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Chris Ash didn’t have many answers to Artur Sitkowski’s injury
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It’s a decision that could haunt Chris Ash for the rest of the season.
Having freshman quarterback Artur Sitkowski in the game late in the first half, dropping back trying to get into scoring range seemed like a harmless idea for Rutgers. Maybe the Scarlet Knights could’ve cooked something up offensively and carried a little momentum into the half.
But that wasn’t the case against an Ohio State defense. And instead of taking a few harmless chances down the field, Ash took a major chance with his quarterback.
On two of the final four plays of the first half, Sitkowski was hit hard by Ohio State defenders Chase Young and Nick Bosa. So hard that the freshman had was sidelined for the remainder of the game with his injury status unknown.
After the game, Ash had very little information regarding the severity of Sitkowski’s injury.
“We’ll know tomorrow,” Ash said in the post-game press conference. “He says he’s fine but we have to get back home, evaluate him tomorrow and find out what exactly happened. I just listen to our medical staff. I’m not trying to be a doctor. He tells me he feels fine, but until they get him back and they get a chance to evaluate him back at home, I couldn’t tell you. I’m not trying to evaluate him. I’m going to listen to the medical staff. We’ve got an outstanding medical staff and they’ll do what’s in the best interest of Art.”
Rutgers has struggled to find any consistency under center and it appeared that Ash was going to try and develop Sitkowski for the future of the program. Instead, the head coach is left rethinking his decision to put his freshman in a dangerous spot.
Ash said Rutgers should know more about Sitkowski’s injury on Sunday when he’s examined by the medical staff.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB