From Greg Schiano’s perspective, having his program on national television to kickoff the season was a no-brainer. The Rutgers football head coach was excited to see his program showcased in a time slot usually associated with the NFL.
Rutgers will host Northwestern at noon on September 3, one weekend before the start of the NFL season. The game will be on CBS, making it a unique placement and timeslot for college football.
With the Big Ten usually playing on Saturday, this is a unique opportunity for Rutgers to not only appear on network television but to make a national statement. And given that the NFL usually plays on Sunday afternoons, this game will have a different feel about it for sure.
Schiano talked this week to WQAM’s Larry Blustein, a sports radio host in Florida who’s show focuses on college and prep football in the state. Blustein and Schiano’s connection goes back nearly 25 years ago when the now Rutgers head coach was the defensive coordinator at Miami.
He was asked about starting the season against Northwestern and a tough program under head coach Pat Fitzgerald.
“When you have an opportunity to be the only game on in the country at noon on a Sunday with the NFL having not started yet – it’s a great opportunity to go out there and make a statement,” Schiano told WQAM.
“So believe me, I know Northwestern – we try to do the same thing. And Pat and I are good friends and he’s a great coach. So both teams will be ready to be in a great game.”
Rutgers has a very strong to the season with Northwestern kicking things off followed by a solid Temple team and then a home game against Virginia Tech. Their fourth game of the season is at Michigan.
No big deal, right? Only one of two Big Ten teams to play in the College Football Playoff last year. Blustein posed a question about how this solid start to the season can help Rutgers for the murders row that is the Big Ten regular season.
“There’s absolutely zero weeks off in the Big Ten conference and that’s what I love. about it. You know, I’m a big believer (that_ iron sharpens iron,” Schiano said.
“And as we grow and get better playing against the best in college football, we’re gonna get to become the best. So we opened up at home with a Big Ten game against Pat Fitzgerald, who is just a great coach and I think you know, he’ll have his team ready. We’ll have our team ready- it’s a great way to start the season.
“And then from there, you take it one week at a time and literally in this league, it’s a grind.. That’s okay. I think that’s what’s gonna get us to where we need to be. I’ve always felt since I came here and took the job…I’ve always felt that Rutgers belong in the Big Ten Conference. So I was really really happy when that finally happened in 2013.”
After Michigan, the non-conference schedule will close out with Rutgers hosting Wagner.
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