Another week, and another benchmark for Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt. Make that two benchmarks for Wimsatt.
On Saturday, Wimsatt made his first collegiate start and threw his first touchdown pass in a 66-7 win over Wagner. Despite the fact that he doesn’t turn 19 years old until late October, Wimsatt is surrounded by unreasonable expectations. Such is life for a player who has been pinned with the singular hope of many fans in turning around the Rutgers offense.
It is difficult, given the circumstances last year, to keep in mind that Wimsatt should be a freshman this year. Instead, he took a huge leap of faith, enrolling at Rutgers last September after playing three games of high school football and graduating early. Wimsatt would play in four games including the Gator Bowl, allowing him to retain his redshirt.
On Saturday, Wimsatt was 4-of-12 for 63 yards along with six rushes for 62 yards. He had a first-quarter touchdown and a second-quarter interception in the win.
“He wished he could have that interception back. It was similar to the one at BC. That’s what he and I talked about, there’s enough mistakes out there, to make new ones every week; we don’t want to make the same ones,” head coach Greg Schiano told reporters on Monday.
“But then again, you look at what he does on that one touchdown throw. I mean, that was a laser beam…right?”
So while he physically looks drastically different than he did this a team year ago, there is still lots of refinement to be done. Mentally, in terms of his grasp of the game, Wimsatt is still a work in progress. The interception this past weekend shows the learning curve that still exists for the teenager.
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It would be unrealistic to expect him to be anything but. Yet, such is the longing for a true solution at quarterback that Rutgers fans have unrealistic expectations for Wimsatt’s development.
“And then when he runs the football, he’s a threat every time the ball is snapped and it’s in his hands. He’s a threat. You’d better defend him. You’d better have a guy accounted for, him because if you don’t, he has the ability to take it a long way,” Schiano said.
“I see him getting better. Again, I don’t want to rush the process, though. I think they are both playing well and we just have to let them keep playing and eventually this thing will work itself out. It’s just not now.”
The “both” that Schiano mentions are Wimsatt and Evan Simon. Both have shared the snaps rather equally through the season’s first two games.
With starting quarterback Noah Vedral out injured and no known timetable for his recovery, it is likely that Schiano goes with some combination of Wimsatt and Simon moving forward.
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Simon was 10-of-13 for 151 yards with two touchdowns against Wagner.
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