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For Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano, it doesn’t get any easier. In fact, Schiano thinks this Saturday will be even more difficult against Ohio State.
Saturday’s 20-13 loss at then No. 19 Michigan saw Rutgers as the dominant side in the second half, giving the Scarlet Knights some momentum against the No. 10 Buckeyes. In that second half, Rutgers established themselves in the trenches where they were dominant against Michigan.
Now against Ohio State, Schiano is very aware of the difficulty that the reigning Big Ten champions bring to SHI Stadium.
“I think the Big Ten is a very tough league, and every game is its own entity. So you can’t say ‘Well, because you, you were able to do that in the second half’ that you’ll be able to do that against somebody else,” Schiano told reporters on Monday during his weekly press conference.
“I think I said this after the game, upfront it is such a battle that if you are just a little bit off, a little bit off with your hand placement, a little bit off with your focus in your eyes – it doesn’t take much to get dug out of a gap. It doesn’t take much to get washed out of the gap.”
Schiano warned against the idea that just because Rutgers was improved in the second half of Saturday’s loss that they will suddenly be at par with Ohio State. Yes, Rutgers did limit Ohio State to just two first downs and shut out a powerful Wolverines offense while scoring 10 points to close a substantial halftime gap.
But he said that in conference games and especially against an opponent like Ohio State, any time of drop-off is sure to lead to problems.
“And when that happens, that’s when plays occur,” Schiano said.
“I mean everybody talks about the physicality, that’s absolutely the most important because it’s a battle, but it’s got to be a precise physicality too otherwise you create issues. So we need to be really physical, and really precise. And you know, Michigan’s line was very good and Ohio State’s maybe better. So, here we go.”