CHAMPAIGN — In Rutgers' ideal world, James Kreutz would have been following Antwan Raymond along the left side of the offensive line while Athan Kaliakmanis ran free down the right sideline.
Kreutz was having none of it in a win over Rutgers two weeks ago. On 1st-and-10, Kreutz read the play perfectly — a credit, he says, to defensive coordinator Aaron Henry's play call — and crashed down the line of scrimmage just enough to honor the possibility of Raymond carrying the ball, but not enough to get caught in the wash. Kreutz saw the ball resting comfortably in Kaliakmanis' hand, broke away from the line of scrimmage and got square with Kaliakmanis to tackle him for a two-yard loss on a drive that ended with a turnover on downs.
Perfectly executed, but hardly anything Kreutz planned to celebrate some 10 days later.
"Coach Henry called a call, and I just had to execute it, really," Kreutz said. "I was in the right position to make a play, and he put me there. ...I was really trying to do my job right there. I was trying to play down and come out to the quarterback. I saw he had the ball so I was just trying to do my job."
Kreutz finished tied with a team-high five tackles, had the aforementioned TFL and a pass breakup in a spot start in place of injured team captain Dylan Rosiek.
The last few weeks have been strong bounce-back performances for Kreutz after a difficult showing at Duke in Week two and playing 20 or fewer snaps in each of the three games prior to the Rutgers game.