Rutgers football’s loss in Big Ten opener shows that massive rebuild remains a work in progress
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PISCATAWAY, N.J. — The over-reactions will be out in full force following Rutgers football’s 27-10 loss to Iowa on Saturday night. And yet, simply, the Scarlet Knights showed on Saturday night that they are nothing more than a continued work in progress.
The rebuild is getting closer but Rutgers fans, it isn’t there yet. It is closer than it was this time a year ago, but it is nowhere near where fans had hoped it would be.
There is still a lot of work left to be done by head coach Greg Schiano.
Rutgers football got their first loss of the season on Saturday night and there were very few style points in it for the Scarlet Knights. A combination of self-inflicted wounds (three turnovers with two resulting in touchdowns) along with a clear deficiency in size was always going to make this an uphill fight for Rutgers.
This was never going to be a good match-up for Rutgers as Iowa is a prototypical Big Ten team with size and a ferocious defense. For a still rebuilding team, that isn’t a good combination.
When trying to make sense of this game – Rutgers fans came into this game with high hopes that the program had arrived – the long view has to be taken. The Scarlet Knights aren’t there yet.
Going up against a blueblood like Iowa while starting their third-string quarterback had the makings of a disaster and it played out that way for Rutgers. That Rutgers offense spotted Iowa 14 points in the first half making an already tough match-up downright impossible.
This offense just simply can’t overcome those types of self-inflicted wounds.
And, let’s be brutally honest, the roster that Schiano inherited was not just bottom of the Big Ten but bottom of all the Power Five programs in terms of talent. This is a massive rebuild, and to think that Rutgers had suddenly turned it around and wouldn’t still take bumps and bruises was naive.
Rutgers isn’t alone. Big Ten programs such as Nebraska are struggling this season. Northwestern was tied midway through the fourth quarter against Miami (Ohio). Wisconsin and Michigan State are both down this season. Even Purdue was engaged in a tight game against FAU on Saturday night and the Boilermakers haven’t been sharp this season.
What does this all mean for Rutgers? Considering that all those aforementioned programs are further ahead than Rutgers in their development, perhaps in the big picture things aren’t so terrible for Rutgers. In the toughest division in college football, this rebuild was always going to be a challenge.
It was always going to take time.
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This thing will continue to need to build momentum. There may be more games like this from Rutgers as this season wears on. But the Scarlet Knights are still 3-1 and halfway towards bowl eligibility.
When projecting the season, most fans and the media didn’t expect Rutgers to already be at three wins. The Scarlet Knights still need just three wins from these next eight games to be bowl eligible for the first time since 2014. Will it be easy? No. But it isn’t improbable.
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Given the monumental task undertaken by Schiano three years ago, these ugly losses likely aren’t over anytime soon. But they will be learning moments for a program that still has taken a step forward this season.
