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No. 19 Michigan is set to host Rutgers on Saturday and it will be the first game of the Big Ten season for the Wolverines.
Michigan is coming off of three dominant performances from all three phases of the game. The maize and blue are hoping to continue their dominance against the Scarlet Knights who are a much-improved team from years past.
Rutgers is also sitting at 3-0 on the season and the once ‘not very good offense’ has been putting up points this season. The Scarlet Knights have surpassed 40 points twice this year so far. On the defensive side, Rutgers hasn’t allowed a team to score more than 14 in a single game.
Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano met with the media on Monday to talk more about the Big Ten opener. Right away, Schiano talked about how anxious he is to see how is club stacks up against the Wolverines.
“This is real, we’re going out to play against a really good football team that has got it going,” said Schiano. “You can – I mean everything that I looked at, film I looked at, the media I listened to, there is a good vibe out there right now. They are playing good football and winning football. They are holding onto the ball, playing good defense, and running the ball. When you do that, you have a chance to win every week. We have our work cut out for us for sure, but I’m anxious to see how we stack up.”
Michigan has defeated Rutgers six straight games, but the Scarlet Knights just about defeated the Wolverines last season.
The maize and blue defeated Rutgers 48-42 last year in a thrilling triple-overtime shoot-out. Neither defense could stop one another, and Schiano doesn’t buy much stock into that game last year due to the Wolverines not having their best player, and because he sees Michigan as a different team.
“Well, they’re a different team I think, just look at it,” said Schiano. “They didn’t have their best player (Aidan Hutchinson) when we played them last year. There is a lot of differences, and that game was a shame – we had our opportunity and didn’t take advantage of it. This is a different Michigan team, and I want to think that we’re a different Rutgers team too. As I said earlier, I’m just excited to see how we stack up.”
Michigan has the No. 1 rushing attack in all of college football — it averages 350.3 yards-per-game. Schiano was specifically asked about Blake Corum and the running game. Instead of talking about the players, Schiano wanted to talk more about the guy that coaches Corum.
“They are really good running backs – it’s not just Blake, it’s all of them,” said Schiano. “They have a really, really good running backs room, and you can see it. I think the guy that coaches them, coach Hart, I’ve followed him and tracked him since he was a player. I remember when we were all at this – Ray (Rice) was being honored down in Orlando – I remember when he was a player. I have tracked his career and at different times I thought about reaching out to see about bringing him here. He is an excellent coach, and that room is doing a great job – certainly talented players, but it’s more than that.”
Schiano previously coached Rutgers from 2001-2011, when they were in the Big East but this will be the first time he’s traveled to The Big House as the Scarlet Knights head coach. He talked about the noise level and playing at Michigan Stadium.
“I think we have the ability to do it, we did it getting ready for Syracuse (in the Carrier Dome) and in the years past,” said Schiano. “We have crowd noise and systems that we have invested money in that provide – I mean you can’t hear yourself talk from me to you away – it won’t be louder than that. The issue you deal with on the road is that you can’t let momentum – you can’t judge what’s going on – the momentum, and all those things. You have to just chop your job and go do what you’re supposed to do.
“When you start letting all that other stuff become part of the equation, then you’re playing right into the mess. When playing on the road we talk about that stuff all the time, and I think our guys understand what it’s going to take. But again, it’s been a while since we played on the road in the Big ten with crowds, not since I’ve been here, it’s our first Big Ten game of the year – it’s a good start.”
Michigan’s Big Ten opener will start at 3:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday.
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