Penn State vs Rutgers Scouting Report: BWI Daily Edition
Penn State football hosts Rutgers for their final home game of the 2021 regular season on Saturday. To get you ready, Thomas Frank Carr, host of the BWI Daily Edition, brings on James Kratch of NJ.com to preview the game from the Scarlett Knights perspective.
Greg Schiano ties to Penn State
They start with the well-known ties of former Penn State assistant coach Greg Schiano coming back to Penn State for the first time as a head coach. T-Frank asks Kratch about how Schiano handles those emotions and feelings this week as he prepares for the game.
Rutgers Offense
After that, they start with the running game for Rutgers, which features an interesting statistic that T-Frank found this week. First, Kratch explains why so many players for the Scarlett Knights have touched the ball on offense. Then, they discuss how vital that facet of the game has been and just how inconsistent it’s been.
A crucial part of the rushing attack is quarterback Noah Vedral, one of the more prolific rushing quarterbacks in the Big Ten. T-Frank asks how important Vedral is to that part of Rutgers’ offense, and Krtach explains that it’s a complicated situation.
Next, they move on to the passing attack. The Rutgers and Penn State offenses share one particular commonality, according to T-Frank. Kratch explains why Rutgers struggles to move the ball through the air and compensate for lack of quality pass protection.
Rutgers Defense and program building
From there, they move on to a large picture of the program so that Penn State fans have an idea of what Schiano is building in New Jersey. T-Frank asks how the team is using the transfer portal, ties to the state, and recruiting the east coast to battle the other titans of the division. Kratch tells him that Schiano is doing better than his predecessors in one key area but still lags in others.
From there, they move no to the defense and how they’ve performed this season. T-Frank has noticed on film how Schiano may want to play differently than he needs to win games. So he asks Kratch to fill him in on how the Scarlett Knight’s leader is building the defense and what he wants their identity to be.
A prominent part of the Rutgers plan is to stop the run. T-Frank highlights nose tackle Julius Turner as a player that stood out to him and found out his story from Kratch. They also go over the injury situation at linebacker and how that might dictate a personnel switch this weekend.
Finally, they wrap up looking at the key elements that will determine the game on Saturday. Kratch also explains this game is a benchmark for Rutgers and its fans, outside of just a win that will make the team bowl eligible. T-Frank wraps up by asking for keys to the game.
