Greg Schiano post-bye week: ‘It’s November and we still have an opportunity to do something special’

With five games left in the season and the toughest part of the schedule done, Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano believes his team can still make something of a season that started with a lot of promise and hype.

As things stand currently, Rutgers (3-4, 0-4 Big Ten) has lost four straight games. The first three games were against teams currently ranked in the top 10 of the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and their last game against a Northwestern program that made the Big Ten Championship Game last year.

They are still favored in two remaining games according to ESPN FPI.

So, all the handwringing about the past month and the four losses by Rutgers is not always done with an understanding of the gravity of the task at hand for the Scarlet Knights. This was always going to be a tough start to the Big Ten schedule.

“Well, I think, you know, as I talked to the players, and I think it’s important that everybody – we all understand it – is we’re now going into our eighth week and we still have the chance to write the story for the 2021 season, however we see fit, right?” Schiano told reporters on Monday. “We have five ball games left starting with this one this week, and it is in our hands, right?”

The four straight losses are difficult for Rutgers given last season’s 3-6 record and the hopes that the program would take a step forward in 2021. And after three straight wins to start the season, there was some legitimate bowl buzz around Rutgers.

It may have been a bit premature given the conference schedule that was looming. The Scarlet Knights haven’t made a bowl game since 2014 and the excitement over the strong start to the year, including a win at Syracuse, was understandable.

“We can have a very successful season. We cannot. And it’s all up to us. So, if anybody wants to talk about anything going- on other players, it doesn’t matter. It’s up to us,” Schiano said.

“It’s what happens in this room, out on those practice fields, and we have to make it happen. And that excites me. You know, we’re heading into November and we still have an opportunity to do something special and it’s been a while for that around here. And that excites me now. What we do with it’s going to make the difference, right?”