After a difficult and physical final month of the regular season, Rutgers football was hurting. The still-rebuilding Scarlet Knights, who have an emerging two-deep but are still a roster that is taking shape, very much limped into their final two games of the regular season.
Time heals most wounds, however, as Rutgers football heads into Thursday’s Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl against Miami (2:15 p.m. ET, ESPN).
It is no wonder that Rutgers football ended the season worn down, given that they had the second-toughest schedule in college football. Three of their last four games of the season were against teams currently ranked in the USA TODAY LBM Coaches Poll.
But after a month off and a dozen bowl practices, Rutgers is rested, recuperated and ready according to head coach Greg Schiano.
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“The guys that were bumped up, and a lot of it was just overuse, right? Over the course of the season. I think the way we do our bowl preparation allowed those guys to get really a few good weeks of healing in before they really put the pedal down in our preparation for the University of Miami,” Schiano said on Wednesday’s conference call ahead of the Pinstripe Bowl.
“I think we’re definitely in a much better place physically than we were on that back part of the season, and I can feeling the excitement from those guys because they weren’t really playing at the level they’re capable, and that’s frustrating for them. To be able to go out and play at full power, full speed I think will be exciting for them.”
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Rutgers is bowl-eligible for the first time since 2014 (their first season in the Big Ten). They finished the regular season 6-6 (3-5 Big Ten) and achieved bowl eligibility with a mid-October win over Indiana.