The Rutgers football team isn't just taking part in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against Wake Forest just to soak up the sun in Jacksonville, Fla. and to play a game. It wants to win.
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The backs may be against the Scarlet Knights wall, and they know it, but the coaches, support staff, people behind the scenes, and the players have been working hard in order to get ready for the contest on short notice.
"You know me I think pretty well. If we're gonna play a game and they're keeping score, we're going to try and win," Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano told TKR on Monday during a virtual press conference. "There's no such thing as no-lose because if our number is smaller than their number, we definitely lose, and it's gonna hurt a lot. And I've told you guys, when you lose, you mourn that. Our coaches have made an unbelievable effort. They're up to 3 a.m. getting the game plans ready and getting everything ready. The players have done everything we've asked of them. So yeah, it'll hurt a lot if we don't win."
Schiano is keeping who is available and who is playing under wraps in order to gain some sort of competitive advantage over Wake Forest. Players who have signed with agents and have entered the NFL Draft have applied for waivers.
"I think we're gonna have to play a lot of guys. It's gonna be 80 degrees. People say well, you only have four or five practices to get ready. That's really more of the problem than the issue, because while we trained, we didn't play football. I don't care if you're lifting and running, the change of direction, the sudden explosive movements, those are the things that make you sore," Schiano said. "We really eased them into it yesterday. Even so, our guys are sore a little bit which is natural. We're going inside and we're heating it up so that helps get us ready for going down there and also for being loose and fluid. But we're going to really adjust how we practice. I don't think it's realistic to strain them the way we do during a regular game week and we can expect to have anything left on on Friday. It's a unique approach. They've been awesome. For the guys that are playing, they thought they were done playing or they thought they were going to another league to play and now they're back with their buddies and they're practicing and it's really an exciting thing for us."
The players returned after spending time with family on Christmas on Saturday night and the team went through its first practice on Sunday inside The Bubble. Getting back up to speed mentally has been important as well.
"We brought him back Christmas night so everybody could enjoy Christmas with their family. And really all they had to do is get back here and sleep in their bed here Christmas night. We gave a suggested time, but we had guys rolling in all night. But starting on Sunday we really are spending a little more time in meetings. We got an extra walkthrough in. It's not physically taxing, but it allows us to prepare mentally. They've been really locked in. They know that we're at a disadvantage and they're trying to do everything they can to even the playing field. I appreciate that. I said this from the very beginning and I commented coach (Chris) Ash left us team that knew how to work and they've only gotten better at that. That's never been the issue at our place. I just got to make sure that we got some juice in our legs when we hit the field Friday. That's the balancing act."
Rutgers accepted the bid to the New Year's Eve game after Texas A&M had to withdraw due to COVID issues within the program last week. Wake Forest has been practicing ever since the ACC Championship Game, but it was preparing for the Aggies. The Demon Deacons only turned their attention to the Scarlet Knights the same time Rutgers began working on Wake Forest.
"Dave Clawson and I, we talked, and they had all their developmental practices for the young kids and they had their game plan. But again, they just found out they were playing us too," Schiano said. "They're in better physical condition, and they've had more practices, so they're going to be more prepared that way, but we both have the same amount of time to get ready for each other although they had a game plan for Texas A&M and Texas A&M's defense is very similar to ours. Unfortunately, I wish it would have been like an odd front team that plays man-to-man all the time. But it wasn't. They are very much like us."
Since Rutgers became the first team to join a bowl game due to a team dropping out because of COVID, other bowl games across the country have seen the same thing happen like Texas A&M. The Scarlet Knights are doing everything they can in order to be and stay safe so the game takes place.
"We're doing the right thing making sure everybody's healthy," Schiano said. "We'll never put never put that second to anything. The player's health and well being is most important. As I said to open, the doctors and the trainers are doing incredible job. Everybody's being careful, and we're going to get on that plane and get down there and make it official."
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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