Football Reports to 2018 Training Camp Thursday

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers football reports to training camp on Thursday, Aug. 2, beginning four weeks of practices in preparation for the 2018 season. The Scarlet Knights will hold their first practice of the summer on Friday, Aug. 3 at the Marco Battaglia Practice Complex, the program's state-of-the-art training facility. "I can't be more excited about the start of training camp and the opening game, where the foot hits the ball and we kick it off," said head coach Chris Ash at 2018 Big Ten Media Days in Chicago. "It is an opportunity for us measure the progress that we've made against the teams in our league that we're going to play. I'm very excited about the players, the culture and the direction that we're going in our program, and 2018 is going to be a very fun season."

🗣 Fan Appreciation Day 📅 Saturday, August 18 🕐 11:30 AM Practice ✍️ Post-Practice Autographs with @RFootball & @CoachChrisAsh 🖼 1st Chance to grab the 2018 poster 🆓🆓🆓 Parking & Admission#GoRU | #TheHunt pic.twitter.com/dp1aaI4Tgt

— Rutgers Scarlet Knights (@RUAthletics) July 27, 2018

As part of training camp, RU will host its annual Fan Appreciation Day with an open practice at 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 18. The day includes:

• Free admission & parking

• Opportunity to watch Scarlet Knights practice

• First chance to obtain the official Rutgers football poster

• Post-practice autograph session with players and head coach Chris Ash

Rutgers welcomes Texas State to Piscataway on Sept. 1 to open the 2018 season. The Scarlet Knights, who return 16 of 22 starters, are coming off a 2017 season in which the team doubled its win total from the previous year and matched a program-best conference win total. Jerome Washington enters his senior campaign on the watch list for the John Mackey Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top tight end. In addition, multiple players have received preseason recognition from the national media. Seniors Blessuan Austin, Tariq Cole, and Trevor Morris were named to All-Big Ten teams by Athlon Sports, while Cole was also listed among the top 100 players to watch by NFL.com. Morris and Cole both return after earning honorable mention All-Big Ten accolades in 2017. Off the field, senior Zack Heeman represents Rutgers as a nominee for the 2018 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. Considered one of the most prestigious accolades in college football, the honor is merited through a commitment to community service. A psychology major, Heeman was recognized as a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award with a GPA of 3.7 or higher during the 2017-18 academic year. "You need to have a great senior class," said Ash. "We don't have a big senior class. We have 13 seniors, but the quality is outstanding...We've had the best offseason and the best summer that we've had. Our leadership on our football team, the standards that we have with our behavior and our performance and just overall work ethic has been outstanding, and (we're) very excited about that." Single game and season ticket packages for all seven home games are now on sale. In addition to Texas State, RU welcomes Buffalo (Sept. 22), Indiana (Sept. 29), Illinois (Oct. 6), Northwestern (Oct. 20), Michigan (Nov. 10) and Penn State (Nov 17). The 2018 campaign signals the Scarlet Knights' fifth season competing in the Big Ten Conference. More than 120 years after its inception, the Big Ten remains a national leader in intercollegiate athletics on and off the field. Big Ten programs have combined to win more than 450 team and 1,800 individual national championships, consistently taking home individual honors for athletic and academic accomplishments and fulfilling the Big Ten's mission of academic achievement and athletic success. "Each year's unique and unscripted," said Big Ten Conference Commissioner Jim Delany. "That's the beauty of college football, and, indeed, competitive sports. Who could have possibly predicted the unprecedented success of our teams last year, with its coaches, on the field, in the stadiums, on TV, and in the classroom." For more information on Rutgers football, follow @RFootball on Twitter and Instagram, and for details on purchasing tickets, visit RutgersGameday.com or call 866-445-GORU. For additional updates, please download the Gameday App.

Print Friendly Version