Rutgers found itself in tailspin last season, and head coach Kyle Flood needed to make a change. So he benched starting — but unraveling and inefficient — quarterback Gary Nova late in the year to try and salvage a campaign that had gone awry because a slew of problems.
Still, when things go wrong, few defects stick out quite like a interception-prone quarterback.
After staring 28 career games for the Scarlet Knights, Nova was relegated back to the unfamiliar setting of the sideline following a 10-game stretch in which he threw 14 interceptions and completed 55 percent of his passes.
In particular, Nova's dismal and last outing — 11-of-34 passes for 107 yards and one interception — in a blowout loss to Central Florida was the last straw for Flood and a fan base that had apparently grown tired of its inconsistent quarterback.
“This is not the end of Gary Nova’s career,” Flood told reporters at his press conference days later. Turns out, Flood was right.
But it’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for the future either.
In the offseason, Nova outperformed a handful of inexperienced suitors for his old job and was ultimately re-named the starter during training camp in August.
He's been decidedly better in his senior season, completing 62 percent of his passes for 1,601 and 13 touchdowns compared to seven interceptions.
The highlight of such a turnaround came against Michigan two weekends ago, when Nova played arguably the best game of his life. He threw a career-best 404 yards and three touchdowns to notch Rutgers’ first win as a member of the Big Ten.
"He had the day of days against our rival," head coach Urban Meyer said Tuesday on the Big Ten coaches teleconference.
Added redshirt sophomore safety Tyvis Powell: “I’ve seen him make some throws that I said I can’t believe he threw that, but he actually completed it. So I said, OK, he’s got a lot of faith in his arm so that’s good to see.”
But there's a difference between confidence and stubbornness.
The latter seemed to doom Nova last season. While he's improved now, turnovers and a propensity to make erratic throws still seem to plague him. And under pressure, Nova crumbled against Penn State and a solid defense that ranks statistically in the top five nationally. He threw less than 200 yards, completed half of his passes and, most notably, tossed five critical interceptions that cost the Scarlet Knights a close game.
Ohio State, of course, will try and pinpoint what went wrong and use it to its advantage.
"You try to identify the things that rattle them whether it be certain line games certain pressures, certain coverages, things that can get into his head, see if there's a pattern of the mistakes that a quarterback makes that you're noticing on film," co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Chris Ash said.
"And if you do, then you want to try to implement those things. So there's a lot of things that he does well. He's done a nice job in the pocket. He's throwing the ball deep very well this year. He's avoided pressure very well this year. He's scrambled well this year but there are some things on film that you think hey maybe this or that that would maybe rattle him a little bit. Those are the things we try to identify every week."
Because in the big picture, Nova appears to be a polished weapon compared to a year ago, but Rutgers hasn't played a team like Ohio State this season. The Buckeyes — and a defense loaded with five and four-star talent — present a different challenge.
It means Nova, whose mishaps undid Rutgers last season, is vulnerable against a unit that's also trying to write its own sort of redemption story.
