PISCATAWAY, N.J. — In search of his first Big Ten win at home since he took over the Rutgers football program three years ago, Greg Schiano isn’t worried about the timing of that breakthrough. Simply, Schiano says he is trusting the process.
Last season, Schiano’s team got some strong wins on the road including against Illinois and Indiana, the program that the Scarlet Knights face on Saturday. But a win at home in conference play has been elusive for Rutgers, a point underscored two weeks ago in a loss to Nebraska at SHI Stadium.
Rutgers was up 13-0 at halftime and seemingly in cruise control before getting shut out in the second half and losing 14-13.
For Rutgers, losers of their last three games, a win on Saturday would certainly be important in turning their season around. But it also would be a boost to a fanbase that, over the past few years, hasn’t experienced much winning at home after the leaves begin to change.
“I want it for everybody, for our players, for our coaches, for our fans – for everybody,” Schiano said on Wednesday.
“We can’t lose sight of that we’re getting better. It’ll happen. I’m not worried it is going to happen. Will it happen on Saturday? I hope so. It doesn’t do any good to focus on that What you focus on is the process and that will take care of itself eventually.”
Rutgers is a pretty dramatic rebuilding project. Three years ago when Schiano took over, the argument could be made that the roster he inherited was the worst in all of Power Five football.
[lawrence-related id=19966]
So while wins and conference wins and conference home wins are all important measuring sticks, Schiano is looking at the big picture as he prepares his team for Indiana this weekend.
“I think we’re getting better every week. I think we understand what we’re trying to do,” Schiano said.
“We’ve had some missed opportunities but on a whole positive.”
[listicle id=19943]
[mm-video type=video id=01gfgzbayv4cbdxvjxrb playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gfgzbayv4cbdxvjxrb/01gfgzbayv4cbdxvjxrb-142626ab7ca33245bbf06bff7b805138.jpg]