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PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Chris Laviano will be the starting quarterback for Rutgers.First-year coach Chris Ash announced the decision on Monday, less than two weeks before the season opener at Washington.Laviano started 11 games last season in Kyle Floods final year as coach. He edged TCU transfer Zach Allen, fellow redshirt junior Hayden Rettig and redshirt sophomore Giovanni Rescigno for the job.The competition for the starting job seemingly came down to Laviano and Allen. They received most of the snaps with the first team during the portions of training camp open to the media.He has been the guy who has shown the most consistency throughout the first two weeks of practice and had a good understanding of our offense, and become a pretty good decision-maker with the ball, the best decision maker in the group, Ash said. Right now he has earned the trust of the staff and the other players.Ash said Laviano will get the snaps with the first team for the next two weeks, and would be his first game starter. He hinted that the quarterback needs to produce to keep the job because there is depth behind him.Choosing the backup will come in a couple of days. Ash said he had no plans to use the more mobile Allen in a two-quarterback system at present.Ash, the former co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State, said he brought in Allen to throw a bomb into the quarterback room during Big Ten media days.Allen was moved to wide receiver by TCU last year before graduating in the spring and committing to Rutgers in June. As a quarterback, he completed just two passes for 17 yards.Laviano completed 61 percent of his passes for 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 11 starts.Ash said that Laviano did not have a good spring practice but he picked up his game over the summer.I think he has matured, Ash said. I think he has grown as a leader. I think he has done a lot to earn the trust of his teammates. I would assume he probably did not have that last year and he did not have a lot of that this spring, but through his work this summer, his determination and the way he has changed how he lives his life he has definitely earned the trust of his coaches with the way he has performed and behaved this summer. I am excited to see what he does on game day.Rettig started the first game last year after Laviano was suspended for using fake identification. Between his lone start and mop-up duty, the LSU transfer and former highly touted recruit completed 56 percent of his passes for two touchdowns and no interceptions.Laviano will now lead the revamped offense. After running the pro-style offense under Flood and his predecessor Greg Schiano, Ash hired offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer, who has implemented the power spread. . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. . -- Josh Sterk scored once and set up two more as the Oshawa Generals edged the visiting Belleville Bulls 3-2 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Cappie Pondexter scored a season-high 24 points, Allie Quigley had 18 points and the Chicago Sky clinched a playoff spot with a 96-86 victory over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday.Pondexter and Quigley each hit a 3-pointer during a 10-2 third-quarter run and the Sky outscored Connecticut 28-14 in the quarter for a 71-61 lead.Jasmine Thomas made two 3-pointers in the final 1:07 to pull Connecticut to 90-85 with 26 seconds left but Pondexter answered with two free throws for a three-possession lead.Courtney Vandersloot added 16 points for Chicago (16-15), which played without WNBA scoring leader Elena Delle Donne for a second straight game because of a thumb injury.dddddddddddd Pondexter moved into fifth place in WNBA history with 6,277 points, passing Lisa Leslie.Thomas finished with a season-best 21 points and Chiney Ogwumike had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Connecticut (11-20), which is 0-7 at home against the Eastern Conference. ' ' '
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