A heated exchange between Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano and Ohio State’s Ryan Day
It was the final bit of fireworks from a game that was very physical and demanding for both teams. Ohio State emerged with a 49-10 win over Rutgers.
Midway through the fourth quarter and with Ohio State comfortably up, Buckeyes punter Jesse Micro evaded a punt block from Rutgers and ran 22 yards on what ended up being a fake punt.
Rutgers returner Aron Cruickshank came up and delivered a shoulder, a rather strong shoulder, into Micro as the punter was already a step out of bounds.
Cruickshank was ejected from the game for the hit, but not before Schiano went racing across the field. It appeared at the time that Schiano was confronting Day about what was perceived to be a fake punt. Both coaches received offsetting penalties for their exchange of words.
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“It’s not Ryan Day and I…I think it’s two coaches, that protect their players. You know, my player was in a sea of Ohio State players and it was closing fast,” Schiano told reporters after the game.
“And I wanted to make sure if two things: number one – wanted to stop our team from coming across the field. That’s how things get very ugly. I wanted to make sure that our player got out of there safely. We’re both very competitive guys, I got the utmost respect for Ryan. We’re good friends. We’re good, there is no problem there between us.”
Schiano was asked multiple times about the moment. The Rutgers coach reiterated that he “did not want a fight to break out” between the two teams.
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“We’re good friends, we’re not going to let that get in the way in the heat of the moment,” Schiano said. “We’re competitive. We’re both protecting our players. That’s what good coaches do.”
With the win, Ohio State is now 5-0 (2-0 Big Ten). Rutgers is 3-2 (0-2 Big Ten) and hosts Nebraska on Friday night.
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