Liston, Rescigno Feel Right at Home
Dec 23 | Football
By Tom Luicci
ScarletKnights.com
DETROIT - For now, they're anomalies on a roster that is heavily-flavored with New Jersey talent, with a solid mix of Florida, Pennsylvania and Maryland thrown in.
Going forward, L.J. Liston and Giovanni Rescigno are convinced that recruits with home addresses like theirs at Rutgers won't be as uncommon as they are now, as the Scarlet Knights look to finish their inaugural Big Ten season in Friday's Quick Lane Bowl against North Carolina at Ford Field.
Liston, a sophomore backup middle linebacker, hails from Grand Blanc, Mich., which he estimates to be an hour or so from the bowl game site in downtown Detroit. Rescigno, a true freshman quarterback, calls Warren, Mich. home. He says it's a "20 to 25-minute drive" from his house to Ford Field.
"Now that we're in the Big Ten and we've shown we can play with these guys we're getting respect," said Liston. "I'm sure we're going to get even more respect. Rutgers really didn't recruit Michigan (before joining the Big Ten). I hope they look at Michigan players because there are a lot of good Michigan players who might want to go to Rutgers now."
Though the "State of Rutgers" remains the school's recruiting base - it can loosely be defined as anything within a four or five hour drive of campus - the Big Ten allows the program to expand its footprint as the coaching staff mines future talent.
With two Michigan natives in Liston and Rescigno and a couple of Minnesotans in Andre Hunt and George Behr, the Midwest flavor is already growing stronger in Piscataway.
Rescigno said the Big Ten presence will "help a lot" as Rutgers continues to venture into the Midwest to recruit.
"Even guys from my high school, I've told them `Rutgers is a great place,' " Rescigno said "People know about it (in the Midwest) but they don't really think about it much as an option to go. I think (the Big Ten) will definitely help -- especially with L.J. here, too. They know we're from Michigan."
Neither Liston nor Rescigno have made the impact yet they expect they will at some point in their careers, with both looking forward to the spring to make a bid for a starting job.
The 6-2, 235-pound Liston started at middle linebacker against Tulane in place of injured senior Kevin Snyder, but by his own admission had "some highs and lows" during the season.
He blames himself for failing to pass the conditioning test in the summer, forcing him to sit out the first two practices of the season, and again for his one-game suspension prior to Navy. He has appeared in nine games this season, mostly on special teams.
"Right now, I'm very focused on what I have to do," he said. "I've been going through a lot. Toward the end of the season I got real focused. I know this is Kevin Snyder's last go-around and I'm looking forward to next year."
Liston, who lost a high school state playoff game at Ford Field in his only appearance in the venue, says he has grown and learned from his experiences this season.
"As I look back I feel like I could have done more," he said. "This offseason, this winter, I'm going to leave it all on the line. I'm not going to hold anything back. I'm not going to look back and say `Oh, I wish I'd done these extra workouts or these extra reps.' I'm not going to do that. I'm going to go hard this offseason."
Rescigno, a 6-3, 240-pounder with mobility, sat, watched and learned from the older quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart. But with senior starter Gary Nova about to play his final game and senior reserve Mike Bimonte indicating he will graduate in May, there's a starting job available. Chris Laviano and Hayden Rettig are the frontrunners for it, but Rescigno expects to give both a run for the position this spring.
"Oh absolutely," he said. "I worked hard for it all year. Even though I wasn't in contention to be a starter this year I still worked as if I was going to be the starter this year. So next spring I'm going to work hard, get in the playbook more and hopefully get the spot.
"I think I've grown a lot in the last year up to now. I learned a lot from the guys ahead of me, Chris, Gary and Mike - even Hayden. I learned a lot from him. I'm going to use that knowledge in the next year to push forward."
