Rutgers football will be living the “next man up” mentality in Week 1 and the game hasn’t even kicked off yet. Running back Aaron Young, expected to be at the top of the backfield rotation, and tight end Matt Alaimo, second on the depth chart, have both been ruled OUT for today’s season opened against Boston College.
Saturday morning has been a busy one for the USA TODAY Network – New Jersey’s Chris Iseman. He already reported that returning starting quarterback and captain Noah Vedral will be missing the season opener. Now, his sources have confirmed that Young and Alaimo will also miss Game 1 on the Scarlet Knight schedule. Head coach Greg Schiano noted to the media that Young was questionable earlier in the week, but the Alaimo injury came as a surprise. All three players are listed as day-to-day with undisclosed injuries.
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Schiano already planned to have a rotation at the running back position. Expect Kyle Monangai to see the lion’s share of the snaps with young backs in sophomore Al Shadee-Salaam and incoming freshman Samuel Brown likely to see more snaps than previously expected.
Can confirm that RB Aaron Young and TE Matt Alaimo are both OUT today against Boston College. Greg Schiano said earlier this week that Young's status was uncertain.
— Chris Iseman (@ChrisIseman) September 3, 2022
Young was the backup to now Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco last season. He finished with 205 yards on 56 carries (3.7 ypc) and five touchdowns. In very limited field time, Alaimo caught five passes for 50 yards in 2021.
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A lot of players who were expected to learn this season and become the future of the program are going to have a trial by fire today. Rutgers fans should be excited to see flashes of what the future of the program will look like.
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