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NEW YORK – Greg Schiano considers a bowl game a reward for his Rutgers football team.
After a grueling, arduous Big Ten season, filled with highs and lows, challenging practices and countless hours in the film room, the chance to play in the postseason, in a bowl game, is something that players can look forward to and enjoy.
“The minute bowl games aren’t a reward, then there’s no motivation,” Schiano said Wednesday. “At Rutgers there’ll always be a reward.”
Today the Scarlet Knights will take the field for that reward when they go up against the Miami Hurricanes in the Pinstripe Bowl (2:15 p.m., ESPN) at Yankee Stadium, the program’s 12th bowl appearance and eighth under Schiano.
A win would also give Rutgers its first winning season since 2014.
Reaching this point – traditional bowl eligibility – cleared a hurdle for a Scarlet Knights team that most outsiders believed would win at most five games. But Rutgers won its nonconference schedule and won three Big Ten games (Northwestern, Michigan State and Indiana) to secure six wins and a bowl bid.
It’s a valuable and meaningful opportunity for the team, especially for the older players who stuck with the program following the hiring of Schiano and helped lead the rebuild.
The program wasn’t in a great spot when that occurred back in December of 2019.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Schiano said. “We didn’t have enough good players. We didn’t have the things we needed in almost every area. Yet, they stuck with us and slowly we improved in every area, whether it be on the field, whether it be in the classroom, personnel, all kinds of things that needed to get better. We’re not where we need to be yet, but it’s a heck of a lot better, and those guys are the reason for that. The ones that have stuck with it, they’ve provided the leadership.”
PINSTRIPE BOWL WEEK…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/rutgers-vs-miami-live-updates-090430891.html
Author : App.com | Asbury Park Press
Publish date : 2023-12-28 09:04:30
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