Competition: Brandon Bing

There were two ways Brandon Bing could have gone following his disappointing junior season last fall. The easy way would have been to sulk about losing his starting job at cornerback after just two games, blaming circumstances — and almost everyone else.

Or he could have used his abrupt demotion as motivation.

Bing chose the latter, which may explain why he was working with the starting secondary when Rutgers opened preseason practice yesterday — and why he is confident he will remain there, despite the looming presence of talented redshirt freshman Logan Ryan.

“I’d be a liar to say that (losing the starting job) didn’t drive me to work hard during the offseason,” Bing said. “Last year everybody was saying ‘the time is now, this is your time’ and this and that but it’s totally different now.

“But yes, that definitely drove me outside the things I already wanted to prepare and work on.”

It started immediately after the St. Petersburg Bowl, too.

When Bing returned home for the Christmas holiday in previous years, he tried to forget about football. Not last Christmas.

“I took all of my individual (tapes) home with me during the Christmas break, and took a notepad and just wrote down everything I needed to do to improve,” the 5-11, 180-pounder from Wyncote, Pa., said. “And then I worked on that with some guys back home.

“I was so focused on getting better. I knew I wanted to start so I didn’t want to just enjoy my break and now get thrown right back to it. I made film the next day when we got back (from the bowl game). I made a 10-minute tape, all my one-on-ones and stuff like that, and watched it.”

Bing said he then tried to apply what he learned with a couple of friends from home who are also college defensive backs: Rashad Campbell of Cornell and his brother, Ibraheim, who plays for Northwestern.

“They’re two very good friends of mine, and we just went out and competed, did some push-up contests and nothing really outside of sports,” Bing said. “Everything’s a competition, and it’s something I’ve been doing (with them) since I was 7.”

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano has already noticed the difference in Bing.

“I think he’s just improved with his confidence, so he plays a little more relaxed,” Schiano said. “Early in his career he panicked more, and now he’s got more confidence because he’s played better. It’s the old Catch-22.”

Bing’s battle with Ryan will be one of the most closely-watched position competitions leading up to the opener, since the starter will essentially be taking the place of first-round draft pick Devin McCourty opposite David Rowe.

“Me, Brandon, David — all the corners are very close. We all push for each other,” said Ryan, who clearly represents the future at the position for the Knights. “We’re trying to be the best secondary we can be. There’s a chance we can all play together nickel and dime so we don’t look at it as an awkward situation. We look at it as something we can boost each other with.”

But for Bing, there’s a sense of urgency. This is his final season.

“My biggest concern is with my consistency,” he said. “If you ask Coach Schiano, he’ll say the same thing. If I keep that going, there’s no way I shouldn’t be playing.”

Notes: Schiano said the handful of players with travel issues who didn’t report Thursday — he declined to name names — all arrived with the exception of walk-on defensive lineman Joe Falato of Lodi. “He will be here as soon as something gets cleared up. It’s a personal thing,” Schiano said. …

Back-up QB Steve Shimko did not throw and was limited because of a shoulder injury, meaning more reps for true freshman Chas Dodd. ...Starting TB Joe Martinek appeared to suffer some sort of leg muscle strain during practice. “I don’t know,” Schiano said when asked what the injury was. “He tweaked something. We’ll see.”

Taken From www.NJ.com/RutgersFootball