Mike Teel sees significant improvement from the Rutgers offense this season.
It is a season for Rutgers football that not many on the outside envisioned. But with bowl eligibility clinched, it is obvious that Rutgers is obviously building and trending in the right direction.
And count Mike Teel among those who see the maturation and development of the program, in particular on the offensive side of the ball.
A season ago, Rutgers was squarely bottom two in the Big Ten in nearly every significant offensive category. Now, Rutgers is middle of the pack in those same categories.
And a 6-2 start to the season is a testament to offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca’s work on the offensive side of the ball. A unit that remains largely unchanged from a year ago in terms of personnel has looked very much changed in becoming a competent and functioning group.
“Rutgers has been able to play complementary football so far this year. As far as the offense goes, I think that they’ve made huge strides from where they were last year,” Teel told Rutgers Wire this week.
“They obviously still have a long way to go, but for the first time in a while, they have an identity. They are going to run the football. Teams have filled the box to stop the run, but they stick to it and have eventually worn teams down. The passing game is a work in progress. There have been some bright spots and as a lot of these young players continue to play, I think it’ll only get better.”
Teel now serves as a radio analyst for Rutgers football. He certainly knows a thing or two about what a good offense looks like at Rutgers.
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The best quarterback in the history of the program, Teel was the quarterback of a Scarlet Knights offense in 2007 that featured dual 1,000-yard wide receivers in Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood.
During that season, Teel completed 58 percent of his passes for 3,147 yards with 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
As for this current quarterback, Gavin Wimsatt has steadily grown and progressed.
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The Rutgers quarterback is completing 50.2 percent of his passes and has seven touchdowns. Both are on pace for career-bests.
He only has four interceptions on the season after seven last year (and just five touchdowns). He has 362 rushing yards, nearly triple his first two years combined.
And Wimsatt’s seven rushing touchdowns account for all the rushing touchdowns of his college career. Impressive uptick from Wimsatt this season to say the least.
“He obviously has a game plan in his mind and for the most part has taken care of the football. He’s done a nice job of when to either throw it away or tuck it and run it,” Teel said.
“At times, it looks like the game is moving really fast for him and then other times, it looks like it’s slowed down. That’s kind of expected from any young player. The influence of Kirk is obvious though and he’s definitely made strides to be a better player this year.”
