PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Rutgers football hasn’t gotten much of a return this season from their punt return game. It isn’t for a lack of effort but rather, head coach Greg Schiano says there has been a lack of opportunity.
Rutgers currently has -1 yards in punt returns on the year. They don’t have any kickoff returns this season.
The numbers indicate that the Scarlet Knights simply haven’t had many opportunities through their 3-0 start to get a return game going this season. On Wednesday, head coach Greg Schiano was asked about the return game and where things stand.
He said that returner Rachad Rochelle, an explosive athlete, simply hasn’t been given much of a chance this season to showcase his skillset.
“I would say that we really haven’t had a return game, right? We fair-caught every kickoff or we’re fair-caught it – put our arms out because the ball has been blasted into the endzone,” Schiano said.
“And I would anticipate that’s gonna happen this week. They have a very good kicker. The return game, we’ve come after some people on the blocks. And we had one return really and we tripped. So it’s hard to evaluate other than what we see here in practice. That’s a good question, but not much data to base it on.”
Last season, Rutgers averaged 20.4 yards per kickoff attempt and 7.4 yards per punt return.
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Rutgers plays at No. 2 Michigan on Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled for a noon kickoff and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.