How did Rutgers' offense, QB Athan Kaliakmanis look in season-opening win over Howard?

from nj.com and the Star Ledger welcome to the Ruckers rant your One-Stop podcast for the Scarlet kns with your host Steve PID and Ruckers insiders Brian fona and Pat Lenny let's start chopping all right hello everybody Welcome Back to the Ruckers rant the Howard Edition 447 victory over the Bison at SHI Stadium we're going to talk about that talk about the kerfuffle for lack of a better word Kur fuffle is the right word at the end of the game the offense the defense but first got some good news on the p on the rant here we somehow have managed not to chase away our sponsor congratulations right yes it is huge yes devco sign on the sponsor us for another year um the big the big takeaway here is that uh we've moved on um from the about the Helix uh the Helix is no longer coming the Helix is here apparently and I'd like I like to think personally I like to think we had a lot to do with that uh I mean clearly we did not but I like to think it I like to think that we were responsible for the helix's arrival but now we're got we our our signature sponsor in the corner if you look up in the corner of the screen the heldridge hotel I think is a very appropriate um appropriate sponsor for our podcast wouldn't you agree I mean because people fall asleep when they listen to us that's good I was going to say we're just not we're not like a fair field in kind of although one of us has stayed in a Red Roof in Dayton I will say that one of us the rest of us have uh uh we have good taste in hotels and the hrich is a fine if you're gonna come to New Jersey I was recording ad for it if you're gonna come to New Jersey for this game you're standing at the hrid hotel I think this is a perfect sponsor totally agree I'd like to say with the helix we all deserve the Ruckers rant podcasting room whenever they open it I'm sure that's coming on the way and we should have all our names on plaques there to memorialize our efforts to get that building built the Helix is here it's unbelievable I can't wait I can't wait for this podcast Studio because obviously we got to move out of my music studio so this is goingon to be big right exactly especially that we have video we put some cameras in there but thank you to Chris Paladino thank you to devco thank you to the heldridge hotel you hear my attempts at sounding um sounding professional recording the ad soon so that's the big news all right Football let's talk about it I think I don't know since the only thing interesting that happened I think we should talk about the K off the bat um interesting kind of moment and we're in the Press Box Brian already went down to the field so Brian was in the middle of the Graff fuffle which he'll he'll tell the story about Pat and I are there and I he's working Pat is feverishly typing and I'm I'm just kind of egging him on about I don't know backd door cover I'm doing like the back door cover dance back door cover as he's writing this but I thought it was over I thought at the time had passed ruter punted but Howard was like no we're still we're gonna still try to score took calling timeouts throwing the ball down the field Ruckers gets the ball back and I still thought ah there's not enough time on the clock they just got to run out the clock but Craig shanana thought otherwise punched it in for a final touchdown Brian take us through what happened next because Howard Co Larry Scott was not happy he was not and I don't know if anyone expected this I mean I published my story on aan K menace' performance with a score of 38-7 I was completely expecting uh to be 0 and one against the spread to start the season and I'm sitting on the field and I think oh my God this is the craziest cover of my lifetime and I see them score the touchdown and I'm walking towards the field to film what's happening and it looked like Greg shano and Larry Scott were taking longer than they usually do when post you know coaches do the postgame handshake and Greg's walking towards me and he has this face of like anger or or or I'm not sure what it was not a happy face I should say so I figured something was happening and then I hear some drawing coming around on both sides I see Howard players and Ruckers players you know they usually come together to give their postgame handshakes but I don't think they were really exchanging numbers to go you know hang out after the game I think people were a little testy after the game I would say no punches thrown no pushing and shoving nothing like that although I got to admit when I was in the middle of about you know 30 guys with helmets on who were much bigger than me I was a little worried my safety just to see what was happening but kind of seemed like guys separated the Bison went up the tunnel SC kns went up to sing the alma moer and kind of celebrate Aaron Lewis had the honor of the chop uh ax and threw it down nice and hard and all that fun stuff but for a for a hot second there it was looking a little um looking like this would be something a situation P the video Pat there's this the moment where shano finishes interaction and he's walking and then he does the best pivot like like I mean you could only describe it like you it was so quick you could not slow down the video to see the like it like in just flipped his head went back at pure motion right it was it was absolutely emotion right yeah and I I I I heard what he said about it I get it and he he made it clear that the calling of the tight ends like people are like they call tight ends and threw the ball he made it clear no we were doing this we paid for we paid for Howard to come here we need the Reps we're gonna we were gonna those the uh second te third teamers deserved chance to to play and try to score as well what do you think about that explanation well there's two point here and one is did Ruckers two questions really did Ruckers run up the score uh to answer that my opinion is is no uh I do not personally given the circumstances like you said Howard was calling timeouts Ruckers had it third string guys and and was still running the ball not throwing the ball um but the one thing I the other point uh being what chano said in in his postgame remarks about the situation you mentioned it a little bit but the part you didn't mention was that he talked so highly about Howard at the top of his press conference and then when he was asked about running up the score he made a a comment about um FBS teams playing FCS teams and how FBS teams have to pay for that and and pay for uh these FCS opponents to come in so he's basically saying we're paying Howard to be at the mercy of whatever we want to do and I thought if there was anything that was classless it was that kind of comment really that is an interesting way of putting it I hadn't thought of that um I guess that I don't Brian what do you do you agree with that one I guess that's kind of is kind of the contract they're signing um but there is some sportsmanship at play certainly they didn't need the touchdown I mean you can make the case and again like I understand that part of it we're playing to the end um it wasn't necessary I don't know was there message to show your team by taking a there what do you think these are all the unwritten rules of football and Sports really where we spend 24 hours arguing about them and within you know by tomorrow we'll all forget about this right um I think in the spirit of the game the discrepancy between teams I think even if Howard is throwing the ball trying to cut the deficit at the end of the game calling timeouts fine not the greatest thing but you can kneel it out call it a game everyone's healthy no risking anything and you just go to the locker room with a 387 win uh I don't have a huge issue with the running the ball they ran the ball it's their fourth string running back third Str running back you know it's not like they were running this elaborate trick play to kind of purposely this isn't a Jim Harbaugh being a dick for no reason kind of thing I think it was just kind of they decided to run a play and ended up being a touchdown um you know I I think it's a bit much to do about nothing but I you know Larry Scot was legitimately upset and I don't think anyone could blame him for it um and I I credit to him for being honest about it in the postgame press conference and admitting that he did take issue with it and uh and if he was in the other in the other shoes I guess if Howard was playing a division two team and the situation was reversed he wouldn't run the play uh I guess each coach has their own decision to make and again much about nothing these teams will play each other again in I think 2026 and I just don't think this will this will be in anyone's memory by then he's gotta use it to Larry Scott's got to use it to motivate his own team um Howard better than I agree with Greg Shan Howard was better than we thought all right let's let's let's dive into um let's dive into some of the the the real takeaways the football stuff uh the offense I got to tell you in the first half I was getting that little uh oh feeling about the offense um but when you look at the stat you K manung guy had 165 yards on 19 carries could have had over 200 easily you know I think we're taking we're stared to take for grant that he's one of the best running backs in college football we're just sort of like oh 165 of course yeah had 165 right uh and Ethan K mckas you know C Manis I'm sorry um was good it wasn't great like if you wanted if you were hoping he was going to come in and throw the ball around you're G to see this oh my God he's such an upgrade over Gavin whims it's just just obvious to that how could you not see it it wasn't that but that said Pat he was he's an UPG over Gavin whims clearly and and the comment that shano made that was an answer to your question about the offense being uh what it is vanilla uh was was pretty revealing of of the grand scheme of things Rooker it's so obvious it's identity they're going to play to that identity and this was just the perfect example of that right you got a you got a a quarterback that made the efficient throws seven him seven on on short passes as Brian pointed out um KY manungi like you said his his star and his stock is just Rising every game it's it is what it is uh that's who Ruckers is and as much as they'll say the chop the offense is not going to be barnham and Bailey yeah Barn was a great and I think if I correct me if I'm wrong about you were like what is what was he talking about barnab and Bley like did you not pick up the circus reference I still don't know what they're talking about didn't have didn't have circuses when you were growing up maybe I don't know mean circus is not a thing in your childood uh not really I mean I'm a clown but I don't really spend much time in the circus so I thought circuses were still around that could mean you could tell me that they're done and I wouldn't be argue but they're always a big the commercials by us were like Ringling Brothers baram and Bailey greatest show on the nothing at all I just assumed barn and Bailey was like a law firm that dealt with personal injuries that you kind of see on those commercials on TV I I honestly pretty I was very confused about what all right you broke down you broke down um Ethan's game granular what did what did you see yeah I I thought this was exactly what we wanted to see out of a Ruckers quarterback after Gavin whet no real deep balls no real stretch in the field but he made every pass you wanted to see he made the short throws he improvised with some pressure in his face he finds Sam Brown for that touchdown connects with di Miller and Chris long and Ian Strong on a lot of um you know simple short plays they let him throw down the middle they let him throw to a tight end it's like these these these things that were unfathomable last year are all of a sudden locked up which again this offense is not going to be the greatest show on Turf but it's going to be it's not gonna make you rip your hair out because a guy can connect on a five yard slant or you know a screen pass which again is a huge upgrade from they had last year I thought Larry Scott Howard's coach had a great summary of kind of his performance he he didn't do anything to wow you but he didn't hurt his team he didn't put the ball in danger he completed the simple passes he was a game manager right and I think that that's what Ruckers needs right now they'll nickel and dime you they'll give the ball to Kyle manangi and Sam Brown who looked really good and they'll just beat you by a thousand paper cuts it's so funny like when you say that when you use that word game manager it's kind of it's kind of like it's seen as a it's seen as an insult in in football these days but for Ruckus is like oh thank yeah we'll take we'll take a game manager um Kenny fletchery imtion Pat I mean that's that's kind of got overlooked a little bit um that's something they have not had like you kind of knew Miller was gonna be a better Target you kind of thought they were gonna have overall as good they were G to be better offensively through the weapons we didn't see that but we did see with Kenny Fletcher um and I do Wonder does that does he translate into um Big 10 games is this this is this been a big part of the offense it it's so interesting because when Shaka came and people dissected his film in Minnesota and and all his other stops it's like there was a lot of tight end usage in those seasons and it was kind of uh a big question mark like what happened to it last year um so it was it was encouraging to see that um Kenny Fletcher should be noted also had a great game blocking um and Greg mentioned how violent he is as a blocker and I thought I could definitely see that on some some kickouts and um on some traps even I thought I saw them running so it was it was great um very encouraging for Ruckers and something uh new for sure all right defense oh you want really quick on tight end sorry really quick on tight end uh last year they connected on 18 passes to a tight end all season 14 to Johnny Langan four to Shawn Bowman and Kenny Fletcher had four in this game alone and obviously with vikor kopka getting one that's five in one game so they're almost a third of the way to what they had last year but I WR that obviously this morning when I talked about Kenny I looked this up this morning Johnny Lan had four catches against North Western last year and he had 10 in the last 11 games of the year so is it the level of the opponent with Howard is that kind of allowing Kenny Fletcher to have more protagonism than he will the rest of the season I tend to think that he will still be pretty prominent in the passing game right um I mean they trusted him on that third and 10 convert they gave him the touchdown pass uh but I just think we got to kind of see a little more against the akan and Virginia Tech to kind of get a real grasp of um how much he'll be used but I think it's pretty clear at this point that in nine months since he's converted to a defensive end he's taken over that role as the starting tight end and I think everyone else is kind of just playing from behind and use more of a blocking tight end and he'll be the pass catching tight end option at that position right all right defensively uh we're going to judge this unit on a on a curve a high standard um and that's why I want I say on a day that uh final accounting they scored as many points as they gave up defensively that's us a pretty good performance I wasn't overwhelmed I did I didn't like the fact that they didn't get at the quarterback much they didn't contain him well uh only one sack it was I think if not at the Howard's last possession and certainly right near the end of the game um you know I mean I get it they're missing when you're missed in Ty Powell that's that's a big loss the mo mot doesn't factor in anymore he's gonna miss the rest of the season secondary look good but um for the most part you agree with that assessment that maybe not as not as good as you were expect from the defense I I think that's fair but I also think in the big picture that there's so many newcomers that were on the field in that situation that they kind of were figuring it out as they went a little bit I I do I do buy into that a little bit I just think about it four different linebackers played at least four could have been five um you know true freshman starting at safety kaj Sanders uh Jordan Thompson started in place of Wesley Bal you know the the rotation was was was going strong like I can't wait to see Pro Football Focus stats and grades that come out of because there were a lot of guys that played defensively uh I don't have the number right now but I I know it's going to be pretty high and uh yeah I'm looking forward to Breaking that down I I think right about the pressure that that was probably the biggest takeway Brian any thoughts yeah I agree I was hoping for them to create more pressure this is probably going to be the weakest offensive line they'll play all year and the best opportunity to rack up those sack numbers so it was a bit yes I I agree you know wle baile is not playing is a is a big thing and but Aon Lewis was playing and I thought he got some pressure he just couldn't get to the quarterback maybe the quarterback's Mobility impacted that but um I was disappointed in that uh but we did say that'd like to see some takeaways and some you know gamechanging plays from the defense and Eric Rogers doing that on the first defensive Drive of the game was a pretty good omen uh especially for a guy who's moving up from the first quarterback Off the Bench last year to a starting quarterback I think that's really encouraging to see him get that takeway and have a pretty good game right and and in and in the linebacker absence I think we might have seen um the next St of this defense pad I me yeah and and it's kind of not surprising because he was kind of a training camp darling as things were going and then the motter injury happened and he was thrusted right into the mix right so full full go and 14 tackles led the team yesterday there's one Series in the second quarter Howard ran the ball three straight times no gain Tackle by JB no gain Tackle by jomi and then on third down ran it again four yard gain Tackle by jomi that was that was holy moly yeah the guy was everywhere uh there's no question about it yeah I I imagine when when Powell gets back and he slides over that I mean that's gonna be a pretty good combination the two of them over there missen flip Dixon we forget that he obviously was a big player everyone's asked about the injuries um um not surprisingly don't have a lot of information from Greg Shan but he did not seem worried that the guys who were out were long-term outs is that the best way to describe that yeah I think that's absolutely the best way to describe it and should know Powell went through warm-ups he was suited up he's been out there practice running around it's just how how much do you want to push a guy that's coming back from a torn killes in six months right in a game like Howard and akan next week it seems like everything's kind of aligning for even those guys like flip Dixon and and Wesley biley to be backed by Virginia Tech with pal so um but also like Alid Salam was probably the third quarterback was out it was it was very significant and the availability report how it's all conform uh published and things like that make things interesting I mean there were there were what what do we say BR 13 guys that were listed as questionable guys 10 guys out 12 guys questionable right it was 22 guys on the avail report right that may not have played in this game so really interesting um I thought I think there was some gamesmanship with the questiona bles because you can see Christian dremel's on there and then I look out to the wide receivers warming up the first guy running a route is Christian Dremel and uh Aon Lewis was on there and on the first series of the game Aaron Lewis is at defensive end just I I'm sure they had some tweaks during the week I think they probably could have gotten away with not putting them questionable uh probably you know throwing some things in the air for Virginia Tech to kind of digest as they have two weeks to prepare for this uh for this R game but the other thing with the the availability report is it's not necessarily just injuries right like Aaron Lewis could have been rested and not played and then Ruckers could have been in big trouble with big 10 like if he if in that situation I think that's how um the gamesmanship kind of comes into it too it's it's it's a really fascinating thing and it's a it's a big Topic in college football is because the Big 10 is the only one that's doing it at the moment right there's push for the SEC to do it um just approved it they just approved it yesterday great football basketball baseball yep there you go yeah it does seem like there's two strategies put no one on the list or put everyone on the list then this year great to put everyone on the list I get it I totally understand that it makes sense but um yeah I just I would not read into uh a lot of it sometimes it's G to be maintenance stuff that that we yeah when you see a guy exactly all right do some questions from our readers let's do it a bunch of them obviously because it's the opener and this one came up a bunch in the aftermath of the game immediately after from a lot of people uh who I think either had Howard plus 36 and a half or Ru like why was there no PT P Diane wants to know I'm sure this is well known to others but I don't understand what happened to the extra point at the end of the game with zero zeros on the clock after the touchdown I thought it was not only required during OT uh but in regulation what's the rule what's the rule with the p I don't know Diane always asks the best questions that oh man she like I wish I had the NCA football rulebook or an official copy um but I was under the understanding if the if a score happens on the final player of the game you do not get the extra point right that's my understanding too right yeah I don't think I it's unless unless it's gonna theary unless it's necessary it's necessary yeah yeah so that's that that's a referee's decision that is not a Greg Shan decision that's my understanding too I we get 53 emails about that and something else but um yeah they don't care about some guy sitting at Harris Casino in in Las Vegas with a with a ticket that's 37 and a half but by the way andless you're saying people some people have pointed this out 44 to7 one person on this panel correctly predicted that score exactly that's who is that yeah I me think you congratulations to him he should have bet it can you imagine how much money he would make if he bet exact score I don't can't bet you imagine money I would have lost over my the course of my life if I bet on Ruckers holy cow be living on a cardboard box at the end of the road okay all right let's let move on let's move on from there uh all right more questions uh this is a big picture um question about quarterbacks H can you give us your take on the quarterback situation compared to our quarterbacks of the past we had younger players as quarterbacks who struggle in the open and went on to have be great quarterbacks how do you think the current situation compared to Pas QBs and how they develops what do you think overall of our quarterback depth okay um I will say this then this is why I'm kind of like my column scoring was measured I've made the mistake of seeing a quarterback in the first game go hey Kyle Bolan they've got the guy you know I've done a lot of that and I think it was clear by a few throws by his command of the offense that a cic Manis is at the very least a signif is an upgrade over Gavin whims said as a passer I think that's that thly talked about the Sam Brown was sort of the perfect example of that guy his face managed to find the open receiver backpedal it and threw a perfect pass as opposed to what that might have been otherwise either you know into coverage a sack or a throw that would have landed some somewhere in row 27 right those are like that's what I would think that's what we might have seen last year um but I mean it's still still a work in progress right we we don't you know we know what this is good day I think you know we can probably safely say after one game that this is the best starting quarterback Ruckers has had since GRE shano's been back and I I I mean no Avro might be comparable uh but I think I was very encouraged from what I saw uh the depth behind you know last year you had a guy in Evan Simon who had some experience playing so you could trust that when he came in you know he he he has played a big 10 games before a Johnny sheper has yet to play his two opponents are Wagner Howard not exactly Iowa and Penn State um I think you would have been in the best spot as a Ruckers quarterback room maybe ever if Gavin wison had stayed obviously he did um so I think a Johnny Shepard um you know if he came in I'd probably be confident and again someone reminded me of this the other day Ruckers won seven games with a quarterback who couldn't complete simple passes last year right so I think y as Johnny Shepard could be accurate and and not shoot Ruckers in the foot if he had to come out I think he'd be fine but I think clearly aan K Manis is an upgrade over Gavin whimet and the Ruckers quarterback room is in a better spot today than it was a year ago yeah it's hard to measure the history of Rucker quarterbacks against one start right it's such a big picture uh question but right like if you go back and look at even Mike teal who if you did a ranking of the Ruckers quarterbacks would probably be number one all time maybe um right he did not have a great for first season uh it took him time to develop uh that's what's been missing in the Ruckers quarterback uh Pantheon there's been no development um this is a unique situation in its history because aan cigman has got that development per se at Minnesota so he kind of came as an experienced quarterback already so you kind of have to grade him as an upper classman kind of experienced guy so um I I don't know like I said big picture it's hard to say off one game but um it is worth noting that as the as question pointed out like even some Ruckers greats Gary Nova had struggles uh big time up benching Eve so um yeah it's it's wild all right we had some questions about coaching I love um I like that we can nitpick there's no problem he makes a lot of money we can we can dig into some of Greg shano's in-game failures how can you run out of time on two punts and called timeouts terrible 0.1 number two given that you ran out of time why call a timeout you're punting a penalty wouldn't have hurt terrible coaching worse than than the time management all right it's a minor thing you're playing Howard but to the point Howard scores a touchdown at the end of the second quarter Ruckers gets the ball back with a few with you know no I in front of me but about a half minute maybe 40 seconds drives down the field on a big run pretty quickly that's you would like you would have liked the time out there you settle for a field goal maybe that's the best you were going to do anyway I don't know it was kind of we're nitpicking at special teams at Greg chandel specialty wasn't a great debut you you kind of nailed everything there uh I I won't add too much but uh it's you can't celebrate every great moment on special teams the blocked punts and how much go into that the the Minor Details and the schemes and figuring out the gaps and which def which blocker is going to get through um and they try to they try to do that like I don't know how else to say it they put so much emphasis on those plays because they're so gamechanging that that for four years as a a program that couldn't match up with other big 10 they had to find every kind of Advantage they could that was one that they could and uh so it's hard to play both sides of the ball both sides of the coin on that one in my eye what I would say is uh I I watched some of the broadcast back in bed this morning it sounds like the second time out darl jomi called it must have been some kind of miscommunication because according to the broadcast when he went back to the sideline GRE shano was upset that the timeout was called so the first one I believe was Greg shano must have been some sort of thing look he didn't like H but the second one was jomi it's his first start I think he kind of gets a mulgan there and very certain he won't make a mistake like that again good point good point good clarification but a good question certainly um all right A lot of people asked about the injuries I think we covered that so let's just move move past this one um this is a good question from Eric Orlando on on the Twitter uh with all the media hype during off offseason why did everyone Miss what did everyone miss about the offense which led to such lofty PR predictions this is literally the same team with a marginally better quarterback and a minimally softer schedule how do you think the how do you think the media that think this is a nine of 10 win team seven wins maybe interesting good take I'm not ready to change my prediction based on this game um I will say that I thought I would love to have seen a little bit more flow in the offense I was kind I was under someone said are you underwhelmed I said I'm overwhelmed I'm WellMed like for lack of I just kind of welmed um but I don't know I think it's too early to really take this from um you know we overpredicted that do you guys you have any regrets about 10 wins Pat for example when they didn't score in their first three possessions and then it was ultimately 147 going into half as Citrus Bowl uh 10 and two everyone was throwing stuff at me in the Press Box but uh no I think um I viewed 10 wins going game by game and I I just think when you look at it from that perspective with the schedule the elite defense Ruckers being who it is with the running game and the slightly improved passing game everything and the experience like everything just adds up so that's not going to change based on three empty possessions uh to start the game I thought this team was going to be led by its defense the whole way I still think that's the most important part of this uh this team this year and I think the offense did what we thought they needed to do they had a again one of the best running backs in the Big 10 leading way Kyle man broke off a few big runs that are going to be the big plays of this offense for the most part aan C Manis did what he had to do as a game manager completing the simple passes and moving the chains nickol and diming his way down the field um and the wide receivers I mean yes no deep plays but I think saw a lot of options he completed the ball to eight different receivers I'm not sure just had eight receivers with a catch the whole of last year right I I think they they maybe people misconstrued what we said or got swept up hyp themselves I don't think I predicted this team to be you know the 2008 Patriots with Randy Moss and Tom Brady I I think this is what we expected an improved deeper wide receiver core an offense led by its running back and a quarterback who can make the simple plays can run the ball and won't lose game for you you won't throw a pick six in the Red Zone that's going to turn a game that you can maybe win into a game that's completely lost so I think yeah I think I'm pretty comfortable still with my eight and four uh prediction and I think this is kind of for anyone expecting a huge over you know improvement from the offense I just don't expect it but I think it's clear to say they were better yesterday than they were for most of last season yeah nothing nothing's changed about what what we're looking at here I think that's that's the takeaway is that and and the big difference is I don't I don't just don't agreee with minimally softer schedule I think it is a much softer schedule in previous years we we go into they go into the season where they had four losses on the schedule two wins and six toss-ups this year we've got to the year where they've got two wins and 10 toss UPS essentially right there's no game that's a loss so if you're optimistic and you think they can you know they can pull out seven of those 10 all right then you're nine and three if you think they can pull out six of those 10 all it is right they're going to win I think I'm pretty sure they're going to beat akan um next week and you know I think you can even say you want to be I think they're pretty sure they're gonna beat UCLA or Illinois so you I mean you can look at this a lot of ways um and I so my no my prediction was optim I thought it was optimistic but I have not backed off on it based on what I saw what I saw you today all right couple more questions Jon Benjamin is he no longer in the rotation I was surprised he was not used as the third running back uh another question is is benj and her of the kid from Quebec beat him out for third string um both is that is that the big wayy he was banged up but they love the kid from Quebec is that Quebec Le yeah I think that's Benjamin was questionable I think he went through warm-ups but uh if you're questionable and you're the third string running back I really don't see the reason to play and they're very high on Raymond uh who had to enroll early because his high school shut down and he had enough credits and he said all right let me uh let me roll at Ruckers and uh he's Prest in training camp Kyle manai named him when talking about running during Big 10 media day and during the offseason so he's impressed the older guys in the room and I think from that touchdown at the end of the game he beat a couple Miss made a couple tackles Miss and for the touchdown I think he had a pretty impressive debut talking to KY and other guys leaving the room and they ask where where's where's Raymond from and he goes Montreal I goes oh what this say does he speak French and and bang mananga goes yeah that's all he that's all he speaks and I said really he looks at me like no okay you've been around long enough that you know you can bust our balls I love it thank you for another year like I love these kid I love the guys who have been here and they see us after every one of these games and at a certain point they're like this guy's an idiot break his balls okay I love it please I'm still I'm still gonna vote for youever Heisman the Heisman Trophy campaign great stuff all right I think that's all the one more Point John on Twitter Pat K Sanders looks like the real deal um do they try to work him into the rotation or red shirt him once Dixon is back in healthy I don't think I there's a red shirt there I don't know man he looks good he looks fast right that clip was all over Twitter of him on the pick six running past Rogers to lay the big block to get in the end zone that was a viral moment but yeah he let's see he was a big it was a big deal when he signed with Ruckers coming out of Bergen Catholic keeping one of the best players in New Jersey um and I think that was it was huge to get him on the field as a freshman he's the only only the second one um right the second second true freshman to start of season on defense for shano the other was also a sa Courtney green so great company there um kaj played well yeah I think he had had a great pass breakup three tackles and uh a good debut yeah the other part of that Brian is like this is you want on the field for that reason like if you want you want the there there were there were recruits I'm assuming there were recruits in the stands who played against K Sanders and when you played against him last year and you see him starting this year and you're thinking of going to Ruckers right that does that's that still M even in the nil world that still matters like playing kids kids don't want to sit behind someone they want to start and if you see someone starting I I think that's yeah it's it's a it's always good proof to have that if you're talented enough they'll play you no matter how young you are it's your first college game and you're starting uh yeah obviously he started because F Dixon wasn't around still to be able to grab that opportunity when there are older guys in your room that have been fighting position as well very encouraging not many recruits at the game because it was a Thursday night a lot of teams were starting their season a lot of teams were practicing still so hard to get team uh players on campus for a 6m kickoff uh but those that saw on TV or saw on social media Like Pat said the the viral moment of him running past Eric Rogers I asked Rogers about it I was like did you feel like a g the wi to your left side as he ran through he said he just looked up and he saw kaj running past him like you know you say so um I thought I think people will see that and and be uh very encouraged and I think people at Bergen Catholic are certainly talking about it and that always helps when you're trying to recruit kids from those schools absolutely all right good job with the questions everyone thank you for bringing it um anything else I just I wrote down uh great student section I think the atmosphere was pretty good wasn't you know it wasn't a certainly 47 was the announced crowd upper deck was mostly empty was for a good night it wasn't wasn't a you know a a special type of crowd but um students my gosh they they were they showed up and showed out okay very uh smart planning they had convocation the same day freshman convocation then they had a first year only barbecue outside the stadium at athley Glenn and then they put him into the stadium at like 4:30 after the gates opened and they were there to their credit well past halftime I joked with Pat like how soon after the halftime you know horn goes off are they all leaving but to credit they stay there deep into the third quarter so that's uh that's encouraging that's how you build a new Legion of young fans and I think they had a pretty good experience for the first game um absolutely Brian do you want to talk about the event the other leading into this on Wednesday night Ryan pasari in's first first public appearance we act like he is um you know taking over for the president first public appearance by Ryan parar um but no but it was really it was really um a well-attended nil event uh made some comments I mean I saw them on social media everyone sort of raving about his his his had you had a moment um you were there thoughts yeah I think a couple things one the fact that he was there and talking to donors about nil is a huge step forward uh from his predecessor I don't think Pat Hobs would have been within a thousand miles of that venue let alone go on stage and talk about this these things to donors and I think that's very ening for donors who have felt that Rucker athletic department has been way conservative frankly with nil um he he had a good analogy of you know the collectives have been pushing a rock up a hill for a year and a half now two years with this nil and now they're coming from behind him and helping them push the rock up the hill so they're getting help from the athletic department uh John Newman the president of the Knights of the Ron called it a complete 180 from the previous administrations kind of a view on nil and I think that's very encouraging if you're a Ruckers fan and you see the landscape of college sports how every other athletic department is handling this aspect of it that Ruckers is finally in the arena and look they still have to prove it they still have to prove it with action they still have to show that the support will result in more donations and better outcomes in this Arena but I think it's a great first step to have the athletic director coming in talking about this and you know taking it putting on his shoulders that you know this is important and that the athletic department is behind them there was a lot of officials Sean Tucker was there Steve pel was there they brought three players um people were very fired up about the pel speech um and uh it's encouraging again Not only would Pat Hobs be there other people below him would not be there because they follow the lead of the athletic director obviously so uh Ryan Pasar led by example and again I think it's a good first step for for the athletic department under his leadership it's such a simple thing and I just think about like how how different it might have been had had Hobs just done that like you know what if if all we've got a collective they're trying to raise money all right we're behind like it's not like I don't think it would have ch maybe it would have changed a little bit I don't think it would have made a significant change to this but it would have done it would certainly have taken the narrative away that he wasn't that he wasn't doing enough or at least some of that narrative we wouldn't have written this massive like Sorge this massive story about this it's just such a simple thing right and when you see someone else do it you're like oh oh well would have been good um yeah so uh overall though I think the mood like if you like I I didn't get a lot of chat about Hobs leaving I don't I don't know that that was the people seem to have moved on at the game at least a lot of people I talk to seem just happy to have a game in front of them P like it's like I think all right season's here like we went through that you know now we are focused on next we got Thursday night and we got next Saturday we are on we're going um I think it probably helped it absolutely helped there's there was a lot of energy in the parking lot at the boardwalk and it just seemed like everyone was happy to be there given the circumstances and it was even great Ryan barari was also in the Press Box Shing hands with everyone in the Press you know that was that was nice I I genuinely feel the people skills that he has and I think that's that's that's noteworthy from a guy in a in a serious leadership prision right all right anything else we miss anything yes a couple things okay Hoops items uh the timing for the Las Vegas tournament has come out brutal schedule rers who's playing Notre Dame at 10:30 on Tuesday and then the next day 24 hours later is playing Alabama at 10:00 these are Eastern Standard Time right so the game would be at 7:30 in Las Vegas but if you're a Ruckers fan it's gonna be a long week of late tip offs um or or you're in Vegas and it's just it's just before dinner you can look at it down it's gonna be the appetizer for the craps table as always EXA the casinos are just getting started when you walk out of that game either way yeah you're right no it's a it's kind of a bum I agree and it extended an extra day because the expectation was the third game would be on Friday and it turns out to be on Saturday so I guess it's not a big bummer that you're gonna spend an extra day in Vegas poooo I gotta play another five rounds of blackjack and lose a couple hundred more dollars oh drats I think that is a big deal because the Vegas is a three-day thing now you're now you're you're you're St like I spent I spent seven days there at the Super Bowl by like Friday was thing at the luxer to so I smelled like a a giant 20 something pound maror light at the end of this but no I mean you want to get you just want to get the hell out of there after three days I think that's a big deal sorry didn't me interrupt no all good I've never been to Vegas this is gonna be my first trip to C City so yes yes I'm I'm looking forward to uh spending an extra day um another thing uh St John's coming to the wck for an ex exhibition Cherry exhibition in October dat's not exactly finalized TV isn't finalized but sounds like it's happening uh it's good to one have good competition and two it's going to give fans an opportunity to watch this team uh play in person earlier than expected and for people who don't have season tickets it's a pretty good one of the few rare opportunities you're going to get to watch this team uh without spending you know several hundred on a ticket for a big 10 game so should be fun should be a fun of vir yeah your first Glimpse at at the future I think that's going to be uh it's G be sell out you think Gonna Fill that place for this sure and I think I don't know what the charity is going to be last a couple years ago with Fairfield it was Eric lr's uh charity and I think anytime Eric LR you know asks for help the Rucker fan base comes out in full force you combine Eric LR with Ruckers basketball with Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey I think that's a pretty good recipe for a soldout venue hard to argue with that all right fellas good job on the first game we got through it three-day week and now if everybody uh enjoy your Labor Day weekend I think it's probably a nice little break and then it's every weekend from here on hour with almost for that for that matter so we'll be back on sometime next week to break down the akan game just wanted to say Dayton I'm gonna write Dayton at one point they're not playing Dayton we're gon to be back to break down the Ohio Mac team that is coming to Piscataway next week and we'll see you then