PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Rutgers football certainly faces a daunting task this week against Ohio State, the top team in the country. But it will be business as usual for Rutgers as they await their biggest challenge of the season.
Ohio State, named the top team in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings, comes into this game having never lost to Rutgers. In fact, the meetings between these two teams haven’t been close since Rutgers entered the Big Ten in 2014.
So while Rutgers is resurgent and certainly improved, Ohio State is still the favorite in this one.
Despite the underdog nature of this weekend’s game for Rutgers, head coach Greg Schiano says his team isn’t going to change what they do.
“I think we just got to go play Rutgers football and do what we do but do it with great focus,” Schiano said on Wednesday.
“I’ve said already we have to have our best game of the year to have a chance. We have to play our best and that’s all we really can control after that. After that? See what happens.”
So far, Rutgers has done a good job this season of not getting too far ahead of itself. At 6-2 (3-2 Big Ten), it has already achieved bowl eligibility, something that most analysts and pundits thought was a longshot.
[lawrence-related id=31643,31619]
But Schiano has this team believing in itself and with four games left to the Big Ten regular season, the team is talking about the idea of ‘no limits’ when it comes to what they can do.
“We always focus on one game season. So that’ every week – it’s a one-game season. Just like last week, week before that, it’s a one-game season,” wide receiver Christian Dremel said this week.
“So our goals are similar to what they always are, obviously, to go 1-0 and it’s obviously a great opportunity against a really highly highly rated team.”
Ohio State is the second-ranked opponent that Rutgers will face this season. It is certainly a big step up in competition for Rutgers.
[lawrence-related id=31658,31627]
Prior to their bye last week, the last two opponents Rutgers played this season are 2-8 in the Big Ten.
“Well, we don’t really change our preparation at all. You know you can only be the best you can be. So if you start changing for this opponent or that opponent, you’re going to put yourself in a in a dangerous situation, right?” Schiano said on Wednesday.
“Your players, your staff, everybody’s going to start to look around and saying, ‘Oh, this is a big game and this is a small game and this is a medium game.’ You prepare the same way. There are no naive guys out there. They watch the tape. The one thing about coaches and players – the tape doesn’t lie. The tape tells you very, very clearly what people are capable of. So everybody knows we’re walking into and we’re excited about the opportunity.”