ANN ARBOR, Mich. — They came to the Big House and had a chance to beat No. 19 Michigan, and maybe at another time in Rutgers football history, that in itself would have been celebrated as a noteworthy accomplishment.
This is an opponent, after all, that once scored 78 points in a game against the Scarlet Knights without even really trying, that beat them so badly here just two years ago that the head coach was handed a cardboard box and $10 million to go away the next day.
This time, Rutgers was down 17 points and punched back in the second half with a gutsy performance that left the 106,943 fans in stunned silence at times.
This time, Rutgers nearly pulled out the victory.
But the best thing that took place in Ann Arbor on Saturday afternoon might have happened when the players emerged from the locker room to meet with the media. Time and time again, they were given a chance to pat themselves on the back for almost beating the Wolverines, and time and time again, they made this abundantly clear:
Almost ain’t cutting it any more.
“Absolutely, we feel like we let one get away,” quarterback Noah Vedral said after this 20-13 defeat was in the books. “We don’t work that hard during the week just to be in a game. We work to win the game, and we definitely let things get away from us.”
He is absolutely right, and really, isn’t that refreshing? Greg Schiano still might be in the early stages of this rebuild in Piscataway, but his players are done with accepting high fives and attaboys for coming close. They are holding themselves up to a higher standard than most of the media and, based on my email inbox, plenty of the fans, too.
They expected to win. They’re not good enough to make all the mistakes they made and beat a top-25 team on the road, but they’ve raised the bar. That’s progress.
“I think I said this when I first came back: We’re not here to be close,” Schiano said.
Schiano was hard on himself after this one — and rightfully so. He deserves a ton of credit for getting this program back to a place where it can compete with the Big Ten’s best, but this was not his finest afternoon on the sideline.
He went for it on fourth and 10 late near midfield with 26 seconds left in the first half, giving Michigan a field goal. He got too cute — or, more accurately, let his offensive coordinator do so — with another fourth-down call in the first half that backfired.
For as impressive as the Scarlet Knights looked defensively in shutting down Michigan in the second half, they were sloppy offensively and committed too many penalties. They settled for field goals when they needed touchdowns.
“I didn’t help our team enough today,” Schiano said. “I could have helped our team more. I’m disappointed in myself. It’s something that I have to examine.
“I tell you all that, and I’m not the martyr here. I think every guy in the locker room feels that way, every coach and every player. That’s what good football teams do — they are willing to look at what things go right and how can they get (the mistakes) right.”
Let’s be clear: Rutgers got plenty right. The Scarlet Knights out-rushed Michigan 196-112, a statistic that would have seemed unthinkable even before they lost their best offensive line, Reggie Sutton, to an awful knee injury.
Michigan ran it on 15 of 17 plays during a first-quarter touchdown drive, and when it ended, it looked like the Wolverines might run for 400. Instead, the defense shut them down in the second half as Rutgers actually won the all-important battle in the trenches.
If the Scarlet Knights can keep that up? They’ll be going to a bowl somewhere. Schiano said the team would learn how it measured up against the best of the Big Ten in this game, and the performance is proof that his team can compete against anyone on their schedule.
That’s also what makes this one so frustrating. Rutgers had so many chances to win this game. The missed chip-shot field goal in the fourth quarter. The inability to get a yard on fourth and one in Michigan territory with five minutes left in the game. The Vedral fumble with one last chance to march down the field after Michigan missed a field goal.
If any of those things go Rutgers’ way ...
“Nobody’s here for moral victories,” Schiano said, putting an end to that narrative. Last year, the Scarlet Knights took Michigan to triple overtime before losing, and give their struggles, the game felt like nothing short of a miracle.
Now, though, they’re taking a been-there-done-that approach to coming close. Rutgers is done celebrating almost and nearly, and that in itself its victory worth celebrating.
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com.
"accept" - Google News
September 25, 2021 at 02:00PM
https://ift.tt/3o5pleF
Rutgers won’t accept a moral victory in Michigan -- and neither should anyone else | Politi - NJ.com
"accept" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YsXkRf
https://ift.tt/3d2Wjnc
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Rutgers won’t accept a moral victory in Michigan -- and neither should anyone else | Politi - NJ.com"
Post a Comment