Damaso Munoz did not hear the jokes until he returned to the sidelines.
Then, the senior’s fellow linebackers on the Rutgers football team started letting him know that his first quarter interception against Connecticut was not that impressive.
He didn’t even score.
“When I got the interception and got to the sideline they were like, ‘Damn ‘Maso, you couldn’t get in the end zone?’” Munoz said. “Maybe next time.”
But junior linebacker Antonio Lowery and senior captain Ryan D’Imperio are allowed to talk to Munoz like that. They each returned interceptions for touchdowns this season.
“He has to step his game up,” Lowery said through laughter. “All these guys on defense are scoring so he has to score. We had the blockers there for him, he just has to follow his blockers.”
Regardless, the turnover is just another example of the Scarlet Knights’ linebackers making plays.
The trio combines for 127 tackles, including 12 for a loss, three interceptions, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries and two touchdowns and sacks.
“It’s big. If you look at the points of the games when we’re making plays, they’re big time turning points of the game,” Lowery said.
The success is a product of the unit pushing each other.
“We’re laughing with [Munoz] and joking on him, but it pushes us to even get in the backfield, make sacks, make tackles for losses and all those good things,” Lowery said. “If we keep pushing and pushing something good is going to happen and it’s part of the friendly competition.”
Munoz is two tackles and half of a sack away from meeting or exceeding all of last season’s totals, when he started the final five games.
It marked his return to strongside linebacker, his current position, after starting 10 of 13 games at middle linebacker as a sophomore.
“I was just learning at that point, but now I know how to prepare,” Munoz said. “Now I just try to approach it like a beginner every week.”
Munoz settled as a linebacker after he arrived at RU and head coach Greg Schiano tried him at safety. The Miami native played linebacker in high school as well.
“We had him as a linebacker in a camp down in Florida, and he reminded me of a kid I coached in Miami [with] the way he moved,” Schiano said. “We tried him at safety because he is so athletic, and he could have played safety, but I think he’s where he should be at linebacker.”
Now, Munoz is part of a unit where the starters rank second, third and fourth on the team in tackles.
D’Imperio and Munoz are returning starters, but Lowery was part of a competition with sophomore Manny Abreu for weakside linebacker until the season opener.
“[Lowery] is the guy who, coming in, we didn’t know who would be the [weakside linebacker],” Schiano said. “That was a great competition. He rose up well and all three of them have.”
Although the third starter was unknown for so long, it never affected the group’s chemistry — a great benefit to its production, according to Lowery.
“Once you go through the whole camp, spring and offseason conditioning, you build your bond there,” Lowery said. “We laugh, joke, help each other out in meetings and off the field in classes. It’s a great bond we have.”
The senior experience of Munoz and D’Imperio combined with the emergence of Lowery make the linebackers arguably the most productive unit on defense.
“Having Maso and Ryan back from last year, and then the way Antonio has been able to step up and play has been big for us,” said senior cornerback and captain Devin McCourty. “Those three guys are the core of the defense and have been able to make plays in the run game and the pass game.”
Linebacking corps anchors defensive unit
Published: Sunday, November 8, 2009
Updated: Sunday, November 8, 2009 21:11
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