Rutgers running back Antwan Raymond spoke with the media following hi opening-night performance in the win versus Ohio.
Rutgers Football running back Antwan Raymond picked up right where he left off last season. The sophomore tailback tallied 14 carries for 88 yards, along with a fourth down score in his season debut.
A revelation for Rutgers last season, he reclassified to join the Scarlet Knights after his high school’s football program was shut down and it allowed him to enroll early. With a couple of injuries to the Scarlet Knights backfield, it presented Raymond with an increased opportunity, and he took advantage. Last season as a true freshman, Raymond rushed for over 450 yards and eight touchdowns.
As mentioned above, Raymond picked up where he left off last season and he spoke to the media about his performance in game one on Thursday night.
“This should have been your freshman year.”
Raymond: “Yeah definitely, definitely when you think about the experience because I have not had a lot of experience and stuff, when you think about that, yeah, for sure it’s been, it’s crazy to me, ‘cause it’s been just a little over a year now that I’m in college, so it is crazy for sure.”
“Is that a tough, physical game for you guys tonight, because it looked like it was.”
Raymond: “Yeah, yeah. Ohio’s a great team, props to them to come here in our house, you know. They played great, but I think that, you know as a team we did a lot, a lot of good stuff, we got a lot to get better on for sure, but I think yeah for sure.”
“What does it mean to, I forget if you started tonight or not, but what does it mean to really take over that starting lead back role from a guy like Kyle Monangai?”
Raymond: “It means a lot, you know Rutgers has a great history of running backs, you know, so it means a lot. I think I’m just super blessed, you know, I’m super blessed that I got the opportunity to start today, and I’m definitely willing — hoping that it keeps going. You know we got momentum going into the next game.
“What would you say changed from that first half, where you guys scored 31 points in that first half to just 3 in the second?
Raymond: “Um, I couldn’t tell you that, but I think it was just, I feel like no matter what happened, I think it was a great game as a team, I think we all played our butts off, we all were playing hard, we grinded, Ohio was a really good team so I’m not gonna say like it was easy, I’m not gonna like- you know what I’m saying it was a hard, tough game, gritty game so I think as a team, as a collective, we did really good.”
“And we’re talking to Greg, going five for five on fourth down, I don’t remember the last time that’s happened here, what does that say about you guys as an offense though to have that kind-of, you know faith in you?”
Raymond: “I think it says a lot. You know, I think our preparation, we get a lot of good looks in practice, we practice really- I think practice is everything, that’s what we say over here. Practice is everything so I think it’s- seeing those looks in practice, and those are not the first time we get that- go out there and execute them, we’ve seen those stuff in practice, so I think that helps us for sure, a lot.
“What did you see on that last fourth down to really ice the game?”
Raymond: “I saw a really good Ohio team versus a really good Rutgers team, but I feel like we had- it was a battle of wills, and we wanted it more so, for sure.”
“How would you describe the running back room between yourself, [CJ] Campbell, [Ja’shon] Benjamin, even [Sam] Brown?”
Raymond: “How would I describe it?”
“Yeah,”
Raymond: “Earth, Wind, and Fire. For sure, Earth, Wind, and Fire. These guys are amazing and I’m just super blessed to get to share the running back room with these guys, like just, not just football players, but they’re great humans. Ja’shon Benjamin, he supports me so much, I support him so much. CJ Campbell, he was a new guy, we supported him, he supported us. I just, we just like have a really tight-knit relationship and it’s great for sure.”
“What do you think surviving an opening night game like this does for you guys moving forward?”
Raymond: “Definitely add some momentum, you know, we’re gonna celebrate tonight, and then we’re gonna move on to a great Ohio- Miami Ohio team next week.”
Rutgers hosts their second consecutive MAC opponent at SHI Stadium next Saturday, as Miami-Ohio will visit Piscataway as the second of three non-conference games this season for the Scarlet Knights.
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