PISCATAWAY – It wasn’t quite as easy as many expected it to be early on, but Rutgers football ultimately rolled past Howard 44-7 in its season opener Thursday night at SHI Stadium.

Here are some instant takeaways:

How Athan Kaliakmanis, Rutgers football’s offense performed

There were some high expectations for the offense.

Rutgers brought in Kaliakmanis from Minnesota in the offseason to jumpstart what had been a pretty ineffective passing game, especially with an improved group of wide receivers.

"I think he handled the offense really well. Just listening, watching him, seemed very cool," coach Greg Schiano said. "Got himself out of trouble a couple of times. Threw it away a couple times when the look wasn't there."

But for the most part, the offense was pretty conservative.

Although when asked if the offense was "vanilla," Schiano didn't agree.

"We're not like Barnum & Bailey over here," Schiano said. "We kind of do what we do."

Kaliakmanis finished 15-of-24 passing for 147 yards with three touchdowns. Overall, he was accurate. He ran the offense effectively and looked comfortable. And most importantly for Rutgers, he didn't turn the ball over.

"I always feel like I can get better," Kaliakmanis said. "That's the only thing I think about. The thing I take away from the game is, one, what can I get better at. It's the first thing I look at."

The Minnesota transfer threw three touchdown passes, a two-yard throw to Dymere Miller in the second quarter, a 34-yard throw to running back Sam Brown late in the third quarter and a three-yard throw to tight end Kenny Fletcher late in the fourth that put Rutgers up 38-7.

Overall Rutgers finished with 476 total yards of offense and rushed for 298 yards as a team.

"I think there's a lot of things we could definitely clean up," Kaliakmanis said. "But overall I thought we chopped every moment and we played play by play."

The Scarlet Knights started off slow offensively but improved as the game progressed.

The question now is which version shows up going forward.

Pick six by Eric Rogers provided early momentum

The cornerback intercepted Howard QB Ja'shawn Scroggins on third-and-7 from the Howard 47 and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown early in the first quarter.

It was a big play from Rogers, who's stepping into a bigger role following the departure of Max Melton.

And without that play from Rogers, Scarlet Knights fans would've been far more nervous at halftime, which saw Rutgers hold a 17-7 lead.

Kyle Monangai turns in a big first game

The Rutgers running back, who had a breakout 1,000-yard rushing season last year and led the Big Ten, was stellar once again.

The Don Bosco Prep product tied his single-game career high with 165 yards on 19 carries, including 124 yards in the first half.

"The guys up front started moving guys, I'm just running behind them," Monangai said. "I'm just following by blocks. I'm going by how they go. They set the tempo and I'm just following their lead.

Monangai registered a seven-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter that put Rutgers up 24-7. He also had a 39-yard run to start a second-quarter drive, getting the ball to the Howard 16, which set up Kaliakmanis' TD pass to Miller.

He didn't play much in the second half with Sam Brown getting most of the carries (Brown finished with 68 yards on 14 rushes).

"Kyle got quite a few carries and racked up some yards quickly," Schiano said. "So I think it's just the rotation that we had talked about doing and making sure we keep both backs fresh and keep Kyle fresh. I thought Kyle ran violently tonight."

No Tyreem Powell

We already knew Mohamed Toure would be out with a torn ACL he suffered during training camp but Powell’s status was unclear – he’s recovering from a torn Achilles and Schiano said he wouldn’t rush him back.

Well, Powell was listed as questionable on the availability report but ultimately didn’t play.

There was no reason to rush Powell back for this game. Or even next week’s against Akron, which comes before a bye week.

"He warmed up and he did things, but you just have to make sure that when you're coming back from a long-term thing that he's ready to go," Schiano said. "I won't rush that."

Without Tyreem Powell and Mohamed Toure, Dariel Djabome stepped up

The third-year linebacker made his first career start and did well, finishing with a team-leading 14 tackles.

It was a strong day for the Quebec native, who impressed throughout training camp to earn the opportunity he received Thursday.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers football takeaways as Scarlet Knights rout Howard