Everything Rutgers Football HC Greg Schiano said ahead of Minnesota game week
Rutgers Football head coach Greg Schiano met with the media again today as the Scarlet Knights prep for the upcoming game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers this upcoming Saturday afternoon inside of Huntington Bank Stadium.
Full Press Conference Transcript
GREG SCHIANO: Well, thanks for coming out guys. Had a good little, players had a chance to get away for a day. And then got them back yesterday and got back to work. And all attention is focused on Minnesota. Really well coached football team, PJ does a great job. Very proud of what he does there.And you can see that he’s put together a great staff. They’re doing a really, really good job. He’s evolved on offense, some that makes it a big challenge.
Defensively, the number one defense in the country right now. So we go from playing one of the top five to the top two weeks in a row. And special teams very well coached.
Bob Ligashesky does a great job with their special teams. So gonna be a great challenge going on the road for the first time. I enjoy that, getting your team together. It’s gonna make for a very, very competitive week of practice.
We have 74 slots by the Big Ten rules and we’ve been using and had more guys up than 74.So there’s unfortunately some guys are gonna not make the plane. But that’ll all be determined in practice.
So with that, I’ll open it up for questions.
Moses (Walker) and Colin (Weber) didn’t finish the game. Do you have an update on them? And if they can’t go, who would kind of rise up and take their spot?
GREG SCHIANO: Yeah, that’ll go on Saturday, on the availability report.
Athan obviously played Minnesota last year. So it’s not the first time facing his old team. But going back there, I’m sure there’s gonna be some extra emotions in there. I guess, how do you kind of feel like he’ll handle that? And how do you kind of keep him from getting too distracted by anything going on?
GREG SCHIANO: Yeah, I think Athan’s really matured quite a bit since he arrived here.
I think he’s gonna be totally focused on playing the football game, being the quarterback that he’s capable of being, and running our offense. And certainly, he played there. So he still knows guys on the team.
It’s going back to the stadium that he started his career in. But I think that all fades away very quickly. And what it becomes is a really, really challenging defense that we have to be able to move the football on.
So that’s where, certainly, Athan, he’s a grown man now. He’s gonna approach it that way.
Now that it’s been a few days since Friday, have you been able to rewatch what you’ve seen from the offensive line? And how do you think they performed? And what can you take away going into Saturday?
GREG SCHIANO: Well, yeah, most of it is all looking forward. We evaluated that game, heck, that night, started to at least. And I think what we have is we have an offensive line that’s growing, right? The interior three are experienced guys. The guys on the perimeter at the tackles, I think, are getting better each week.
Last week was a great challenge. This week will be a great challenge. Their defense at every level has premier players and then a bunch of really good players.
But when you look number zero, I think Smith’s his name. He really gets after the passer. So he’s someone you really gotta be aware of. The linebacker number six, Baranowski, is very, very active. And then Koi Perich in the back end is one of the best in the country. So they have, like I said, stars at each level of the defense.
And then a really, really good supporting cast around them. And that’s why they’re number one in the country, I’m sure.
There’s not much tape on the quarterback for Minnesota, Lindsey, but what have you seen in the early preparation for him?
GREG SCHIANO: Yeah, I mean, we know about him, right? He redshirted, he’s been in their system, he knows the system well. Now it’s his turn, very good quarterback. You can see why they’re so high on him.
He’s got all the skills, he’s got a big, big arm, he’s a big man. He’s 230 pounds, 6’5″, he’s not easy to get down. He’s able to move in the pocket and he’s a pro style quarterback, but he really is a strong kid.
He’s got a strong arm, seems to really understand what they’re doing. It’s very much an NFL style offense. They’re under center more now.
It reminds me a lot of the NFL teams that we study for different things. And certainly well coached, the offensive line is really well coached. The receivers, PJ’s a receiver coach by trade, and their receivers always play very well.
Not only catching the football, but doing all the little things. So it’s gonna be a challenge, certainly, for us in every way. And then the running back who was injured, Taylor, they have a stable of running backs, you can see.
Cuz he went down, and another guy come in, and another guy goes down. And they’ve done a very good job of recruiting at the running back position, cuz they do run the football, and much like we do. And it’s gonna be a challenge, they got all the pieces.
They got it at the skill, the tight end is a national player. He had, I think, eight catches against us last year. So certainly, we didn’t do a good job defending him, and he’s a really good player.
I think his name is Gears, so 86, I think. So yeah, they got good players in all three phases. And it’s gonna be a huge challenge, and going on the road at their place.
And they’re coming off a bye week, so we certainly have our hands full. But one that we’re excited about, attacking. Guys couldn’t wait to get back to work yesterday, and great attitude. It is what it is. We didn’t like the outcome, but we got to move forward now. We got to learn from it, and we got to move forward.
How close could Sam Brown be to potentially being in the mix there?
GREG SCHIANO: Sam’s getting better. He’s getting better every week, coming off the surgery. I think it’ll just be one of those things where he feels he’s ready to go, and then we’ll give it a whirl.
Against Iowa, 2.3 yards per carry running the ball. Just how important is that gonna be to establish that in this game? And how difficult will that be against this defense? Well, everything’s gonna be difficult against the defense. But I think you gotta look at, each week presents different challenges, different issues, and there’s a game plan.
We’re never gonna go into a game and say, we have to do this no matter what. We’re gonna do what the defense gives us the best opportunity to do. And when you have weapons at both the throwing game and in the running game, then you pick which one you wanna do, which is gonna be more effective.
So again, they’re the number one defense in America, so certainly it’s gonna be hard to do either. But we’ll have a plan. Coach Ciarrocca and his staff will definitely have a plan. And then it’s about going and executing, and that’s what makes it hard, right? And really, in all three phases, the execution is gonna be the issue. That’s really what it boils down to. Thank you, Coach.
Building off that, it seems like the offense is starting strong in a lot of these games and tailed off towards the end. How do you keep the momentum of the offense going throughout the game against the number one defense?
GREG SCHIANO: It’s all about execution. Really, very, very fine line between converting on third down, not converting, and popping a run.
We were a couple of shoestrings away from popping some runs that maybe last year come flying out. So who knows? Maybe that happens when we keep growing, keep maturing, keep getting better. But that’s what this week of practice is about.
We have to improve. We have to improve in all three phases. It’s about incremental improvement over time.
That’s all we talk about, is how much better can we get today? And then tomorrow, how much better can we get? And then when you add it all up, then you go play the game and see where you stand. And that’s what’ll happen this week. Excited about doing it, but it’s gonna be a great challenge.
So Brian, a quick two-parter on Dino. What has Dino Kaliakmanis added to his team? And what have you seen from his relationship with Athan, having spent a lot of time around them in the past two years?
GREG SCHIANO: Yeah, Dino is a huge part of our team. He’s a big-time special teams player for us, provides depth at the wide receiver position.
I think you saw when he caught that touchdown against Miami, how excited everybody on the team was for Dino. Everybody loves Dino. And certainly, being the quarterback’s brother could be difficult for some.
Not for him. I mean, he loves his brother. He loves this team.
He is all about Rutgers football, and I love coaching him. And I get to coach him a lot because he’s involved in a lot of the special teams. So, fun guy to be around.
You touched a little bit on Koi Perich. He’s only a sophomore. He’s playing at all three phases of the game. Have you seen someone that young with that versatile of a skill set? And how do you prepare for that?
GREG SCHIANO: Yeah, he’s quite a player. I know they were very excited about him when they landed him as a recruit. And I think what PJ’s trying to do is get the most out of him that he can.
So he is in all three phases. He’s a returner. He’s playing outside of wide out in the offense.
And he’s certainly playing a huge role in their defense, right? I mean, he’s a big reason why they have a number one defense in the country. So, yeah, we know about him. Just cuz you know doesn’t mean you can stop him.
But we’re gonna be aware of where he is. And he’s quite a ball hawk. And if you’re not careful, he’ll go rip it out of the sky.
So we gotta make sure. The ball is so critical in the success of each and every week. So we put a huge premium on it.
And this week will be no different. Again, guys, thanks for covering us. Appreciate you for coming out.
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