Gavin Wimsatt may have had his first turnover of the season on Saturday afternoon, but the good from the Rutgers football quarterback’s performance in a loss at No. 2 Michigan was very much noticeable. As has been the case all season, Wimsatt showed over the weekend a significant step forward in his performance and development.
In a 31-7 loss on Saturday, Wimsatt was 11-of-21 for 180 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also had six carries for 28 rushing yards.
He was the leading rusher for Rutgers over the weekend.
Given the circumstances and the opposition, it was certainly a solid outing from Wimsatt against a team that is projected to make the College Football Playoff. On Monday, head coach Greg Schiano was asked about the play of Wimsatt and what he has seen from his starting quarterback.
“I think what Gavin is doing is he’s getting a better and better understanding of exactly what we want to do on offense, what his job is, and he’s trusting his training. He’s trained very hard,” Schiano told reporters on Monday.
“All off-season, I’ve told you guys that with coach Ciarrocca (offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca), he’s trusting that training under the fire, and he just needs to continue to do that. He’s got the ability for sure. He’s done a nice job not only running the ball — not only throwing the ball but running the ball and being a complete quarterback.
“So we just need to keep building on that.”
No matter the metric or standard or even by the old eyeball test, there is no denying that Rutgers as an offense has improved this season.
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He has 587 passing yards and four passing touchdowns with an interception. He also has two rushing touchdowns along with 172 rushing yards. But the offense is moving the ball much better in their three games this season against Power Five opposition.
Wimsatt’s growth and ability to manage the offense are all noticeable. He is throwing the ball away when options aren’t available, he is making plays with his feet and his pocket presence is vastly improved.
But there is more going on than just game management. Wimsatt is making plays and leading the offense, a major reason why Rutgers has had a functioning and competent offense this season.
Asked about Wimsatt’s development this year, especially in terms of his ceiling, Schiano nuanced the answer
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Wimsatt has grown, but his ceiling is not known yet as he continues to progress.
“That’s a hard one, where is he in the overall? Like no one knows how good someone can get, right? I just look at Gavin’s trajectory, as long as he keeps the nose up he’s going to get to a level where we all want him to. He’s learning every single game. I’m not going to get into specifics but there’s some things on the tape that you say, oh, great, that’s something we’ve been talking to him about, and he got it,” Schiano said.
“And you know, that’s what we need to continue to do. You can’t have any backslides. You can’t have any progress-halters right now because he’s on the climb and he’s got to continue to stay that way. I’m confident that between he and coach Ciarrocca that that will continue.”