The health of his two banged-up quarterbacks won’t be compromised by his desire to win on Saturday. So says Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano this week ahead of Saturday’s game at No. 3 Ohio State.
Only one scholarship quarterback, Evan Simon, played last weekend in Rutgers 27-10 loss to Iowa.
Noah Vedral, who has not played this season, did dress on Saturday and warmed up but didn’t play. Gavin Wimsatt, knocked out of the win at Temple, also dressed and warmed up but did not see the field.
Against an Ohio State program that has legitimate national championship aspirations, Rutgers is certainly an underdog. Schiano said that he won’ risk the health of Vedral or Wimsatt to give his team a chance against the undefeated Buckeyes.
“I’ll never risk their health, I don’t care who we are playing. Their health is always first and foremost to me,” Schiano told reporters on Monday.
Schiano said that the goal for Rutgers (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) is to go into Columbus and come away with a win.
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Since entering the Big Ten in 2014, Rutgers has not beaten a ranked conference team and has never beaten Ohio State.
“We are going to win the game. That’s what we’re doing. We’re going to Columbus to win the game. Will that happen? You know there’s another team on the other sideline that wants the same thing,” Schiano said.
“That’s why goals are overrated in my opinion. We both have the same goal at the beginning of many game. But we are going to do everything we can, we are going to practice and get ready and go out to Columbus and play our best.”
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As for his player’s health, the words from Schiano on Monday resonate with what happened on Thursday Night Football as Tua Tagovailoa was knocked out of the game at the Cincinnati Bengals. Tagovailoa suffered a head injury on Sunday and was somehow allowed back onto the field.
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