The Rutgers Scarlet Knights take on the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, MI on Saturday, October 28, 2017. (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)

It doesn’t take Julius Turner long to name the defining moment of his redshirt freshman season at Rutgers. 

Winning back-to-back Big Ten games against Illinois and Purdue ranked high, but a second-quarter play against Maryland in Rutgers’ next-to-last home game of the year earned the nod from Turner.

“Probably the one against Maryland where I had my first sack,” Turner said. “That was probably the most memorable one. I had gotten my first sack — it was a good feeling.”

After redshirting in 2016, Turner, a nose tackle, logged playing time in all 12 of the Scarlet Knights’ contests last year. He ended the season with 23 total tackles and 2.5 tackles for losses. Turner was named to the 2017 Big Ten All-Freshmen team as an honorable mention. 

“Last year I had a decent year; I was playing behind one of our seniors, Sebastian Joseph,” Turner said. “I had good production, a good year — Big Ten honorable mention.”

The departure of Sebastian Joseph opens up a spot on Rutgers’ defensive line, and Turner is poised to earn the starting job in the fall. His production last season and subsequent growth during spring practices have impressed his Scarlet Knights coaches. Rutgers opened its spring camp on March 6 and will play its annual Scarlet-White spring scrimmage on April 14.

“As I’ve stepped up as this spring (practice) is going on, they’ve seen a lot of progress, and I’m still progressing,” Turner said. “It should be good this year.”

Turner’s accolades weren’t just limited to the football field. He earned a spot on the Academic All-Big Ten team last season as well. He is pursuing a degree in criminal justice but is still deciding as to which law enforcement track he’ll ultimately choose. Although he will classify athletically as a redshirt sophomore next year, academically, he’ll be a junior. 

“At this moment right now, I’m still thinking about it as I’m playing football and I’m doing these classes,” Turner said. “My head is still wandering around, but I’m actually coming to an end. I think I know what I’m going to do, but not yet.”

Turner graduated from Meridian High School with honors in 2016 and played in the Bernard Blackwell North/South All-Star game. He was selected as a member of the MHSAA 6A All-State team. He held offers from Louisiana Tech, Army, Southern Miss, Wake Forest and other Division I programs, but a familiarity with Rutgers head coach Chris Ash and the excitement of the change of scenery to Central New Jersey led to his decision to select Rutgers. 

“Coach Ash really was a big reason,” Turner said. “He recruited one of our guys from high school — named CJ Hampton — when he was at Arkansas, so my coach already knew him. And it’s a good program and a good school. I wanted to try something new. See something new, play in the Big Ten against really good teams and stuff like that.” 

Rutgers opens its 2018 season on Sept. 1 at home against Texas State a week before traveling to Ohio State. The Scarlet Knights’ schedule also includes home games against Michigan (Nov. 10) and Penn State (Nov. 17) and road contests at Wisconsin (Nov. 3) and Michigan State (Nov. 24). 

After going 4-8 overall and 3-6 in Big Ten play in 2017, Turner has high expectations for himself and his teammates next season. 

“For the whole group, I want us to accomplish getting more sacks —  just more production out of the D-line and our defense,” Turner said. “And our team, making it to a bowl game and stuff like that. A lot of production from this team. I’m looking forward to it… It’s going to be a good year.”