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Michigan football is off to its worst start since 1967, with a 1-3 record thus far in the 2020 season. Michigan wouldn’t like to rewrite the history books, as another loss would make its record 1-4, the worst start since 1962, and this week the loss would be the worst under head coach Jim Harbaugh. Losing to a 1-3 Michigan State team wasn’t acceptable, but losing to a 1-3 Rutgers team, could be a huge shift in the dynamic of the season for the Wolverines.
Rutgers is in the same boat as Michigan, on a three-game losing streak after starting the season 1-0. Both teams are in desperate need of a win, and while a win for the Wolverines wouldn’t fix any of the issues, losing this game has a bigger impact, so the team will want to make sure that it doesn’t become a reality.
Rutgers, though, would gain a lot by beating the Wolverines. Even if the Wolverines are 1-3, they have the most wins ever for a football program in NCAA history. A win over Michigan could put a team back on track and give it a boost in confidence if things aren’t going their way.
Before the two teams do battle on Saturday night, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano spoke with the media and had plenty to say about its opponent this week, starting with Michigan as a whole.
“It’s gonna be a big challenge,” Schiano said. “I know some look at their record, but it’s still a Michigan football team. They’re very, very talented. They run extremely well. They’ve had some injuries, which are to very key players. I don’t know what their status will be for this Saturday, but they’re a very talented football team, so we certainly have a huge challenge ahead of us, one that we’re excited about. We’re excited to be playing at home again. We’ve got to have a great week of preparation.”
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Schiano then spoke about the quarterback play for Michigan and discussed Joe Milton, who is currently in a battle with backup Cade McNamara, and how his team will prepare for Milton this weekend, after struggling to use a QB spy effectively the week before.
“The fact that they have a quarterback you’re going to need to spy on as well, then that’s a good question,” Schiano said. “If that was a problem last week, how are you going to be able to fix that problem this week, because if No. 5 is in there, he can really cause damage with his feet.”
“We have to figure that out. What we did wasn’t effective, whether it’s scheme, personnel — those are decisions we have to come up with. We have a mobile quarterback, you have to make sure that in passing situations if you shut down the pass game in the back end, he can’t tuck the ball, run and scramble for the first down. That’s a killer, right? Because you do your job in the back seven, and that guy gets out. Michigan is very capable of that, so we have to figure that out in a hurry.”
Michigan takes on Rutgers at the SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey, this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EST on BTN.