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As things stand right now, Penn State is more of a rival for Rutgers football then the other way around. But with time, this could develop and grow into something between the two programs.
But, as Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano noted following Saturday’s win at Indiana, his program hasn’t done anything yet to make this a true rivalry. Since entering the Big Ten in 2014, Rutgers has yet to beat Penn State.
Former Rutgers defensive lineman Eric LeGrand, now founder of LeGrand Coffee House and an analyst on the Rutgers Radio Network, sees an increasingly competitive Rutgers as important in getting a potential rivalry started with Penn State.
“At the end of the day, it is a cool to have a rivalry as [Schiano] mentions, in college football. Obviously, we know the two fanbases both don’t like each other. Any time we get a chance to take a shot Penn State, we do. And every time they have a chance to talk down on us, they usually do,” LeGrand said on ‘CHOP Weekly.’
“Now it has to be done on the football field as coach mentioned, you get a few games now that it goes the underdogs way – which is Rutgers right now, then that’s when it starts to develop and some bad blood comes. It’s fun, you get to talk about it all year long. It is something that sticks in your mind.
“What is it -‘Go Navy, Beat Army’ or ‘Go Army, Beat Navy’ type of thing. Ohio State, I’ll never forget the year they took ‘M’ – any word that had the letter ‘M’ in it, they crossed it out.”
Rutgers (5-5, 2-5 Big Ten) is coming into Saturday’s game looking to build on the momentum of two wins from their last three games. Penn State (6-4, 3-4 Big Ten) lost 21-17 at home to Michigan this weekend.
Penn State, receiving votes in the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll, enters the weekend the favorite to beat Rutgers.
“You hope you have some of those upsets to create that type of, I guess, animosity towards each other,” LeGrand said.