Rutgers football: McLane Carter wins this round of QB battle
By Ed Stein
The Rutgers football quarterback battle of 2019 is on! Both main combatants McLane Carter and Artur Sitkowski were on full display during the first intra-squad scrimmage of the summer.
It’s a two-man race between incumbent sophomore Artur Sitkowski and Texas Tech graduate transfer McLane Carter to become the starting quarterback of the Rutgers football team in 2019. Saturday afternoon both men took the field at SHI Stadium for the first intra-squad scrimmage of training camp. It was Carter who was the winner this time around.
Sitkowski took reps with the first team, while Carter worked with the second team. The former Red Raiders signal-caller threw three touchdown passes as compared to Sitkowski who struggled while he was in the contest. Part of those struggles included a fumbled snap in the end zone.
At this point, head coach Chris Ash isn’t ready to make a change. He told the media after the game that there are some things he wants to see on film before making any definitive comments.
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"“There were ups and downs from both quarterbacks. We’re going to have to watch the film to see the issues or mistakes that came up offensively, where the initial breakdown came from,” Ash said. “Some of it is going to be on the o-line, some of it is going to be on the back, maybe on the receiver, some on the quarterback. But until we get a chance to sit and really watch the film, you need to look at what the mistake was before you start saying it was this position or that position.’’"
It’s always hard to make fair assessments when there is a disparity in the quality of players the QB’s played with and against. For example, how much of Sitkowski’s difficulties were due to an improved Scarlet Knights defense. Then again, Carter had to work with below first-string talent around him but he found a way to get the ball to Daevon Robinson, Prince Taylor, and Isaiah Washington for scores.
Ash has repeatedly said the 2019 starting quarterback job is an open competition. He and his staff will watch the film today and are likely to come to the same conclusion many of Rutgers football fans have. McClane Carter should, at the least, be working more with the first unit. On Saturday, it sure looked like he strongly made a case to be the opening day starter.
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Back to an earlier point, the Scarlet Knights first-team defense played quite well. Especially, the linebackers and secondary. Ash was impressed by how the units played against both the run and pass while they were in.