "We were 9 out of 12 on third-down stops getting them off the field, which is a number going into the game that I think any of us would've said we would be happy with."

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Elaine Thompson | AP

Running back rotation stays the same

Justin Goodwin had 15 rushing attempts to Josh Hicks' 14 against Washington, but Hicks was more productive with 70 yards to Goodwin's 49. And that's before former starter Robert Martin, who was held out with a hamstring injury, gets into the mix.

So how does that pie get split going forward?

"Josh Hicks did a nice job in the run game," Mehringer said. "I think he's warranted some more carries. How many more? I don't know yet. Especially in that room, we'll see how each week plays out. (Justin Goodwin) is still, as of right now, our guy going into it. He's been consistent. He hasn't done anything to give up that position just yet."

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LISTEN: Ep. 2 of NJ.com's Rutgers Football podcast

The Chris Ash Era has begun. The rookie head coach charged onto the banks making sweeping changes to every aspect of the program. One of the biggest and most intriguing changes: a new fast-paced offense. We introduce and unravel The Spread, an increasingly popular offense Rutgers is running for the first time.

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