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Greetings from “Can’t Wait For Saturday,” your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He’ll give you his views each day on the game he loves.
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I’m not quite sure what to think about Greg Schiano 2.0 at Rutgers.
On the one hand, he was successful in Piscataway, N.J., the first time, going 56-43 with six bowl bids his final seven seasons. The first four seasons shouldn’t count against him as he was trying to build the roster. Schiano inherited a mess from the previous coach Terry Shea, who went 11-44.
But Schiano took over during a different era and league. The Scarlet Knights were in the Big East and it doesn’t even play football anymore. Pity.
The road back to respectability is harder now in the Big Ten. Nobody should be surprised that in his second stint, it took Schiano four seasons to return to a bowl.
Rutggers had a breakthrough in 2023, finishing7-6 with a Pinstripe Bowl win against Miami.
I was so impressed that I thought Rutgers had a chance to be the surprise team in the Big Ten in ’24. Turns out, I should have said Indiana instead.
Yes, Rutgers made it back to a bowl, but it struggled to get there, losing four in a row at midseason. Worse,it let Illinois steal a game in Piscataway on a late TD pass from Luke Altmyer to Pat Bryant.
Rutgers closed the season with a close loss in the Rate Bowl against Kansas State.
I rank the Rutgers nonconference schedule in 2025 the 15th most difficult in the Big Ten. All three games are at SHI Stadium and two are against the MAC.
Rutgers opens Aug. 28 against Ohio, which is coming off an 11-win season.
The…
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Publish date : 2025-03-30 14:51:00
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