PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Kirk Ciarrocca represents Rutgers football as a nominee for the Broyles Award, the Frank & Barbara Broyles Foundation announced Tuesday. The award honors college football's top assistant coaches. Ciarrocca is in his third season back on staff and sixth overall with the Scarlet Knights.

Seeing incremental improvement the past three seasons, RU is averaging 371.1 yards of offense per game in Big Ten play, on pace for its best mark since joining the conference (351.2 in 2024). Overall, the team ranks 11th nationally in fewest fumbles lost (3), 14th in fewest turnovers lost (10), 15th in time of possession (32:31), 21st in fourth down conversion percentage (65.6), 24th in yards per completion (13.1), 26th in first downs gained (252) and 35th in passing offense (259.5). The Scarlet Knights rank fourth in the Big Ten in passing offense and time of possession. In addition, RU is the only team nationally to have both a player reach 200 rushing yards (RB Antwan Raymond, 240 versus Maryland) and 200 receiving yards (WR KJ Duff, 241 at Purdue) in a game this season.

QB Athan Kaliakmanis ranks fifth in Rutgers history with 2,786 passing yards so far in 2025, looking to become the third player in program history to reach 3,000 yards in a season. That includes four games with at least 300 yards as the first Scarlet Knight with over 2,500 yards in back-to-back seasons since Mike Teel (2007-08). He posted four touchdown passes twice this year, including in the win over Maryland on the way to earning national honors among the Manning Award "Stars of the Week." In 24 games for Rutgers, Kaliakmanis, who made the Johnny Unitas Award watch list, sits seventh in school record book with 5,482 passing yards, 426 completions and 35 touchdown passes.

Raymond recently was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award. The Canadian became the ninth player in program history to reach 1,000 rushing yards in a season, posting 1,052, third in the Big Ten, so far on 215 carries with 13 touchdowns (12 rushing, one receiving). It is the third straight season a Rutgers player has reached 1,000 rushing yards. That included posting four straight games with multiple rushing touchdowns for Raymond, the first Scarlet Knight to achieve the feat since "JJ" Jennings in 1973. Raymond's top performance so far was running for 240 yards (105 in the fourth quarter) on 41 carries with 13 first downs and a touchdown in the win over Maryland to merit the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week. The 240 rushing yards are the most by a Big Ten player in a game in 2025 (by 55 yards) and third most in RU history.

Rutgers is the only team in the Big Ten with three receivers over 500 yards this season: Duff (957), WR Ian Strong (725) and WR DT Sheffield (550). All three were on the Biletnikoff Award watch list, as the Scarlet Knights were one of three teams with three representatives (Ohio State, Ole Miss). Duff ranks fourth among Power 4 players, second in the Big Ten and ninth nationally in receiving yards, leading the team with six receiving touchdowns and the league with 17.4 yards per reception. He posted six receptions for 241 yards in the victory at Purdue, second most in a game in program history, most by a Big Ten player in 2025 and fourth most nationally. Strong had a three-touchdown showing versus Maryland and owns four games with at least 100 receiving yards this season, sitting fourth in the conference with 5.4 catcher per game. Sheffield is up to 42 receptions for 550 yards and four scores.

TE Kenny Fletcher Jr. earned a spot on the Mackey Award watch list and has multiple catches in 8-of-10 games played.

The production has been put up with OL Kwabena Asamoah, OL Bryan Felter and OL Gus Zilinskas starting all 11 games on the interior of the offensive line, while OL Taj White (10 starts), OL Tyler Needham (nine starts), OL Dantae Chin (two starts) and OL Moshood Giwa (one start) have contributed at tackle to an offense that averages 395.6 yards per game and has scored 36 touchdowns.

Ciarrocca was previously a semifinalist for the Broyles Award in 2019. He owns over 30 years of coaching experience (21 as an offensive coordinator) and coached 28 players who had their name called in the NFL Draft (six in the first round).

Rutgers is back in action Saturday against Penn State at SHI Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.

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