Greg Schiano on Ohio State: ‘It will be a great measuring stick if we play well’
Coming off their first loss of the season, Rutgers football took some lumps on Saturday night against Iowa. It doesn’t get any easier by any stretch this weekend when the Scarlet Knights travel to Ohio State.
With or without scarlet-colored glasses, Rutgers didn’t play poorly on Saturday night in a 27-10 loss to Iowa. In fact, the Scarlet Knights outgained Iowa and held an edge in possession. But three first-half turnovers including two that led to defensive touchdowns was enough to secure a first loss of the season for Rutgers.
Now against No. 3 Ohio State, fresh off a Saturday night shellacking of Wisconsin, the margin for error is even smaller. For a rebuilding program that simply doesn’t have the overall depth or talent of Ohio State, it will be a tall order.
Related
Greg Schiano talks Rutgers football loss: 'Are we quite ready to perform the way we needed to tonight? I guess not'
“I don’t know if there’s a measuring stick right now with a program that’s established that way,” Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano told reporters on Monday.
“I don’t know that. It depends how we play, right? It will be a great measuring stick if we play well. But if you play poorly against a team like Ohio State, it really gets exposed, right? So you go play poorly against a good team, you might not look great. You play poorly against them and it’s a matter of how many, what is the difference.
“So we need to go out and play our best game and then some things go your way and again, the game is what you need to do. You need to hang in there, you need to play tough, and you keep looking up and there’s still a chance and then you keep going and it gets tighter and tighter, and that’s what you go in when you’re a market under dog and that’s where we are right now.”
Rutgers is trending up for sure, but bowl eligibility may be a bit of a reach this season for the program.
The Scarlet Knights started the season off rather strongly with a 22-21 win at Boston College and then-handedly beat Wagner in the home opener before grinding out a 16-14 win at Temple to close out their out-of-conference schedule.
Related
Rutgers football's loss in Big Ten opener shows that massive rebuild remains a work in progress
Against a program like Ohio State, an established blueblood of the college football world, Schiano sees these types of games as important in this era of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). Programs like Ohio State, with big boosters and a national fanbase, are well-positioned to exploit legally and above board all that NIL provides for student-athletes and continue to prove dominant in this wild, wild West of college football.
“It all depends on what you do. It’s an opportunity, as I look at it, to close the gap if we, in fact, have those resources. It’s a different way of thinking, and it’s a sudden change . So do your supporters, do your boosters, do your local businesses, do they feel the need, is it that important to them, to step up?” Schiano said.
“Well, it can become an advantage for us. It can become actually a way to close the gap more quickly but it all depends on what your individual community feels and then ultimately does.”
