PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Gavin Wimsatt took a hit to the head in Saturday’s loss at Wisconsin, the Rutgers football quarterback coming out of the game for a series. It was a part of what was a challenging game for the Rutgers offense, in particular in the first half.
Rutgers (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) hosts Michigan State (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) on Saturday at SHI Stadium.
In the 24-13 loss, Wimsatt was 16-of-35 for 181 yards with a touchdown and an interception. As the numbers would suggest, there was a lot of uphill sledding for the offense and Wimsatt – but in a game that very easily could have gotten out of hand, Rutgers still managed to bounce back after halftime.
At the end of the day, they were one mistake away from potentially winning at Wisconsin. That and a nickel will get you four cents, but it is certainly worth noting that Rutgers improved in the second half and did have two touchdown drives.
After being pulled from the game and treated, Wimsatt finished out the game. He said on Tuesday that there are no after-effects.
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“Feeling great. Took a hard hit,” Wimsatt said.
“But went through the whole process, was fine. I feel fine now. I feel great. So, just just happy to be out there with my guys.”
Rutgers managed 275 yards of total offense and just 16 first downs at Wisconsin. The number is not where the offense has been through the first five games of the season and not at the level that Rutgers needs to be at to beat the top teams in the Big Ten.
Here’s another look at the targeting flag that was picked up from the refs after review in the #Rutgers / #Wisconsin game. pic.twitter.com/XTobkORnX9
— Rutgers Scarlet Knights | TheKnightReport.Net (@RutgersRivals) October 7, 2023
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And while the performance was better and more balanced than at points last year when the offense struggled to consistently move the ball in conference play, it still isn’t where it needs to be if Rutgers is going to take a big step forward this season.
Wimsatt acknowledged the challenge and the need for the offense to get clicking again.
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“Obviously had some missed opportunities out there. But that’s a great thing about practice – coming back this week, facing a tough Michigan State team, and just getting to grow,” Wimsatt said.
“See what the mistakes we made (were), go out to the practice field, fix them. That’s a great thing about practice,”