Rutgers Football Roster: Long Valley's Burton Ready for Season's Start

Written by Anthony Bellano

College football season begins with Rutgers University.

The Scarlet Knights travel to Fresno State to open the season on Thursday night, Aug. 29. Kickoff is at 10:30 p.m. and the game will air live on ESPNU.

From there, the Scarlet Knights return home for a season that will see the retirement of Eric LeGrand's number 52 on Sept. 14; a rematch of last year’s big win over Arkansas, this year at home on Sept. 21; a trip to defending conference champion and preseason top 10 team, Louisville on Oct. 10; and the team’s only season in the American Athletic Conference, one Rutgers hopes ends in the program’s first outright conference championship and trip to BCS bowl.

Rutgers returns 10 starters from last year’s 9-4 team. A full guide to the season can be found here.

Because we are Patch, we know you’re looking for a local connection to the state’s only NCAA Division I FBS program. Long Valley's Michael Burton will be joining the team as a junior fullback, according to scarletknights.com.

Burton graduated West Morris Central High School in 2010 after helping the Wolfpack win a state championship in 2009. Burton told the Star Ledger this past spring he was back to 100-percent after a season-ending injury he sustained in 2012.