Penn State football: What Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said ahead of Saturday's game

This week, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano is returning to Penn State, the place where he says he “cut his teeth” in coaching, first as a graduate assistant on the Nittany Lion coaching staff in 1990, then coaching the secondary from 1991 to 1995.

Schiano says he won’t get caught up in the occasion because the Scarlet Knights have a job to do. They’re 5-5, needing one more win to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2014.

“The job is for me to stay focused on what we have to do and that’s what I will do,” Schiano said. “But it will be neat to go back. I went back as an assistant twice when I was at Ohio State. But to go back with my own team now, certainly it will mean something.”

Thoughts on the Penn State defense

The biggest task facing Schiano and the Rutgers coaching staff comes in trying to figure out a way to best Penn State’s defense.

The Nittany Lions surrender the ninth-fewest points of any FBS team at just 17.1 per game. Penn State’s red zone defense also ranks as one of the best in the country, and the Nittany Lions are adept at generating takeaways, too.

Schaino sees a challenge when he looks at the Nittany Lions defense on tape.

“Well they are really good,” he said. “They are a top 10 scoring defense in the country, so that means no one’s scored. When you reach that level, it means not many people have scored points on you. They are really, really athletic. They run very well. I think their secondary is outstanding. They got very athletic linebackers, and even though they have lost some guys to season-ending injuries on the defensive front, they are still very good. There is a reason that they’re tough to score on.”

RU’s key to victory

Asked what the Scarlet Knights need to do in order to pull off the upset win this weekend, Schaino pointed toward the turnover battle.

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Rutgers generated two takeaways to Penn State’s one last season in Piscataway, but repeating that feat could prove challenging considering the way the Nittany Lions have flipped their turnover script from last season to this one.

“You have to take care of the football, first and foremost,” he said. “When we don’t turn the ball over, we win, at least in 2021. So that would be the first thing and then the next thing would be if we can take it away from them. That gives us a real good chance.

“So that’s where it starts but there is a lot of things that make that happen. Some of it is schematics, some of it is techniques. All those things have to come into play, but more than anything, you have to pay really hard for an extended period of time and that takes a great deal of focus.”

Schiano is also challenging his players to keep their attention on the task ahead of them amid the outside buzz surrounding the Scarlet Knights and potential bowl eligibility.

“We may not be good enough to win the game, I don’t know that,” he said. “We are going to find that out on Saturday. But I know we are not good enough to be watching [other things]. That doesn’t work. I hope they trust me and believe what I am telling them is the truth. Our whole focus has to be on Penn State.”

Rivalry talk

A reporter asked Schaino about having a potential rival in the Big Ten, a common theme for the Scarlet Knights whenever Penn State comes up on the schedule.

Schaino replied that Rutgers can’t choose its rivals, that it’s something which needs to form naturally.

“Do you have to have it? No. Is it good for college football? Yes. Is it good for our program? I think 100 percent,” he said. “If you have ever been a part of a rivalry, it’s a lot of fun. College football is fun and that makes it even more fun. I have been part of some the biggest — probably the biggest. When you used to talk about it, the first was Pitt vs Penn State. Then, it was Miami vs Florida State. Then it was Ohio State vs Michigan. Those are like really big, big rivalries, and I long for us to have a rival like that.

“You need to play your way into it. And when we do, we will have a rival. We haven’t done that yet.”