For Rutgers, the 2023 football season has gotten off to an exciting start with two dominating wins. After opening their season with a win against Northwestern, they beat Temple 36-7 on Saturday. Against Temple, Rutgers got contributions from the entire roster, including Jai Patel, who has been named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week.
Against the Owls, Patel made all three of his field goal attempts while placing himself in the program’s record books. In the second quarter, Patel made a 51-yard field goal to give Rutgers a 10-0 lead. It is tied for the seventh-longest make in program history.
Additionally, Patel made three extra points and finished the afternoon with 12 points. He is the first RU kicker to earn Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week since Rutgers joined the conference.
In his second season as a Scarlet Knight, Patel has shown why he won the job in the offseason and provided a spark. That has not come as a major surprise after what he did in high school. While at South Brunswick High School, Patel set the school record in career field goals with 22 and touchbacks with 67.
The Scarlet Knights will be back in action on Saturday when they welcome Virginia Tech to Piscataway.