Before he ever lined up at long snapper, Andrew DePaola was the key player in one of the greatest plays in the Greg Schiano era.
With the Rutgers football team trailing No. 2 South Florida 17-13 on a Thursday night in Piscataway, DePaola bootlegged to the right on a fake field goal and hit former tight end Kevin Brock for a 15-yard touchdown and a lead that the Scarlet Knights would never relinquish.
“That play was two years ago, and it helped us get a win against them then,” the senior quarterback turned special teams weapon said. “It was a great memory, but that’s all it is right now — a memory. I have a different role as a snapper so I just have to worry about that.”
Now two years later, the Bulls return for a Thursday night clash with RU and DePaola’s role, though different, still carries significant weight in Schiano’s mind.
“He is the guy who touches it first on the punts and the [point after touchdown] field goals,” Schiano said. “It is critical because without that the rest doesn’t have a chance to work. It is one of those deals where you don’t get talked about till something goes wrong.”
DePaola, from Parkton, Md., came to RU five years ago as a quarterback before establishing his value as a holder. Schiano moved him to wide receiver from quarterback to try and use his hands and speed, but he became too valuable on special teams to ever see the field on offense.
When long snapper Jeremy Branch went down late last season, DePaola stepped in to snap and has been there ever since.
“I feel that I’m more comfortable than I was last year or at any point this year,” DePaola said. “I’m still not as comfortable as I want to be, but I’m starting to figure out the little ins and outs of it.”
Unlike other snappers that may just get the ball to the holder or punter and end the play, he brings speed to the position that often puts him in position to make a tackle. Through eight games this season, he has two special teams tackles.
“I feel like that’s an advantage I have over other snappers is my speed, so I try to utilize that as much as I can,” DePaola said. “It obviously disrupts the flow of their return. If they account for our two fast-flyers and then they’re looking to the second-level guys, but I’m almost as far down as the flyers sometimes, so it’s like having a third one out there.”
Schiano also praised his athleticism.
“I think the fact that Drew has been very silent is a great thing,” he said. “I should say that … he has done a very good job in his coverage on his punts. He is a very good athlete. It is not like you have some guy running down these punts, because he can snap.”
After getting a day-and-a-half of rest, senior safety Zaire Kitchen returned to practice at the start of the week, Schiano said.
Kitchen left the Connecticut game early, but it turned out to not be serious.
“Nothing was torn or fractured or anything, but it was scary because I definitely wanted to go in the game because there was another half,” Kitchen said. “I ended up watching from the sidelines wishing I could be on the field with everybody else. I took it day-by-day and now I’m back.”
Schiano said at Sunday’s practice that the bug running through the team should be on his way out, but it is not washed out of the team yet.
“It’s scary. We got it contained right now; there’s a couple guys, but tomorrow it could be a whole different story,” Schiano said. “That thing goes through, I mean, when guys are as close as these guys are and do everything together. We’re trying to take every precaution, but it’s hard.”
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