Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano hosted his post-game press conference after the team’s blowout 60-10 win over Norfolk State to discuss what occurred during the game and how the team looks going forward.
The first situation that was discussed was the injuries to offensive tackle Tyler Needham and running back CJ Campbell. The severity of their injuries is currently unknown; however, since the Scarlet Knights have already lost two tackles to injury, losing Needham would be a big loss to an already depleted
group.
Wide receiver Ian Strong is also in a similar situation; however, unlike the others, he did not even appear in this game. With his condition currently unknown, it is unclear if he will play in Rutgers’ game against Iowa on Friday. Schiano’s speech alluded to his absence in this game being injury-related, but he did not provide specifics on the nature of the injury, except that he likely got it during one of the first two games of the season and didn’t even know about it.
When talking about rotating backups near the end of the game, Schiano highlighted the performances of backup quarterbacks AJ Surace and Sean Ashenfelder. Surace looked as good as advertised, throwing for two touchdowns on just seven passing attempts. Schiano wanted to put Roucco Rainone into the game as well, but was unable to before time expired. He also mentioned how he would’ve liked to have his backups in the game sooner.
According to Schiano, the defense that he described as a “work in progress” has continued to make progress. He highlighted the two takeaways they registered during this game and Norfolk State’s poor third down percentage as proof of that.
To view Schiano’s entire press conference, click the link here.
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