Notebook: How Good Can Turay Be?
Oct 08 | Football
By Tom Luicci
ScarletKnights.com
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - It's almost impossible to tell what impresses people more when it comes to Kemoko Turay: His remarkable production in a limited role or his enormous potential.
A case can easily be made for both.
Six games into his college career, and less than three years after taking up the sport of football, Rutgers' 6-6, 235-pound redshirt freshman defensive end leads the Big Ten in sacks with 5.5 and leads the country in blocked kicks with three.
Those accomplishments are even more impressive because he has yet to start a game and his defensive role has been limited to pass rushing situations.
And that's where the potential envy comes in.
"I'm excited to see what his future career holds once he gains some strength and puts on some weight and as he gets more of a presence on first and second down he can even pick up some sacks in those situations," said fifth-year defensive end David Milewski. "In terms of his ability I've never seen anybody who could bend and pass rush at the same time as well as he can. You watch him pass rushing you know you can't do those moves.
"Coach (Jim) Panagos has to coach him a little differently than everybody else because his toolbox is a little bit bigger. It's awesome. He's a great weapon to have."
The only limitations on Turay appear to be the ones he puts on himself. But the former standout from Barringer High School in Newark, N.J., recognizes he's not close to where he can be some day as a player.
"I feel like I'm still far away. There are certain plays … (against) Michigan I could have had some sacks," Turay said. "There are some weaknesses I have to work on, (such as) me lunging at the quarterback. I've got to sit there and bend down more. Every quarterback is different. Quarterbacks are athletic just like me so I've got to learn how to work my way to get at the quarterback rather than lunging at him.
"Right now it's all athleticism. I want to play smarter in the game so I can make more plays and be in on first down and second down instead of (only) third down."
Turay's impressive vertical leap and timing combined to provide his memorable block of Michigan's go-ahead field goal try with 3:01 to play in Rutgers' 26-24 victory last Saturday. The sudden success for someone who took up football as a high school senior and was only told to get the quarterback has been dizzying.
"I still can't believe it. It's still unreal to me," he said. "It's me working hard in practice and getting my technique together and bringing it out to the game. I'm expecting to do more. I'm not satisfied. I've got to do more. I've got to get better. I can accomplish more things. There are mistakes I've been doing that I'm not happy with because I expect more of myself."
As long as the drive and the work ethic remain strong, Milewski sees no reason Turay can't be a dominant every-down defensive lineman.
"We're just trying to keep him focused and make sure he gets better because he needs to understand his potential is so much higher than where he is right now," Milewski said. "That's the most exciting thing. He's having success on the field right now but there's still so much more for him to improve on. His future is very bright as long as he puts in the time and commits to getting better."
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The school announced today that its 2016 schedule has been finalized with the addition of New Mexico at High Point Solutions Stadium on Sept. 17 of that year. In addition, the Big Ten home game against Iowa in 2016 was moved from Oct. 29 to Sept. 24.
Rutgers' complete 2016 schedule is as follows: Sept. 3 at Washington; Sept. 10 vs. Howard; Sept. 17 vs. New Mexico; Sept. 24 vs. Iowa; Oct. 1 at Ohio State; Oct. 8 vs. Michigan; Oct. 15 vs. Illinois; Oct. 22 at Minnesota; Nov. 5 vs. Indiana; Nov. 12 at Michigan State; Nov. 19 vs. Penn State, Nov. 26 at Maryland.
All of the dates listed are Saturdays.
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Head coach Kyle Flood says he hasn't given any thought to this being the third straight season Rutgers has started quickly under him. His first season the Scarlet Knights opened 7-0 and finished 9-4. Last year Rutgers was 4-1 and wound up 6-7.
The upcoming three-game stretch is daunting, too: at Ohio State on Oct. 18, at Nebraska on Oct. 25, home to Wisconsin on Nov. 1.
"I don't look at it like that. To me, there's no momentum week-to-week," he said. "You play the games when you play them. Had those games been played in a different order would the results have been the same or different? I don't know. You'd have to go back and look at the health of the team - there's a lot of things that happened.
"I don't think the game before has any effect on the game you're currently playing, so to me it's not about that. It's about us preparing to be 1-0 this week and putting all of our energy in what we're doing into maximizing the bye week and then being 1-0 in our next game."
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The ongoing challenge of building depth, particularly in the offensive line, is at the forefront of things that need to continue to be addressed during this week's bye.
"We have to get better at every position," Flood said. "On the offensive line, we're still building depth. J.J. Denman, who is playing a little bit for us, this week has to make him a better football player. Guys like Bryan Leoni, Derrick Nelson, Dorian Miller - that next group of guys in the game - they have to get better this week.
"We're looking at everybody. If there's a player on this team we think can help us, we're trying to give him enough opportunity to show us that he can help us because we're going to use him. But at every position, we have to build depth. There's still a lot of football left to play this year."
