PISCATAWAY, N.J. — At the time, Rutgers football linebacker Tyreem Powell’s ejection from Saturday’s game led to a strong – and passionate – reaction from head coach Greg Schiano. It was one of several times in the first half where Schiano got heated on the sidelines with the Big Ten officiating crew.
While Saturday’s dramatic comeback glossed over the ejection, at the time it was a potentially big call against Rutgers. Powell, one of the top players on either side of the ball this season for Rutgers, was flagged for a questionable targeting call in the second quarter.
His ejection led to anger from Rutgers fans inside SHI Stadium, who let out a lusty and vehement chorus of boos after the call was made. Schiano followed that up with some rather, ahem, strong thoughts of his own.
On Monday, Schiano was more philosophical when asked about how he handled the situation with Powell.
“I felt bad for him. The only thing I told him was, ‘Hey, at least (it was) in the first half so you’re able to start right away at Indiana.’ But I did, I felt bad for him,” Schiano said.
“It’s tough. I mean, those are the rules and you’ve just got to play within the rules.”
Because it happened in the first half of Saturday’s 27-24 win over Michigan State, Powell will have already served his half-game suspension. He will be available on Saturday at Indiana.
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With the win on Saturday, Rutgers is now 5-2 (2-2 Big Ten).
He said it was a good learning lesson for the team.
“So it’s a good lesson, I guess, for everybody. We talk about it. We show it and just got to make sure that you leave it beyond a shadow of a doubt, and that’s what we try to do,” Schiano said.
“Some things are unavoidable I think. Sometimes you get into a situation, it’s just an unfortunate situation. But Tyreem will be back and he’ll be ready to roll.”
Rutgers will play Indiana at 12:00 PM ET this Saturday on the Big Ten Network.