(AP)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

Rutgers is staying in-house for its sixth offensive coordinator in as many seasons. 

Wide receivers coach Ben McDaniels will supplant one-term-serving Ralph Friedgen as play caller, head coach Kyle Flood announced Tuesday on a conference call.

McDaniels' appointment comes less than a week after National Signing Day, when 11 listed offensive players pledged commitments to Rutgers.

McDaniels enters his second season in Piscataway after spending the two previous years as an offensive assistant under Greg Schiano with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

He is the brother of New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

On game days, Ben McDaniels served as Friedgen's voice on the field level, communicating with Rutgers' quarterbacks as well as receivers.

Flood has generally given his play callers autonomy on game day, provided it falls beneath his overall vision of a multiple pro-style offense.

As a high school quarterback under his dad, Thom, McDaniels went 37-3 as a starter at famed Canton-McKinley High (Ohio) and set career and single-season records for passing yards and touchdowns.

Canton-McKinley finished 1997 ranked No. 1 in USA Today's national rankings.

McDaniels becomes Flood's fourth different play caller in his four years as head coach.

Friedgen, meanwhile had signed a two-year deal worth $1 million in January 2014, but his stay became hazy when he held a resigned press conference after Rutgers' season-ending victory at Maryland, his alma mater.

“As long as I like it, I’ll do it,” Friedgen, 67, said that day. “I’m getting up in age, some things are a little tougher for me than others.”

Under Friedgen, quarterback Gary Nova set single-season bests in nearly every offensive category of consequence, though Rutgers also managed a combined 20 points in three losses to the Big Ten's elite programs.

(AP)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

Rutgers athletics' scarletknights.com will provide coverage for National Signing Day beginning at 8 a.m. on Feb. 4 when faxes reach its Hale Center facility.

RVision will host the early morning show from inside the coaches' offices wing, near where head coach Kyle Flood will address the media at 1:30 p.m.
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By Tyler Barto

Twitter: @Tyler_Barto

tbarto@trentonian.com

The 2014 season brought a thorough return to the pro-style system head coach Kyle Flood covets, and that will likely repeat next year with offensive coordinator Ralph Friedgen anticipated back.

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(AP)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter:@Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

While Rutgers' dominant Quick Lane Bowl victory Dec. 26 offered a proper sendoff to the Scarlet Knights' first season in the Big Ten, their coaching staff is already looking forward to 2015 — even if their players have a few weeks off.

With that in mind, here are five burning questions for Rutgers' offense entering the spring:
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(John Blaine — For The
 Trentonian)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Rutgers tight end Tyler Kroft will declare for the NFL Draft and forgo his final year of eligibility, head coach Kyle Flood announced Tuesday.

Kroft finished 2014 with 24 catches for 269 yards and no touchdowns, all drops from a sophomore season that made him a popular preseason All-America candidate.
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By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Show me the money.

That's the message Jim Harbaugh sent to Michigan in early December, and it paid off Monday when ESPN reported the two sides were close to a deal that would pay the San Francisco 49ers head coach near $48 million through six years.
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(AP)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

After a few days shrouded in mystery, head coach Kyle Flood made the announcement Tuesday everyone awaited: Leonte Carroo (upper-body injury) is listed as probable for Friday's Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit, per several reports.
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(AP)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY —Here are some quick hits from Monday's practice, the final one at Rutgers before the team departs for the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit:
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(AP)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Kyle Flood is plenty familiar with the staff changes North Carolina is undergoing weeks before it meets Rutgers in the Quick Lane Bowl.

A year ago, Flood promoted special teams coordinator Joe Rossi to interim defensive play caller ahead of the Pinstripe Bowl against Notre Dame.
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By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Rutgers could see a significant shakeup to its injury report when it is released later in the week, ahead of its Dec. 26 bowl matchup with North Carolina.
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(AP photo)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Rutgers' season will have ended six days earlier, but Lorenzo Waters will still have some rooting interests when the inaugural College Football Playoff unfolds Jan 1.

That's because Waters' high school teammate, Alabama lineman Arie Kouandjio, will be taking on Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. It will be part of the first system the NCAA uses to decide a national champion by playoff.
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(AP photo)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

Kyle Flood's prophecy came true.

The third-year Rutgers coach long believed Big Ten affiliation would lead to a seat at the table in the College Football Playoff.

Thanks, partly, to a 59-0 route of Wisconsin on Saturday night in the Big Ten title game, Ohio State earned a No. 4 seed in the CFP, announced Sunday on ESPN.
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(AP photo)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Don't look now, but Rutgers' pass efficiency defense numbers are about 30 slots better this year than 2013's program-worst finish.

Part of it is conference culture — you wouldn't mistake the Big Ten for the gun-slinging AAC — but head coach Kyle Flood has a reason that's easier to quantify.

"I think having another birthday has helped the secondary," Flood said Tuesday. "I think that's always the case with a player. Guys like Anthony Cioffi, Nadir Barnwell, Delon Stephenson having another year in the system and being able to stay as healthy as you can. That year of experience and maturity helps them grow."

Rutgers' pass numbers are down across the board this season, when it has faced 100 fewer passes and surrendered 17 fewer touchdowns in the same span.

	Attempts	Completions	INTs	Pass yards	Touchdowns
2013	410	265	7	3,285	29
2014	306	178	7	2,260	12

Players say a simplified scheme and continuity in the back end have paid off. Eleven different players started in the secondary a year ago.

"You get a chemistry," corner Gareef Glashen said. "Guys are more comfortable with each other. We know what each other's going to do based on practice. It's just believing in the man next to you and behind you."

That same chemistry will be tested Saturday, when it's uncertain whether Barnwell, who has started six games, will play with an upper-body injury. 

That would leave Glashen, Cioffi and freshman Dre Boggs against future pro Connor Cook. Stephenson could slide down to the line of scrimmage if needed, Flood said.

Last year, Rutgers faced four NFL draft picks at quarterback, including Blake Bortles, Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr, who went in the first two rounds. 

By Saturday, it will have seen three QBs in the top 50 in passing efficiency in 2014. Starter Gary Nova ranks 19th nationally.

(AP photo)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Rutgers brought some of its training camp Club Ice in smaller doses to the team's meeting room earlier this season, when head coach Kyle Flood demanded Janarion Grant's presence front and center.
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(AP photo)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — He likely won't be dealing with Buffalo-like conditions, but Gary Nova is already planning ahead for potentially freezing weather Saturday at Michigan State.

For starters, he may wear a glove on his throwing hand — and off hand — for the first time on the road during his Rutgers career.
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(AP photo)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Kyle Flood isn't sure if Gary Nova's his old self yet, but he said the returns are far more positive than when he was a game-time decision following what was listed as a lower-body injury.

Nova is probable for Saturday's game against Indiana after a questionable ruling last week, when he had one scheduled practice off.
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(AP photo)

By Tyler Barto 
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Kyle Flood thinks the issue is bigger than only one player, but he's moving freshman Josh Hicks back to running back to make sure.

Hicks, who spent the last month at safety, could be part of a four-back committee along with classmate Robert Martin, who led Rutgers in rushing and touches last week against Wisconsin.
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PISCATAWAY — On the same day Rutgers announced Ruhann Peele will be suspended for the rest of the season, running back Paul James met the media for the first time since suffering a torn ACL in September.

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(AP file photo)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

PISCATAWAY — Stemming from his pending legal case on simple assault, Rutgers receiver Ruhann Peele has been suspended from on-field activity for the rest of the season, head coach Kyle Flood announced Tuesday via press release.
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(AP photo)

By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

Head coach Kyle Flood offered no update Sunday besides receiving a "positive report" on injured quarterback Gary Nova, who suffered a blow to his right knee a day earlier at No. 16 Nebraska.
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