Three Thoughts on Rutgers Football's 24-13 loss to Wisconsin
It was a tough afternoon offensively for Rutgers as it fell to Wisconsin 24-13 at Camp Randall Stadium.
Here are three thoughts after the game….
Giving Wisconsin a Hall pass
This was a game that will be filled with a lot of “what-ifs” for Rutgers and Ricardo Hallman’s pick-six will shoot right to the top of the list.
“I refuse to get into that what-if game because the reality is you make a decision with the time you have,” head coach Greg Schiano said. “You’re going to make a play call to decide the fate of your game. Sometimes you’re going to make the right one and sometimes you don’t. If that scores, it’s the right call.”
After falling behind 10-0, the Scarlet Knights seemed to find a rhythm towards the end of the first half with a nine-play, 69-yard drive and appeared destined to go into the tunnel down by one score. However, the game took a turn when Wimsatt tossed an interception into the waiting arms of Hallman who brought it back 95 yards to the house to give Wisconsin a 17-0 lead. From that moment on, Rutgers was fighting an uphill battle it just could not overcome.
Needing more from Gavin Wimsatt
Despite what the final score reads, this was a game Rutgers could have had if it got more from Gavin Wimsatt and the rest of its offense. As a team, the Scarlet Knights finished with 275 total yards but were held to just 64 on the ground.
“I don’t think offensively anything was very smooth today,” Schiano continued. “It wasn’t just Gavin, it was everybody. We as a staff and we as a team just didn’t execute with the level of deep detail that’s necessary to win these types of games.”
The blueprint appears to be out on the Scarlet Knights: keep them under 100 yards rushing and force Wimsatt to win through the air. So, if Rutgers is going to take the next step and become bowl eligible its offense will need to adapt and leave performances like this in the past.
Make or break time
As much as this loss might be a bitter pill to swallow for the Scarlet Knights, they will need to regroup quickly considering the next two games will likely decide what type of season they have.
“We’re not there yet,” Schiano said. “But the word is yet, that’s the operative word, we are getting better.”
At the end of the day, going into Camp Randall Stadium and coming away with the victory was always going to be a tall task. However, Rutgers now faces winnable foes in Michigan State and Indiana so if it wants to reach that magic number of six it will likely need to go 2-0 the next two weeks.
Rutgers will return to action next Saturday when it takes on Michigan State in a Homecoming matchup at SHI Stadium at noon (ET).
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