At the beginning of the season, much was talked about the grind that was ahead that is the Big Ten football schedule this fall.
Teams were set to play nine games in nine weeks -- eight regular season contests and one more game for Big Ten Champions Week -- with no breaks or byes, that is, unless COVID-19 issues arise.
The good thing for Rutgers (2-5) has been it hasn’t had any stoppages. It’s played all seven games on the schedule so far. The bad news is, it didn’t get any breaks, and bumps and bruises, other injuries, and just the physical and mental stress are starting to take a toll.
It’s been a grind, and when the Scarlet Knights face Maryland in College Park on Saturday, they will have played eight Big Ten games in as many weeks, which they’ve never done since joining the league since 2014 and something they’ve never done against Power 5 opponents, period, since at the very least 2000 when looking back at the schedules.
“I think any of those situations would be in and of itself, substantial. And then you throw the big one on top of it, COVID-19, and the ups and downs and the start stops and all the emotional and mental and physical tear and wear that's had on them, I think it's like everybody else in the country. I think it's had an effect. And I think those that are mentally the most tough who have the ability to stay focused on the task at hand are going to do the best down the stretch,” Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said.
“The logical question would be well to do you think that had an effect on us last week? Maybe, but I don't know. We didn't play well. I thought we had a really good week of practice last week leading up to the game so it wasn't that. I think what we just need to do is lock in on what we're doing this week, and again, that's what our culture is built on. Chop is just that. It's focus on that spot and try to put the other stuff off to the side for now and we'll get to it later. So that's literally what we're trying to do here.”
On the flip side, Maryland (2-2) has only played four games. Three games were cancelled against Ohio State and Michigan State in November and against Michigan a week ago due to COVID-19 issues.
TKR asked Schiano about the challenge of preparing for a team that hasn’t played much.
“You're right, there's four games. So that's what you go off of. You can look at last year but I think every year is different and every team is different. It is what it is,” Schiano said. “You don't have a choice. That's what you go on. But they've had some time to prepare and who knows what they've changed, but we'll have to adjust on the fly. That's always the case but it may be more than case this week and we're prepared for that.”
Maryland is averaging 23.5 points per game on offense and allowing 33.3 on defense through four games. Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa has completed 65-of-122 passes for 1,011 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. Running back Jake Funk is second in the conference with 112 rushing yards per game. On defense, Chance Campbell averages 10.5 tackles with 1.5 sacks on the year.
“Defensively they're multiple, talented, and they really can run. Offensively, they have great skill,” Schiano told TKR. “They'll operate out of three and four wideout sets, and they should. They have really good wide receivers. They have a stable of running backs but one running back is the guy who's averaging out something like seven yards of carry. He's an elite player. I think the quarterback is dangerous. He's dangerous both with his arm and with his feet. When he went into the portal, there was talk about how good is he really. I can tell you he's really good. He's a good passer and is very good with his feet. It seems to me that he has a very good control of their offense after not a lot of time in the offense. I know he and coach (Mike) Locksley had a relationship before at Alabama so that may be part of it that he understands where coach is coming from.
“It's a challenging team for sure, and we're going on the road and I'm getting informed daily there's going to be some hurdles in the travel and all that for our normal procedure just because of some different policies in the state of Maryland. We're gonna have to adapt to that. And, you know, football players and coaches are creatures of habit, so when you have to change your habit, you have to make sure you give plenty a heads up.”
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.
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