Rutgers Football HC Greg Schiano's Washington Postgame Press Conference
Rutgers Football head coach Greg Schiano met with the media following the Scarlet Knights’ loss to the Washington Huskies on Friday night inside of Husky Stadium. Rutgers fell 38-19 in the team’s second straight road game to fall to 0-3 in Big Ten play.
Following the game, Schiano spoke with the media to offer an immediate reaction to his program’s performance and talked about what he saw in the sixth game of the season, including the struggles on defense and the red zone on offense in Seattle.
Schiano’s Press Conference
Full Press Conference Transcript
Well, to win in the Big Ten, you got to put it together consistently in all three phases. And we were unable to do that tonight. We certainly had our chances.We certainly played good football at times. But, as I told you, consistency is the last thing that comes, and we’re just not there yet. At times, we played defensively, we played well.
And then other times, just too many mistakes to have a chance to win. Offensively, we got to finish drives off in the red zone. Special teams, we missed a field goal and we got a penalty on a kickoff return where we had an opportunity.They had a personal foul. They kicked off from the 20. And we returned the favor with a holding penalty. So those are the things that get you. There’s several things, you know.
As I watch the tape, I’m sure on the ride home, it’s going to be maddening. But, we got good men in that room back there. We got good coaches. We got good players. And we’re just not quite there yet. But we will get there. Questions?
Q: You mentioned the red zone, 13 points and 6 trips. Why do you think the offense wasn’t able to punch the ball in after moving the ball well enough to get into the red zone?
Schiano: Yeah. Until I really dive into it, I can’t tell you reasons exactly why. That’s what everybody likes to do. And look, I understand it. I’m not judging it. That’s what people want to do. They want to have an answer right now. That would be reckless of me to do. Because I don’t have, without watching it and seeing what happened.
Let’s make sure one thing, and I’ve made this mistake before. Let’s give credit to Washington. They have a very good football team. And some of the reason is they played better down there than we did. In every game, we both want the same thing. We want to win the game. And they’re a good team. We’re a good team. They were better than we were tonight.
Q: Kind of a similar question. The defense, the first half giving up 10 points and 28 in the second. Was there anything that you saw right off the rip that was different in the second half?
Schiano: Yeah, I think we made too many mistakes in the second half. Missed assignments. But, again, let’s not, you know. Number two is a dynamic player. A dynamic player as a ball carrier and as a quarterback. The quarterbacking part, I can’t really tell you because we cut guys loose in coverage where, you know, if you just throw it in the vicinity, it’s going to be a catch. The runs he made, those are special. And we had him dead to rights a couple times. And, you know, I tend to watch the back end, but I knew a couple times we had him spied with some of our players. And, you know, I just said, well, he’s definitely going to get them because I saw him flash. Now my eyes are down there to watch the coverage. But I figured we had him, and then he got away. But that’s what a dynamic guy like that can do for you.And, you know, he’s not the biggest guy in the world.
And I talked to Coach Fisch about him at the beginning. I said, where the heck did you find this kid? And he’s an Arizona kid that he had in his camp. And, you know, sometimes you have to say, hey, this kid’s a dynamic player, and so what if he’s 5’11”, right? And that’s what number two is. And hats off to him. Now we have to find a way to defend that, right? And that’s what was disappointing.
But more disappointing was the mistakes we made. I thought we played better at times on defense. I mean, there definitely was improvement, just not enough. And as I told the team, you can sit there and moan and groan about it, or you can own it and go back and work and fix it.
And that’s what we have to do, and it starts with me. You know, I feel like I’m repeating myself because it’s not much different than what I said out at Minnesota.But the reality, that’s my job. I have to figure out how to get everybody to do their job a little bit better. And a little bit better by a bunch of guys, all of a sudden you add it up, it’s a bunch better.And right now I’m not doing my job well enough because we’re not getting those bunches, you know, we’re not getting those little bits that add up to a bunch. So I’ve got to figure that out.
I’ve been here before, you know, done this a long time. We will figure it out. You know, it doesn’t get easier. We’ve got Oregon coming to town in a week, and we’ll get this one behind us and get home, get a little rest, and then get back to work. And, again, it’s about just getting better. We just need to keep getting better, and that will serve us well.
Q: How much of the defensive issues do you pin on coaching and play calling?
Schiano: Oh, you know, coaching, I have to put it all on coaching, right? That’s, to me, players play. We are the ones that have to get them to play the way we want them to play. So I put it all on us. But, you know, I think play calling is overrated. Not that it’s not important, but I think it’s overrated. If it’s on the call sheet, it should be good. Otherwise you shouldn’t have it on the call sheet. When to call it, when not to call it, you know, that can be argued. When you don’t do your assignments, that’s coaching, and we had that too much tonight.
So I got to look, you know, first in the mirror and figure out why I didn’t. We got better. I mean, there was things we did better against, you know, what I thought was a very explosive offense. But at the end of the day, it just wasn’t good enough, and we got to figure that out.
Q: Despite the loss, still 493 yards of total offense. What were your opinions on how the offense played and, you know, a guy like Antwan Raymond, both getting it done in the running game and in the passing game?
Schiano: Yeah. I mean, again, I think we have some really talented players on offense.We got to finish the drives and score touchdowns. That’s how you win in the Big Ten. Consistency on the offense, consistency on the defense, and consistency in the special teams.We’re close. We’re close, but we got to get there. Close is no cigar.
Q: You said we’re close, and we’re getting there. Is your conference shaking three straight losses against teams that are programs you’re chasing, programs that have had success?
Schiano: No, my conference isn’t shaken. No. Look, this game and the game last year against the same team aren’t very different. We made a couple plays in that game, and they didn’t make a couple plays, right? Is that, you know, a year ago? Does that make you better or worse? Look, college football and the way it is, things change quickly. We are not quite there yet, and that’s what we got to do.
We got to get there. And like I said, step up again next week, right? And every week in the Big Ten, like for someone to sit there and try to, you know, say this game is this and this game is that, that’s not real. In the Big Ten, every game is a big, tough, very physical, hard game, and this is no exception.
Got guys that are both hurting physically in there, but more, I think, emotionally than anything, because they’re laying it on the line. They’re doing what we ask. We just got to help them more, and then they got to help themselves more.So it’s playing and coaching. As I always say, it goes hand in hand. But I know that there’s a team that’s going to stick together in there.There’s a staff that’s going to stick together, and we’ll go back to work and continue to improve.
Appreciate you coming all the way out here to cover us, and we’ll see you next week. Thank you.
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