Tag: Tyreem Powell

Aaron Lewis and Kyle Monangai lead a strong returning core for Rutgers football: ‘This is not an easy place to play’

Rutgers football’s senior relish to chance to return in 2024.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — So far this offseason, Rutgers football has had a nearly clean sweep of players deciding to return for the 2024 season. It is a testament, those players say, to the culture of the program at Rutgers.

Only defensive back Max Melton opted to start the process for the NFL draft. Outside of Melton’s decision, the overwhelming majority of the team’s senior core has opted to return.

This includes defensive linemen [autotag]Aaron Lewis[/autotag] and [autotag]Wes Bailey[/autotag], linebackers [autotag]Mo Toure[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyreem Powell[/autotag], running back [autotag]Kyle Monangai [/autotag]and offensive lineman [autotag]Hollin Pierce[/autotag].

For Monangai, the decision to return was one he weighed carefully. The Big Ten’s leading rusher, Monangai would have been a solid draft pick.

But he said there was “unfinished business” that remained for him at Rutgers. That desire to leave something behind at Rutgers, he believes, is the reason why so many players are returning for a last dance.

“I think it just speaks to our culture and this is not an easy place to play,” Monangai said after practice on Tuesday.

“Coach Schiano demands a lot of us but it’s rightfully – we know what we have to do to win here. And for that many guys, like I said, to want to come back – it obviously means we’re doing something right and that guys want to be here. It’s not like a burden or something. It’s a privilege to be able to wear the ‘Block R’ and to be able to represent our home state.”

It is a unique situation for Rutgers as the program – as of yet – hasn’t had any major losses in the transfer portal either. The program has seemingly done not only a good job of developing players but also building an understanding of patience.

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In the modern college game, players have a tendency to enter the portal very quickly if a pathway to playing time isn’t clear. At Rutgers, for the time being, that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Lewis, who had a solid season for Rutgers, could have started his NFL draft preparation and been a likely draft pick. Instead, he saw a return for one more year as the best path to take.

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“I think, you know, everybody just made a decision and God steered everybody in the direction in the right direction for them,” defensive end Aaron Lewis said last week.

“You know, there wasn’t really specific talks about everybody coming back. We obviously were friends, we talked to each other but no specific conversations. I think everybody just did what they had to do.”

Who are the top five players for Rutgers football this season?

There are multiple factors leading to RU’s success this season, but these five players contributed at a high-level to Rutgers’ 6-2 start.

Rutgers football is having a solid 2023 season, improving to 6-2 through eight games this season. Rutgers’ 6-2 record is the best start to a season since beginning 7-1 in 2012, and their six wins are the most in a season since 2014 when Rutgers went 8-5.

With their win over Indiana in Week 8, Rutgers is bowl-eligible for the seventh time under head coach Greg Schiano and will earn the 12th bowl invitation in program history.

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There are multiple factors leading to Rutgers’ success this season, but these five players contributed to Rutgers’ 6-2 start, each performing at a high level.

Below are the top five Scarlet Knights for Rutgers football through Week 8.

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Breaking: Rutgers linebacker Tyreem Powell requires surgery, out for the season

Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano said that Tyreem Powell is going to require surgery.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano said on Tuesday that Tyreem Powell requires hand surgery, which likely will sideline the linebacker for the year.

Powell is one of the top players on the Rutgers roster. He has 52 total tackles and two sacks this season. He was injured in the second half of Saturday’s game at Indiana.

Schiano on Tuesday said that Powell is out “probably the remainder of the season.”

“Unfortunately, Tyreem, his hand is going to need surgery, so he’s going to be out for a while,” Schiano said.

The Rutgers head coach did not commit to what player or players would step in for Powell, saying “We’re going to move some things around…next man up.”

Rutgers is currently on a bye week. Last week, Rutgers beat Indiana 31-17 to get bowl eligibility. The bowl eligibility is the first time for Rutgers since the 2014 season.

The win elevates Rutgers to 6-2 (3-2 Big Ten).

Powell was playing at a very high level and was certainly in the mix for an All-Big Ten selection. Arguably, he was the top and most consistent player on a very solid Rutgers defense this season.

The Big Ten’s leading rusher, Rutgers’ Kyle Monangai, practices as hard as he plays: ‘I try to run the way I’m going to run on Saturday’

Kyle Monangai is the leading rusher in the Big Ten because he practices as hard as he plays.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Kyle Monangai doesn’t have a nickname yet. But perhaps the Rutgers football running back, who is leading the Big Ten in rushing yardage this season, should be known as the ‘Energizer Bunny.’

Monangai, much like the battery mascot, doesn’t seem to ever turn off.

He just keeps going…and going…and going…and…

Monangai, a fourth-year player, had 148 rushing yards and a touchdown as he was a jolt of energy for Rutgers on Saturday afternoon in their comeback win over Michigan State. It was his 21-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter that gave Rutgers the lead.

And it was his hard running, to the tune of 55 yards on the final drive of the game, that ran the clock and iced the win for Rutgers.

“I’m big on you got to kind of practice how you want to play -there’s no such thing as somebody who just rises to the occasion on Saturdays,” Monangai said on Wednesday.

“If you don’t put the work in, it’s not likely that you’ll be able to bring that out of yourself on Saturday.”

Turns out that Monangai wasn’t giving lip service to the credo that practice makes perfect. He practices the same way he plays.

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Hard. Unrelenting. With no breaks.

[autotag]Tyreem Powell,[/autotag] who was part of the 2021 recruiting class that included Monangai, said that his teammate is the same in games as in practice – “He runs just as hard, you have to be ready to buckle him up.”

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It is part of the chemistry that makes Monangai the top rusher in the Big Ten and puts him top-20 nationally.

“Like since I got here, we came in together so we used to battle each other since we both got here at the same time,” Powell said this week.

“I’ve been seeing it, how he works hard. He goes every play (with) how hard he runs. It is great to battle against him every day. It makes you better as a defender because you know you are getting the same competition on the other side so it is great going against him every day.”

The former Don Bosco Prep standout has plenty of steak to his sizzle, and he absolutely isn’t a burger. There is substance when he lowers the pad level to deliver a thud into a would-be tackler. But there are also subtleties to his game.

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Monangai is light on his feet, with the ability to float and cut back, as he did on Saturday during his touchdown run. His ability to re-direct and cutback into the open hole is an impressive testament to not just his footwork but his vision in the backfield.

 

It is the byproduct of a work ethic that he always had, but that truly began to develop at Rutgers under head coach Greg Schiano.

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“So I try to run the way I’m going to run on Saturday on Tuesday and Wednesday, practice so that way -it’s just my natural setting. It’s not something I have to turn on on a Saturday afternoon,” Monangai said of his work ethic.

“I’d like to say I was born with that part of me but I think the importance of it was probably heightened once I got here. You know, coach Schiano says practice is everything – you practice how you play. I’ve always known that but the importance of and the emphasis of it definitely was brought more to my attention when I got here.”

Rutgers football rallied around Tyreem Powell after controversial targeting call

Tyreem Powell talks how his teammates rallied around him following Saturday’s targeting call.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — In a game that showed the strength and conviction of the Rutgers football team’s character, perhaps no sign of this program’s family atmosphere was seen than in the second quarter. Following Tyreem Powell’s ejection for a controversial targeting penalty, the entire Rutgers team rallied around their star linebacker.

It is safe to say that they played for Powell while he was forced to look on from the sidelines.

This included teammates like defensive back Robert Longerbeam, Powell’s roommate, who said after the game that he wanted to step up and help the team after the ejection call. On the next play after the call on Powell, Longerbeam created a Michigan State fumble and recovered the ball.

And after the game, Powell was brought in by his teammates to celebrate what was an incredible and improbable comeback by Rutgers.

“Definitely did feel that from my teammates, the whole game,” Powell said on Tuesday. “Countless guys coming up to me after the play, just cheering me up and they had my back the whole time. So I thank all of them.”

He admitted that the second quarter call was a difficult one. But in his effort to move on and focus on Indiana, Powell can still reflect on the difficult emotions felt after his ejection.

His focus, he said, remained unchanged in that he still wanted to help his team, even though he couldn’t help them on the field in that game.

“It’s frustrating just not being out there with your teammates and battling with your brothers,” Powell said.

“But you just got to focus on the way you can cheer them on and do what you got to do. To help them in any situation.”

Powell has been tremendous this season for Rutgers. With 49 total tackles, he is on pace to better his career-best numbers from a year ago (Powell had 70 total tackles in 2023).

Head coach [autotag]Greg Schiano[/autotag] teased that at least the call happened in the first half so Powell would not have to miss any of this Saturday’s game at Indiana.

” I felt bad for him. It’s tough. I mean, those are the rules and you’ve just got to play within the rules. So it’s a good lesson, I guess, for everybody,” Schiano said.

“We talked about it. We showed it, and just got to make sure that you leave it beyond a shadow of a doubt, and that’s what we try to do. Some things are unavoidable I think. Sometimes you get into a situation, it’s just an unfortunate situation. But Tyreem will be back and he’ll be ready to roll.”

Greg Schiano philosophical about Tyreem Powell’s targeting call

The call against Rutgers linebacker Tyreem Powell was a big learning moment for the team, Greg Schiano said.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — At the time, Rutgers football linebacker Tyreem Powell’s ejection from Saturday’s game led to a strong – and passionate – reaction from head coach Greg Schiano. It was one of several times in the first half where Schiano got heated on the sidelines with the Big Ten officiating crew.

While Saturday’s dramatic comeback glossed over the ejection, at the time it was a potentially big call against Rutgers. Powell, one of the top players on either side of the ball this season for Rutgers, was flagged for a questionable targeting call in the second quarter.

His ejection led to anger from Rutgers fans inside SHI Stadium, who let out a lusty and vehement chorus of boos after the call was made. Schiano followed that up with some rather, ahem, strong thoughts of his own.

On Monday, Schiano was more philosophical when asked about how he handled the situation with Powell.

“I felt bad for him. The only thing I told him was, ‘Hey, at least (it was) in the first half so you’re able to start right away at Indiana.’ But I did, I felt bad for him,” Schiano said.

“It’s tough. I mean, those are the rules and you’ve just got to play within the rules.”

Because it happened in the first half of Saturday’s 27-24 win over Michigan State, Powell will have already served his half-game suspension. He will be available on Saturday at Indiana.

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With the win on Saturday, Rutgers is now 5-2 (2-2 Big Ten).

He said it was a good learning lesson for the team.

“So it’s a good lesson, I guess, for everybody. We talk about it. We show it and just got to make sure that you leave it beyond a shadow of a doubt, and that’s what we try to do,” Schiano said.

“Some things are unavoidable I think. Sometimes you get into a situation, it’s just an unfortunate situation. But Tyreem will be back and he’ll be ready to roll.”

Rutgers will play Indiana at 12:00 PM ET this Saturday on the Big Ten Network.

Former Rutgers football linebacker Steven Beauharnais blasts Big Ten officials for targeting call

Former Rutgers player Steven Beauharnais reacts to Tyreem Powell’s targeting call.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Former Rutgers football linebacker Steven Beauharnais was having none of it on Saturday, questioning the Big Ten officials for the ejection of Tyreem Powell in the first half of what turned out to be an improbable win over Michigan State.

The targeting call was part of a first half that saw Rutgers spiral and get undone. While some of the issues were self-inflicted, there was also an element of the officiating that seemed difficult to justify.

Pass interference calls – two of them in fact – were called against Rutgers. On both plays, Michigan State’s wide receivers pushed off before contact came from the defensive players.

But wait, there’s more.

Twice in the first half, a Michigan State player lined up offsides. Neither time was it called. And on two occasions, the play clock appeared to expire. Those weren’t called either.

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Powell was flagged for targeting and ejected from the game in what was clearly a questionable call from the Big Ten officials. The ejection became the central talking point of the game until Rutgers began its fourth-quarter comeback in what would be a 27-24 win.

 

Beauharnais, a former standout linebacker, was a seventh-round pick of the New England Patriots in the 2013 NFL draft who spent three years in the league. At Rutgers, he was a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, given to the top linebacker in college football.

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On social media, the former Rutgers standout did not hold back his thoughts:

 

 

As for head coach Greg Schiano, his response was more restrained in his post-game comments than Beauharnais. But on the sidelines, Schiano was visibly upset with the officiating Big Ten crew.

“That’s a huge loss – I mean, Tyreem is one of our elite players,” Schiano said after the game.

“You know I can’t comment on the call; I’m confused but what are you going to do? I’ll do the process. I always do it every week. Send the plays in. It’s hard. Officiating is not easy.”

What NFL teams had scouts at Rutgers football’s game against Michigan?

A dozen NFL teams had scouts or representatives for Saturday’s game between Rutgers and Michigan.

A dozen NFL teams were in the press box on Saturday afternoon for Rutgers football at Michigan. They saw Rutgers start strong and hang tough in a 31-7 loss.

The main draw for the NFL teams was obviously No. 2 Michigan, with a roster that features several players who are being projected as Day 1 or early Day 2 selections in the 2024 NFL draft. But Rutgers also has a few players that should draw some attention and be likely draft picks.

Defensive end [autotag]Aaron Lewis[/autotag], a transfer from Michigan, is one Rutgers player who is likely to get drafted. So are the likes of defensive back [autotag]Max Melton[/autotag], linebacker [autotag]Deion Jennings[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyreem Powell[/autotag] as well as several players on offense.

Here are the 12 NFL teams that were in attendance on Saturday for Rutgers at Michigan:

  • Atlanta Falcons
  • Buffalo Bills
  • Cincinnati Bengals
  • Denver Broncos
  • Detroit Lions (Mike Martin, director of scouting advancement and John Dorsey, senior personnel executive)
  • Indianapolis Colts
  • Jacksonville Jaguars
  • Los Angeles Chargers (JoJo Wooden, director of player personnel)
  • New England Patriots
  • Philadelphia Eagles
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  • Tennessee Titans

 

What NFL teams are at the Rutgers football game against Norhwestern?

Four NFL teams are in attendance for Sunday’s Big Ten opener for Rutgers football and Norhwestern.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Rutgers football kicks off the 2023 season on Sunday at SHI Stadium when they host Northwestern. Four NFL teams have sent representation to be at the game.

Scouts from the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Commanders are all in attendance for what is the Big Ten opener for both teams.

Notably, Terry Bradway, the former New York Jets general manager who is now working for the Carolina Panthers, is present at the game.

Rutgers have several players with NFL draft potential. Defensive end [autotag]Aaron Lewis[/autotag], who made a splash at Big Ten Media Days, leads a group on defense that is athletic and talented. Lewis is looking to build on a strong 2022 season and cement himself as a top 100 selection in next spring’s draft.

Also very much in the mix on the defensive side of the ball to make the NFL are defensive back [autotag]Max Melton[/autotag] and linebackers [autotag]Tyreem Powell [/autotag]and [autotag]Mo Toure.[/autotag]

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On offense, left tackle [autotag]Hollin Pierce[/autotag] as well as wide receivers [autotag]Naseim Brantley [/autotag]as well as [autotag]JaQuae Jackson[/autotag] should all register strong NFL interest.

Despite national attention and NFL buzz, Rutgers football linebacker Tyreem Powell remains ‘all about the work’

Linebacker Tyreem Powell is expected to be a leader of this Rutgers football defense.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — This time last year, Tyreem Powell was a bit of a question mark on the Rutgers defense. Now, not only has Powell emerged as one of the leaders on this Rutgers team, he is now considered one of the best linebackers in all of college football.

Powell and Rutgers take on Northwestern on Sunday (12:00 PM ET, CBS) in a game that is the season opener for both Big Ten games.

The 2022 season saw Powell emerge from spring practice as a starter at the linebacker position. He responded to his new workload by putting together a season where he had 70 total tackles (34 solo) along with three sacks and four passes defended. He is expected to be one of the leaders of a Rutgers defense that has the potential to be top five in the Big Ten this season.

“There has been an improvement from each and every year that I started here. Each and every year I can get better,” Powell told Rutgers Wire following practice on Thursday.

“There’s always an improvement from details and doing better in the meeting rooms and the practice field. So for me, I’m always just looking for improvement and ways to make my game better. I’m all about the work.”

Powell is one of several defensive players for Rutgers who have legitimate NFL ceilings. He is beginning to get recognized as one of the top linebackers prospects in the Big Ten.

Three weeks ago, Powell was selected to the preseason watch list for the Butkus Award, given annually to the nation’s top linebacker. A Big Ten linebacker, Iowa’s Jack Campbell, won the award last year.

“Jordan Wolkstein (director of football communications and branding) actually had communicated to me about (the watchlist),” Powell said.

“It’s just a great award great nomination. I’ll just keep my head down, keep working. But it’s great to see my name on that. I’m just going to keep working hard.”

Powell is not the type to unnecessarily draw attention to himself. It isn’t that he is uncomfortable with the spotlight, it’s simply that Powell’s focus is on helping Rutgers return to the spotlight it enjoyed for much of head coach Greg Schiano’s first stint with the program.

Rutgers hasn’t had a winning season since 2014, its first season in the Big Ten. That also marked the last time Rutgers won a bowl game.

When asked about the significance of Sunday’s opener being against a Big Ten opponent, Powell didn’t see anything other than a chance for his team to come out and compete.

“We know this is another Big Ten opponent. We know how hard Big Ten games are in this league,” Powell said.

“We just got to keep our heads down, keep chopping until that game is finished.”

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Rutgers lost 21-7 at Northwestern in 2021 in the last meeting between these two Big Ten programs.