PISCATAWAY, N.J. — All things considered, Rutgers football is coming off its best offensive output of the season. It was a pretty impressive performance from the unit in its fourth game under interim offensive coordinator Nunzio Campanile.
In a 27-21 loss at Michigan State, Rutgers had 460 yards of total offense and 25 first downs as well as no turnovers. It was a strong showing from a unit that has struggled this year.
They opened up holes for running back [autotag]Kyle Monangai[/autotag] to set the program’s Big Ten rushing record and kept quarterback Gavin Wimsatt relatively upright and clean in the pocket.
When Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano made the decision to move on from Sean Gleeson, he cited the need to play complementary football. Rutgers did that on Saturday in East Lansing, moving the ball effectively against a solid Big Ten opponent.
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“Nunz is a seasoned coach. He’s a leader. He’s been a very successful head coach. So like, being in charge of a group of men is nothing new to him. So he stepped right in and it’s kind of like riding a bike. He went right at it,” Schiano said on Wednesday.
“It’s been a tough position he’s putting put in, but he’s doing a really good job. He’s working incredibly hard. So I’m grateful for that.”
At the time he moved on from Gleeson, the line from Schiano was clear that Campanile was going to have six games to interview for the job. Prior to the Michigan State game, the offense struggled the previous two weeks in losses at Minnesota and then against Michigan.
But if he can show the offense as making progress in these final two games of the regular season, then Campanile might well have the inside track for the position.
Rutgers faces a tough Penn State (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) defense this weekend.
Asked about Campanile’s viability as a candidate to make the position permanent, Schiano punted on a firm answer at this point in the season.
“Well, like I told you at the beginning, I’m gonna evaluate that at the end of the season, I’m not gonna get into that,” Schiano said.
“I have feelings like everybody else, right? But I don’t want to get into that – this is about what’s best for the program. And when the season’s over we’ll evaluate and make the final decision.”
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