Three Thoughts on Rutgers Football's 22-0 loss to No. 22 Iowa
It was a tough afternoon for Rutgers Football as it fell to No. 22 Iowa 22-0 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.
Here are three thoughts after the game....
An offensive debacle
Although Rutgers (6-4, 3-4 Big Ten) survived through the first nine weeks of the season through a defensive-oriented approach, the chickens came home to roost in this matchup as Iowa lapped the Scarlet Knights in every facet of the game. Not only was Rutgers limited to 127 yards of total offense, but the Scarlet Knights did not impose a threat to score at any point in this game either.
“I think we had, what, five false starts,” head coach Greg Schiano said. “You don't have a chance when you do that.”
Whether it was six pre-snap penalties or an inability to move the ball, this was a concerning offensive performance from the Scarlet Knights and the type of showing that requires serious corrections. While a ground-and-pound style of football might work in September, it becomes much harder to sustain in the dog days of November when the weather gets cold and injuries start to mount.
The end of the Wimsatt era?
While Gavin Wimsatt should be commended for being the quarterback that led Rutgers back to bowl eligibility, it is hard to come away from this game feeling good about his chances at being Rutgers' quarterback of the future. Not only did he finish 7-for-18 for 93 yards and one interception, but he has yet to show the necessary signs of being a well-equipped collegiate QB.
“We played the first-place team in the Big Ten East last week and the first-place team in the Big Ten West this week,” Schiano said. “That's how it is in this league.”
Through the first 10 weeks, Wimsatt has thrown eight touchdown passes and six interceptions and has a completion percentage of 48.2 which ranks among the worst in college football. He has also thrown three costly pick-sixes against Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio State that one could argue played a vital role in each loss. At the end of the day, there are only two games left in what is already a six-win season so a change at signal-caller is likely a lost cause at this point. However, unless Wimsatt makes serious strides in the final two games and the offseason it will be a hard sell to the scarlet faithful that Wimsatt should be handed the keys in 2024.
Still work to be done
Look, Rutgers deserves its flowers for becoming bowl-eligible for the first time since 2012 and there are still two more opportunities to blow past all predictions it had coming into the season. At the same time though, as the program evolves so too should its expectations so performances like this need to become a thing of the past if it ever wants to be taken seriously both in and out of the Big Ten.
“Iowa is exactly who we thought they were,” Schiano said. “They sure played well today.”
As much as this performance might have been a gut punch to the Scarlet Knights, it was their first true stinker of the season and the fact it came in week 10 against Iowa (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) at Kinnick Stadium shows how far the program has come from a couple of seasons ago. It also proved though that there is still a lot of work to do in order to get where they want to go and it starts with putting some more points on the board.
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