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Greg Schiano explains controversial ‘victory formation’ play-call against Michigan State football: ‘We are trying to coach a fumble’

At the end of Michigan State football’s 27-21 win over Rutgers, there was a controversial moment as Rutgers had their players dive forward as Payton Thorne was kneeling the ball. The play has drawn some criticism from fans who think this is a dangerous type of play and against the unwritten rules of football.

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano explained his reasoning for his on Monday, which was annotated by Kristian Dyer of RutgersWire.

“If you followed us, if it’s a competitive game, and there’s an opportunity to create a fumble, it’s not — you know, there’s always been a huge area of contention with people,” Schiano told reporters on Monday.

“I think it’s ridiculous, personally. It’s not where we are diving at — contrary to what the experts say, we are not diving at people’s legs. It’s a coached play. We are trying to coach a fumble. We have caused a fumble three times, our doing it. If there’s a chance to win the game, that’s what we do. And if it’s not, then we don’t. You let the game end with a snap and a kneel.”

Schiano, who was a coach in the NFL for Tampa Bay and known for using this tactic back then as well, used some recent NFL examples to justify his decision:

Schiano did point out that Tucker did not bring it up at all after the game to him:

“He didn’t look upset to me,” Schiano said. “I wasn’t really checking Mel’s feelings at the time. We shook hands like we always do.”

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Story originally appeared on Spartans Wire