Greg Schiano points to upward trajectory for Rutgers football

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — For the first quarter and even into the second quarter, Rutgers football looked like they had the potential to make Saturday’s game against No. 11 Penn State an interesting one. A first-quarter lead and some good play in the first half were quickly erased, however, as turnovers, mistakes and penalties began to mount.

And at the end of the day, the 55-10 result on the scoreboard told the story of a superior Penn State team and a still-rebuilding Rutgers.

However, the story from head coach [autotag]Greg Schiano[/autotag] was different. With his third year at Rutgers nearly complete, Schiano sprinkled in his usual mantras with a sense of an upward trajectory for Rutgers. Twice in the last three weeks, Rutgers has held first-half leads over a ranked opponent.

Last week, they had a chance to beat Michigan State on the road.

In each game during this three week stretch, mistakes, miscues and a disparity in talent began to show itself. Still, Schiano believes things are “100 percent” heading in the right direction.

“I’ve told you, I see so much promise out of these players. And it’s never a linear ascent when you’re building a program, whether it’s an individual or it’s a program itself. It never goes like this,” Schiano said, making an upward motion with his hand.

“There’s always ups and downs. And we’ll just keep going. As long as you don’t turn around and quit, you’re fine. You’ll get there. I have that confidence.”

With the loss, Rutgers is now 4-7 (1-7 Big Ten). The Scarlet Knights have not had a winning season since 2014, although this season showed some promise and development.

[lawrence-related id=21157]

As the third year of Schiano’s rebuild looks likely to end next week at Maryland, it is clear that there is more work to be done – significantly more work that is. A rebuild is always tricky in college football, and digging out of a hole as devastatingly deep as this one will take time.

Factor in that this is one of the two most difficult divisions in college football, and it will take Schiano and this program some time to be competitive.

[lawrence-related id=21137]

Saturday showed the flashes that give despondent and jaded Rutgers fans pause, providing a lining of hope for the future. But it also showed the disparity between the haves in the college football world and where Rutgers currently is in the Big Ten’s pecking order.

“As I said when I took the job, we are chasing a moving target and really we’re chasing moving targets,” Schiano said.

“And just because when the divisions end a year from now, you’re still competing for the same championship. If you ever are here and you’re not competing for the championship, then you probably ought to go find an island somewhere and call it a day. We’ll be competing for the championship. I’m confident of that.

“I said it: We’ll be a better football team and we are a better football team than we were at the beginning of the year. We have had a lot of things go on this year that kind of just get glossed over.”