PISCATAWAY, N.J. — On a day where his father sang the national anthem at SHI Stadium, a strong workload and a second-half touchdown was proof on the afternoon that Samuel Brown V was still there and ready for Rutgers football.
A total of nine carries for 38 yards and a touchdown represented the biggest workload of the season for Brown, whose freshman season was cut short in 2022 due to an injury. But Brown looked a lot like his old self in his carries against Wagner.
Rutgers rolled to a 52-3 win on Saturday with Brown and the offense once again sparkling. No turnovers and domination in terms of time of possession keyed Rutgers to win that puts them at 4-1 (1-1 Big Ten) start to the season.
Following the game, Brown said that he isn’t thinking about the injury at this point in his recovery.
“In the beginning, I would say it was but where I’m at right now, I feel like I’m not thinking about it anymore at all,” Brown said. I’m just going.”
With his heaviest workload of the season coming on Saturday, Brown is going to be relatively fresh as Rutgers faces the gauntlet of the Big Ten season. Up first for Rutgers is next Saturday at Wisconsin.
[lawrence-related id=30607,30599]
The advantage to him slowly being rolled along this season is that he is not as worn down heading into the most physical part of the year.
“I would say definitely, you know, since I’ve had a slow build up my body hasn’t taken as much of a beating,” Brown said.
“So I feel like it’s really good especially as we ramp up into the Big Ten seasons.”
On Saturday before the game, Brown’s father, Samuel Brown IV, sang the national anthem. The stirring rendition came as a bit of a surprise to the Rutgers running back, who wasn’t able to hear his father sing The Star Spangled Banner.
[lawrence-related id=30591,30589]
That’s because he was in the tunnel with his teammates.
“There’s a video – I mean, I’ll see my parents after this and hear what they had to say about it or if they caught it on video,” Brown said.
The Rutgers sophomore said he has not inherited his father’s ability to sing.