RUTGERS 52 (4-1), WAGNER 3 (2-3)
SHI STADIUM • PISCATAWAY, N.J.
SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 • ATTENDANCE: 40,165
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers football (4-1) delivered a 52-3 victory over Wagner (2-3) on Saturday afternoon at SHI Stadium. Facing the Seahawks in
Piscataway for the second consecutive season, the Scarlet Knights allowed seven or fewer points for the third time in 2023 and secured their best start to a season since the 2014 campaign.Â
QB Gavin
Wimsatt finished 12-of-19 for 146 passing yards along with a four-yard touchdown to WR Christian
Dremel. RU tallied six rushing touchdowns on the day, which included two from
Wimsatt and one apiece from RB
Ja'shon Benjamin, RB
Samuel Brown V, RB Kyle
Monangai and RB
Aaron Young.Â
The defense allowed just 106 total yards on the day, holding Wagner to six first downs and five completed passes. DL
Aaron Lewis contributed five tackles and a career-high two sacks, while LB Mohamed
Toure collected seven tackles and added a half a sack.
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Rutgers forced the Seahawks to punt on their opening possession and followed with a 44-yard field goal from PK
Jai Patel. After another defensive stand, The Scarlet Knights muscled a 10-play, 51-yard scoring drive to close the quarter. Monangai carried the ball five times to get Rutgers into the red zone, while Wimsatt found Dremel for a four-yard touchdown pass to make it 10-0 Scarlet Knights right before the first break.Â
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Wimsatt orchestrated another touchdown drive to open the second quarter, capped by a one-yard scoring run from Brown V. Wimsatt connected on several long passes to setup the score, which included a deep 41-yard completion to WR
JaQuae Jackson and a 17-yard pass to Dremel to the one-yard line. Brown V's touchdown made it 17-0 Rutgers with nine minutes to play before the half.Â
The Scarlet Knights would add one more touchdown before the halftime cannon. After he pushed RU into goal-line territory with a 12-yard pass to Jackson, Wimsatt rushed for a five-yard touchdown. A field goal from Wagner would follow in the final minutes, as Rutgers took a 24-3 lead into the locker room.Â
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The Scarlet Knights held the visitors to just 55 total yards in the first half, as Lewis (2.0), Toure (0.5) and DL Isiah Iton (0.5) all registered sacks.Â
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WR
Rashad Rochelle opened the second half with an exclamation point, returning a kick 88 yards to the Wagner 12-yard line. Wimsatt tallied his second rushing score – this one from seven yards out – to put Rutgers up 31-3. On its next possession, Monangai found the end zone for the sixth time this season.Â
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