‘Take your chance!’ Greg Schiano’s Speech After Latest Rutgers Collapse Misses the Point | Policy

Greg Schiano had a point he wanted to make, and when his postgame press conference ended without a proper question, that didn’t stop him from doing so. He called out unnamed “certain people” who might doubt the Scarlet Knights after their loss to a bad UCLA team in homecoming, inferring that the head coach himself would be receiving the receipts.

“You decide,” Schiano said after the 35-32 loss to the hapless Bruins. “Just remember, we will get there, I promise you. So you want to decide now, just decide. But know that you are doing your best. This program is going to be great. Thanks.”

For a man who usually has a list of clichés he recites after demoralizing losses, this was something new. Perhaps Schiano was trying to galvanize his players after losing for the third time in a row left any sensible observer wondering when – or if – this team would win again this season. Maybe he was trying to get around the wagons and give his injured players a new rallying cry.

The whole “keep cutting back” mantra isn’t working, right?

But it sure seemed like Schiano was challenging Rutgers fans and media to ask tough questions about the direction of their program now, and given the way the Scarlet Knights played on Saturday afternoon with their season on the line, that approach will likely be as effective as your team’s pass defense.

Rutgers lost to a 1-5 opponent with the 128th best offense in the country. This turned a quarterback named Ethan Garbers into the second coming of Troy Aikman, allowing him to complete 32 of 38 attempts for 383 yards and four touchdowns. There were more than three hours of missed tackles, missed coverages and chasing points, all characteristics of bad football teams.

Food for thought: Rutgers has to play the good Los Angeles Big Ten team after that. The Scarlet Knights travel to Southern Cal, where another loss would drop them to 4-4 against what should be the most manageable schedule this program has ever had or is likely to have in the Big Ten. They can eliminate the two wins needed for a bowl trip, but would you bet on that?

So, in short, it is not only understandable for those who question the future of this team. You wouldn’t have to be willfully blind to do anything else.

Look: I already gave my chance. I first called on September 29, 2019, just hours after Rutgers fired Chris Ash four weeks into the season. I called again when it appeared that former athletic director Patrick Hobbs would let this search end without bringing Schiano back to Piscataway to finish the work he had started at the turn of the century.

And to be clear, I was hardly on an island to make this decision. Schiano had the support of wealthy supporters, casual fans, beloved former players and even the state governor. No one who called for his return expected overnight success either, understanding that the program would need a complete overhaul to compete in a conference like this.

This is the 5th year now.

This is UCL-freaking-A.

Is this the ceiling for this program?

Even though expectations were very high this season, there are absolutely no excuses – including injuries – for this performance. Rutgers was embarrassed on their home field for most of this game, and yet they might have had a chance to steal this game in the fourth quarter if Schiano hadn’t attempted the two-point conversion after Rutgers scored less than three minutes into the third quarter .

Schiano bristled at the idea that he was chasing points — “If you did the analytical work, you would know that’s not true,” he said — but there were still nearly 28 minutes left in the game. If Rutgers had scored the extra points on its first two touchdowns of the second half, it would have had a chance to make it two and tie it when running back Kyle Monangai reached the end zone with 1:23 remaining.

This, without a doubt, was not Schiano’s worst decision in his game. He called a timeout with 1:01 left in the first half after his defense sacked Garbers; UCLA, instead of running out the clock, marched down the field for a touchdown and a 21-10 lead. If Rutgers makes a detour to Las Vegas on the way to the USC game, the MGM Grand could hire Schiano as a cooler.

Then again, focusing on any single decision after this complete defensive meltdown is like blaming a leaky faucet when there’s six feet of water in the basement. “We gave up 223 yards after the catch — that’s the stat that slaps me in the face,” Schiano said, and that should hit him right there, because the defense should be his son.

This Rutgers D looked suspicious before the injuries started piling up, before stalwarts like Wesley Bailey and Aaron Lewis went down. Schiano had talked about filling the talent pool during the first four years, but the players on that defense seemed a step slow in pursuing UCLA’s skill players. It makes you wonder about the long-term future.

“There are a lot of good things cooking that excite me,” Schiano said. “I just wish we didn’t have all these other problems.”

Rutgers has a defense that can’t stop anyone, a coaching staff that lacks creativity and a head coach who hasn’t proven — in 16 years — that he can elevate a college football program beyond second-string bowls in baseball stadiums.

Schiano is right. Go ahead and give it your chance. But if you have to watch this team play the next five games, you might want to double down.

MORE FROM STEVE POLITI:

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The untold story of how Rutgers toppled the Big Ten

How a former Rutgers athlete ended up charged with murder in Tijuana

I Was a Little League Threat – and It’s Time to Confess

The search for Luther Wright, once NJ’s greatest basketball talent

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Steve Politi can be contacted at [email protected]