Nick Saban has lost a rare recruiting battle for a member of the 2022 class and the loss came to an unlikely foe.

The 7th ranked inside linebacker in the country and 6th ranked recruit overall in the state of Pennsylvania, Anthony Johnson has committed to Rutgers over Alabama, Auburn and Oregon it was announced on Twitter yesterday.

Saban was looking to add Johnson as the fourth member of the 2022 class along with fellow inside linebacker Robert Woodyard, as well as tight end Elijah Brown and pass rusher Walter Bob.

Instead, Johnson commits to an up and coming, young program in Rutgers led by head coach Greg Schiano in his second stint leading the program.

Rutgers has struggled to find any success since the original departure of Schiano in 2011 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Since joining the Big 10 in 2014, things have only gotten worse for the Scarlett Knights of New Brunswick, New Jersey. Before Schiano had taken over in 2020, Rutgers had lost 21 consecutive conference matchups, going all the way back to 2017 against Maryland.

Schiano began to right the ship in 2020, leading the Knights to an impressive 3-6 in his first year with wins over Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue.

Schiano and Rutgers will look to continue their success in 2021, and landing one of the top prizes of the 2022 recruiting cycle is certainly a good start.

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