Are there any Schiano defenders left?

[AdventureHasAName]

It depends on how you define a "defender." Do I think he is an above average P4 in-game coach? No. Do I think he's a very good recruiter? Yes, except at the quarterback position (which unfortunately is the most important). Do I think it is likely the person who eventually replaces him will produce better results? No. Do I think he is capable of producing a New Years Day Bowl team if he coached at Ohio State or Michigan? Yes, definitely. Do I think he was totally screwed by the implementation of NIL and the transfer portal? Yes (any and all Rutgers coaches would and will be).

 

[RU#1fan]

What makes you think Greg is capable of going 7-5? If that were the case no one would be wanting him fired..

I think you just answered OP's question

Ignore this imbecile.
It has pointed out many times that keeping Greg will cost Rutgers far more than terminating him. Just seeing the attendance of RU fans at home vs. Michigan last Saturday says it all. If Schiano is retained the season ticket cancellations will be historic. Millions lost in ticket revenue, concessions, donation$, and Parking revenue each season. And the $28 million payout is not one year but over several years.

 

[Rob from NJ]

It depends on how you define a "defender." Do I think he is an above average P4 in-game coach? No. Do I think he's a very good recruiter? Yes, except at the quarterback position (which unfortunately is the most important). Do I think it is likely the person who eventually replaces him will produce better results? No. Do I think he is capable of producing a New Years Day Bowl team if he coached at Ohio State or Michigan? Yes, definitely. Do I think he was totally screwed by the implementation of NIL and the transfer portal? Yes (any and all Rutgers coaches would and will be).

Schiano coached at Ohio State as the DC in 2016-2018. The defense under Schiano got progressively worse. 2018 defense ranking was not in the top 50 in college football with world class athletes that surrendered over 400 yards per game. Of course Ohio State's offense in 2018 under Day scored over 40 points a game to make up for Schiano's mess. Finally Day took over as HC in 2019 ran Schiano out of town, hired Hafley and the defense had a major turnaround. Even with great college athletes Schiano was a bust.

The bar is set really low for the next HC, like underground low. In 7 years Schiano has beaten nobody. No signature wins, no upset wins except against a bad Purdue team in 2020, and a total of 2 wins against In-Conference teams that finished with a winning record, one of which happened during Northwestern's opening debut with Coach Braun as he was dealing with a scandal. The record speaks for itself. Zero signature wins. Somewhere along the line even a squirrel would find a nut. Not Schiano.

 

[Rob from NJ]

There shouldn't be after this post.
1-59 0.017 win%.
60/215 games(101-114). 27.9% of games coached

Absolutely Futile. Facts are facts and the record speaks for itself.

 

[RU on Manns Planet]

What makes you think Greg is capable of going 7-5? If that were the case no one would be wanting him fired..

I think you just answered OP's question

Exactly what I was thinking. If he went 7-5 the last two seasons, you’d have a small contingent raging instead of almost the whole fan base.

 

[RU on Manns Planet]

It depends on how you define a "defender." Do I think he is an above average P4 in-game coach? No. Do I think he's a very good recruiter? Yes, except at the quarterback position (which unfortunately is the most important). Do I think it is likely the person who eventually replaces him will produce better results? No. Do I think he is capable of producing a New Years Day Bowl team if he coached at Ohio State or Michigan? Yes, definitely. Do I think he was totally screwed by the implementation of NIL and the transfer portal? Yes (any and all Rutgers coaches would and will be).

I think the two issues at QB are

1) terrified of having a mobile QB as it leads to ‘chaos’, meaning more injuries, and turnovers. I don’t think he can mentally stomach it.

2) development, where the fetal position of a culture with being terrified of turnovers paralyzes QBs. Remember that AK had 3 years to develop elsewhere whereas Surace since age 18 has been listening to ‘the ball is the program’ for 3 years.

Not convinced it’s recruiting other than not wanting to recruit mobile QBs.

 

[RU on Manns Planet]

Schiano coached at Ohio State as the DC in 2016-2018. The defense under Schiano got progressively worse. 2018 defense ranking was not in the top 50 in college football with world class athletes that surrendered over 400 yards per game. Of course Ohio State's offense in 2018 under Day scored over 40 points a game to make up for Schiano's mess. Finally Day took over as HC in 2019 ran Schiano out of town, hired Hafley and the defense had a major turnaround. Even with great college athletes Schiano was a bust.

The bar is set really low for the next HC, like underground low. In 7 years Schiano has beaten nobody. No signature wins, no upset wins except against a bad Purdue team in 2020, and a total of 2 wins against In-Conference teams that finished with a winning record, one of which happened during Northwestern's opening debut with Coach Braun as he was dealing with a scandal. The record speaks for itself. Zero signature wins. Somewhere along the line even a squirrel would find a nut. Not Schiano.

That’s another data point for why some of us say he has a 9 win ceiling, regardless of roster.

 

[RU on Manns Planet]

-

 

[Rob from NJ]

That’s another data point for why some of us say he has a 9 win ceiling, regardless of roster.

Think if he were selected as HC of Ohio State instead of Day in 2019 his ceiling would probably be 9 wins. He would lose any game that would matter including The Game. OSU fans would have tolerated him for a few years and then he would be served his walking papers.

At Rutgers his ceiling is 6-7 wins and he's already achieved what he could. Beat 3 OOC weaklings and beat 3 Big Ten teams who are having terrible seasons (ie Maryland, Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana of past). It's just not good enough and destroys any hope of competing one day in this Conference, as well as, erodes the fanbase. It's more than time for a change.

 

[RU on Manns Planet]

Think if he were selected as HC of Ohio State instead of Day in 2019 his ceiling would probably be 9 wins. He would lose any game that would matter including The Game. OSU fans would have tolerated him for a few years and then he would be served his walking papers.

At Rutgers his ceiling is 6-7 wins and he's already achieved what he could. Beat 3 OOC weaklings and beat 3 Big Ten teams who are having terrible seasons (ie Maryland, Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana of past). It's just not good enough and destroys any hope of competing one day in this Conference, as well as, erodes the fanbase. It's more than time for a change.

The thing is he does enough things well to compete in a handful of games against mid level Big Ten teams but can’t win.

I recall two seasons ago making this point about Nebraska, UCLA, Illinois, all highly winnable with questionable coaching and being shouted down on TOS.

Then last year again with Minnesota, Iowa and PSU, all winnable. Shouted down again.

Now it’s USC and Michigan with 4 games left and I’d guess we’ll notch another close loss. And worse, also a bad BC team this season.

it’s actually insane but with the sample size, it’s not bad luck. There is something in the game day coaching and culture that leads to losing unless it’s a very bad opponent.

 

[newell138]

There shouldn't be after this post.
1-59 0.017 win%.
60/215 games(101-114). 27.9% of games coached

seeing it in print is rather shocking. I knew we were bad but wow.

 

[M.Sherrane]

Paying 28 million to a fire a coaching staff when the athletic department lost a record 75 million last year and has blown over half a billion since 2014 and replace him with a new coach that at best would go 7-5 when the old coach is more then capable of doing that seems silly to me.

basically we won't get the return on investment from firing Greg and hiring a new staff. Our fan base is small and from a revenue and cost perspective it makes no sense.
Blame Hobbs for the bad extension

So the answer is to drop down to FCS like Idaho did about 10 years ago, correct Al? If RU cannot make quality coaching moves, why even waste the time and money trying to play at a level where you need a quality coaching staff and good financial support? Nearly all of Schiano supporters believe 2006 was not a fluke when the Big East was transitioning from a BCS Conference to a mid-major / G6 conference and that he can once again lead us to glory. Think about the teams that competed in the 2006 Big East Conference and how they've performed after moving on:

Louisville is 99-74 (.572) since joining the ACC
Pitt is 99-77 (.562) since joining the ACC
West Virginia is 97-85 (.533) since joining the Big 12
Syracuse is 79-95 (.454) since joining the ACC
Cincinnati is 20-25 (.444) since joining the Big 12
Rutgers is 54-99 (.352) since joining the Big Ten
USF and UConn remain as Group of 6 schools.

That's a combined 448-455 (.496) as P4 teams, which includes games against FCS and G6 teams. Let's examine how they've performed in conference play as well as against other P4 programs.

Louisville is 57-47 (.548) in ACC play and 12-16 (.429) vs OOC P4 for a 69-63 (.523) record
Pitt is 62-50 (.554) in ACC play and 8-16 (.333) vs OOC P4 for a 70-66 (.515) record
West Virginia is 62-68 (.477) in Big 12 play and 12-15 (.444) vs OOC P4 for a 74-83 (.471) record
Syracuse is 36-76 (.322) in ACC play and 4-15 (.211) vs OOC P4 for a 40-91 (.305) record
Cincinnati is 11-21 (.344) in Big 12 play and 2-2 (.500) vs OOC P4 for a 13-23 (.361) record
Rutgers is 23-88 (.207) in Big Ten play and 7-7 (.500) vs OOC P4 for a 30-95 (.240) record

That's 251-350 (.418) in P4 Conference play and 45-71 (.388) vs OOC P4 for a 296-421 (.362) record. Only Louisville and Pitt have posted winning records against other P4 programs, but are below .500 against non-ACC P4 programs.

I have fond memories of 2006 and objected to the Big East criticism at the time. But in retrospect, the criticism was justified. UConn is 4-19 against P4 teams since 2021 while USF is 2-9 to complete the listing of teams from that 2006 season. RU will never play a schedule in the B1G that is even close to how weak that 2006 schedule was.

A change is needed. Anyone who believes that RU cannot do better than Schiano should be wanting out of the Big Ten and back to either G6 of FCS status. As it stands right now, we are aspiring to be nearly mediocre. This should not continue.

 

[Jtung230]

Someone in NJ hit the Powerball. Maybe that person can step up with the buyout

 

[RUInsanityToo]

We have had 30 losing conference records in 36 seasons total since joining the Big East. Those are not the numbers of an athletic department that takes winning seriously. It is the numbers of a department that consistently delivers mediocrity with very little expectations otherwise, because mediocrity is acceptable. Even in this thread there are people that are conditioned to be perfectly fine with essentially conceding next season too with a lame duck Schiano in a program tailspin if it saves buyout money. That is the behavior of acceptable mediocrity

And there will be people that wonder why we don't have an engaged fan and donor base.

I don't think you can place the "consistency/mediocrity" blame (over 36 seasons) solely on the Athletic Department as there have been different University Presidents, Athletic Directors and Staff over that time. Even pointing to posters here regarding their opinions does not seem like a root cause. To me it is a confluence of other factors......lack of winning tradition, lack of Whale Donors, pro-sports focused culture in NJ, lack of NJ Pride in Rutgers, Rutgers lack of building family legacies with students/alumni, general media negativity, political divisiveness when it comes to Rutgers sports.

Based on lack of D1/FBS success (or even the relative # of North East FBS programs) many of these issues seem to be applicable in general to College Football programs in the North East.

That all being said - it's time to move on from Schiano. While we may never be at a sustained level of OSU etc......we can achieve pockets of success that Schiano does not seem capable of delivering at this point. Need a much more innovative coaching mindset that is adjusted to the current landscape.

 

[M.Sherrane]

What makes you think Greg is capable of going 7-5? If that were the case no one would be wanting him fired..

I think you just answered OP's question

He did get RU to 7-5 in 2024 before losing to Kansas State in the Rate Bowl (Howard, Akron, Virginia Tech [6-7], Washington [Fisch's first year -- 6-7], Minnesota [8-5], Maryland [4-8], and Michigan State [5-7]). I'd argue that this year's schedule was another one where he could have gone 7-5. Beat Massachusetts and Boston College and the USC is still a likely loss, but the team would have likely been more competitive and confident at 2-0 than 0-2 and may have pulled it out. Howard makes 3-1 and Maryland makes 4-2. A 4-2 RU team perhaps makes the plays they needed to defeat Michigan and RU could have very well be 5-3 heading to Madison this weekend. At Penn State and Michigan State would be two potential wins. I will agree that 7-5 is his ceiling in the B1G with a favorable schedule, meaning going 3-0 in OOC play and beating one B1G team with a winning record. It appears next year's schedule will require beating two winning B1G teams to get to 7-5, so 6-6 would be optimistic.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

Schiano coached at Ohio State as the DC in 2016-2018.

... and they played in three New Years Day bowls and finished in the Top 10.

 

[newell138]

He did get RU to 7-5 in 2024 before losing to Kansas State in the Rate Bowl (Howard, Akron, Virginia Tech [6-7], Washington [Fisch's first year -- 6-7], Minnesota [8-5], Maryland [4-8], and Michigan State [5-7]). I'd argue that this year's schedule was another one where he could have gone 7-5. Beat Massachusetts and Boston College and the USC is still a likely loss, but the team would have likely been more competitive and confident at 2-0 than 0-2 and may have pulled it out. Howard makes 3-1 and Maryland makes 4-2. A 4-2 RU team perhaps makes the plays they needed to defeat Michigan and RU could have very well be 5-3 heading to Madison this weekend. At Penn State and Michigan State would be two potential wins. I will agree that 7-5 is his ceiling in the B1G with a favorable schedule, meaning going 3-0 in OOC play and beating one B1G team with a winning record. It appears next year's schedule will require beating two winning B1G teams to get to 7-5, so 6-6 would be optimistic.

WTF are you talking about? He could have gone 7-5 this year?!?!? Why didn't he? Using your logic he could have also gone undefeated.

Very odd post

 

[Perricone7]

If this program is serious about football, he needs to be fired. Look at the 2028 NJ high school class. All time great. Fire him and let a new coach build some momentum.

 

[Caliknight]

That’s another data point for why some of us say he has a 9 win ceiling, regardless of roster.

9 is a pipe dream. His ceiling is 7 as a Big Ten program. And even that’s a pipe dream now.

 

[Caliknight]

OSU is savvy enough to know he was a fraud. They see his defenses get rung up on with elite talent. Urban clearly put any chance he had of that job to bed.

No one would clamor for Schiano except some loud dumb fans we have that do sit ins for a guy who loses more than wins. I blame them.

 

[NotInRHouse]

My initial anger (rage, actually) at the UMass debacle, followed by the giveaway to BC has faded a bit. I wonder what the long term affects of this whole "Fire the Coach" stuff will have on the future of the program. I can see the argument for getting rid of GS. And I sorta agree with it.
But I've been dealing with the whole "Rutgers will never be able to roll with the BIG BOYS" crap since Dick Anderson replaced Frank Burns. Mostly from New Jersey college football fans who have zero respect for Rutgers and root for one of the Big Boys. Schiano was the only one who shut them up for a while.
I've seen Rutgers hire any number of head football coaches since Anderson. And it doesn't exactly make me optimistic about the next hire. I have a tough time answering the critics I talk to when they ask what quality coach would wanna come to this loser career-killing program. Or what this whole "Fire Schiano" stuff will do to recruiting this year....freshmen or transfers.
Perhaps if/when it happens and GS is replaced I'll regain some optimism about the future of this program. But I wouldn't place any bets on it right now. Unless we can recruit Mark Cuban, of course.

Agree if we're going to hire a proven winner, do it

If we're going to hire a schmo assistant with no record, it that worth it?

Also, at least other non football things are just SO GREAT!

 

[RUboston]

Wow. That 1-59 record over 18 years when facing a team favored by 10 or more is incredible. And not in a good way.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Paying 28 million to a fire a coaching staff when the athletic department lost a record 75 million last year and has blown over half a billion since 2014 and replace him with a new coach that at best would go 7-5 when the old coach is more then capable of doing that seems silly to me.

basically we won't get the return on investment from firing Greg and hiring a new staff. Our fan base is small and from a revenue and cost perspective it makes no sense.
Blame Hobbs for the bad extension

SLURP, SLURP, SLURP! Geesh man lol.... remind me to get you a fresh set of kneepads for Christmas!

 

[AdventureHasAName]

I think the two issues at QB are

1) terrified of having a mobile QB as it leads to ‘chaos’, meaning more injuries, and turnovers. I don’t think he can mentally stomach it.

2) development, where the fetal position of a culture with being terrified of turnovers paralyzes QBs. Remember that AK had 3 years to develop elsewhere whereas Surace since age 18 has been listening to ‘the ball is the program’ for 3 years.

Not convinced it’s recruiting other than not wanting to recruit mobile QBs.

I don't think I agree with this. First, Greg's first real purchase was Wimsatt and it was with the intention of having a running QB. Second, we've had QBs (The Jobu Package) that Schiano would let on the field with zero intention of ever even letting them throw a pass. And third, we keep trying to run RPO plays with QBs that clearly don't have the speed and athleticism to do it.

I think he's just a terrible judge of QB talent and he has no ability to make the below average talent he recruits better.

 

[M.Sherrane]

WTF are you talking about? He could have gone 7-5 this year?!?!? Why didn't he? Using your logic he could have also gone undefeated.

Very odd post

No doubt and I don't understand your confusion. 3-0 in the OOC games was not only doable, but it SHOULD have happened and poor coaching is why RU went 1-2 in those games instead. Maryland and Michigan State are 2-6 and winless in conference play, so those are potential wins (5 wins). RU COULD have won against Michigan, but failed to capitalize on all the opportunities they provided (6 wins). Penn State is 4-4 (1-4 in B1G play) and a potential win despite RU not defeating them since 1988, which could have been 7 wins.

Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, Maryland, and Michigan State have combined for a 5-20 (.200) B1G record. That is hardly a daunting conference schedule to overcome. The only bottom 6 team (excluding RU) we miss is Purdue. You could even have a WTF game and still finish 4-1 in those games, which combined with 3-0 OOC gets you 7. This identifies exactly HOW BAD this season has been when you realize RU will likely only win 2 or 3 games on a schedule that an average B1G team wins 7 or 8. Does that clarify things for you? I think Ash and Shea could have each gone 4-8 or maybe even 5-7.

 

[jsol_05]

Think if he were selected as HC of Ohio State instead of Day in 2019 his ceiling would probably be 9 wins. He would lose any game that would matter including The Game. OSU fans would have tolerated him for a few years and then he would be served his walking papers.

At Rutgers his ceiling is 6-7 wins and he's already achieved what he could. Beat 3 OOC weaklings and beat 3 Big Ten teams who are having terrible seasons (ie Maryland, Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana of past). It's just not good enough and destroys any hope of competing one day in this Conference, as well as, erodes the fanbase. It's more than time for a change.

There was no way GS was ever going to get the OState job

 

[Kbe4]

Agree if we're going to hire a proven winner, do it

If we're going to hire a schmo assistant with no record, it that worth it?

Also, at least other non football things are just SO GREAT!

SO GREAT is putting it mildly.
Tuesday was one of the happiest days of my life.
I spent a good part of the evening on the phone and texting various friends. And celebrating.
What a night. Definitely one to remember.

 

[Anon17890609591074267]

I think Ash and Shea could have each gone 4-8 or maybe even 5-7.

No way. I suffered through both of those horror shows here. No way.

 

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

Schiano coached at Ohio State as the DC in 2016-2018. The defense under Schiano got progressively worse. 2018 defense ranking was not in the top 50 in college football with world class athletes that surrendered over 400 yards per game. Of course Ohio State's offense in 2018 under Day scored over 40 points a game to make up for Schiano's mess. Finally Day took over as HC in 2019 ran Schiano out of town, hired Hafley and the defense had a major turnaround. Even with great college athletes Schiano was a bust.

The bar is set really low for the next HC, like underground low. In 7 years Schiano has beaten nobody. No signature wins, no upset wins except against a bad Purdue team in 2020, and a total of 2 wins against In-Conference teams that finished with a winning record, one of which happened during Northwestern's opening debut with Coach Braun as he was dealing with a scandal. The record speaks for itself. Zero signature wins. Somewhere along the line even a squirrel would find a nut. Not Schiano.

This is a slanted description of events by someone who obviously hates Schiano. You forgot to mention all the lost starters lost to the draft after 2017. The 2018 defense experienced growing pains due to all the new starters. Schiano groomed them to be successful in 2019, which they were under Hafley.

the Rutgers fanbase has never provided the financial support to recruit successfully. This is why we have zero signature wins.

 

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

I think the two issues at QB are

1) terrified of having a mobile QB as it leads to ‘chaos’, meaning more injuries, and turnovers. I don’t think he can mentally stomach it.

2) development, where the fetal position of a culture with being terrified of turnovers paralyzes QBs. Remember that AK had 3 years to develop elsewhere whereas Surace since age 18 has been listening to ‘the ball is the program’ for 3 years.

Not convinced it’s recruiting other than not wanting to recruit mobile QBs.

Rutgers does not have enough to attract a good mobile quarterback.

 

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

The thing is he does enough things well to compete in a handful of games against mid level Big Ten teams but can’t win.

I recall two seasons ago making this point about Nebraska, UCLA, Illinois, all highly winnable with questionable coaching and being shouted down on TOS.

Then last year again with Minnesota, Iowa and PSU, all winnable. Shouted down again.

Now it’s USC and Michigan with 4 games left and I’d guess we’ll notch another close loss. And worse, also a bad BC team this season.

it’s actually insane but with the sample size, it’s not bad luck. There is something in the game day coaching and culture that leads to losing unless it’s a very bad opponent.

You love to complain about his gameday coaching.
explain to me how gameday coaching led multiple Rutgers defenders to not make these Michigan plays. First play was earlier in the game. Second play won the game later on.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

You love to complain about his gameday coaching.
explain to me how gameday coaching led multiple Rutgers defenders to not make these Michigan plays. First play was earlier in the game. Second play won the game later on.

The right guard (#74) held on both these plays. On the first one, he his holding #99 by the left shoulder pad as he tries to get away - it's just as Carr runs right by them. In the second play, he tackles our defensive lineman at the start of the play - and Carr runs right past him laying on top of our man. The officials screwed us on both of these plays.

EDIT:
I just watched again. It's the right guard on both plays, but it was #70 the first time and #74 the second time.

 

[superfan01]

Wow!!! @Caliknight getting absolutely destroyed in this thread.
Hard to watch a bloodbath this bad.

 

[LotusAggressor_rivals]

That football doesn’t exist in the P4.

That football hasn't existed since the Gipper and a bunch of his teammates took 200 dollars each to play pro football under assumed names when they were "student athletes" at Notre Dame.

 

[Caliknight]

Wow!!! @Caliknight getting absolutely destroyed in this thread.
Hard to watch a bloodbath this bad.

When you say that, it means I am dominating more than I eve thought. You and DeadbeatAl. One and the same. Whatever you post, the opposite is true.

 

[Kbe4]

Wow!!! @Caliknight getting absolutely destroyed in this thread.
Hard to watch a bloodbath this bad.

Sorry to miss it but I've had the dope on IGNORE for quite a while. It was like removing a splinter. And the board is so much better for me because of it.

 

[RU#1fan]

You love to complain about his gameday coaching.
explain to me how gameday coaching led multiple Rutgers defenders to not make these Michigan plays. First play was earlier in the game. Second play won the game later on.

That NIL LB #41 whiffed badly on those 2 Touchdowns against Michigan….as he has done many times during the season. Greg has a great eye for Defense talent. Epic Portal fail again.

 

[RU on Manns Planet]

I don't think you can place the "consistency/mediocrity" blame (over 36 seasons) solely on the Athletic Department as there have been different University Presidents, Athletic Directors and Staff over that time. Even pointing to posters here regarding their opinions does not seem like a root cause. To me it is a confluence of other factors......lack of winning tradition, lack of Whale Donors, pro-sports focused culture in NJ, lack of NJ Pride in Rutgers, Rutgers lack of building family legacies with students/alumni, general media negativity, political divisiveness when it comes to Rutgers sports.

Based on lack of D1/FBS success (or even the relative # of North East FBS programs) many of these issues seem to be applicable in general to College Football programs in the North East.

That all being said - it's time to move on from Schiano. While we may never be at a sustained level of OSU etc......we can achieve pockets of success that Schiano does not seem capable of delivering at this point. Need a much more innovative coaching mindset that is adjusted to the current landscape.

Whale donors are going to be mostly older. Our oldest alumni who were part of a meaningful football season are in their mid 40s. Older wealthy alumni were in school when we were playing teams like Colgate or when we were somewhere between mediocre and awful (I.e. Shea era) while at that time our Big Ten peers were graduating 5,000 - 10,000 students a year who were a part of big time football. These are inconvenient truths and part of the headwind.

 

[RU on Manns Planet]

9 is a pipe dream. His ceiling is 7 as a Big Ten program. And even that’s a pipe dream now.

9 was assuming an OSU like roster.

 

[Anon17890609591074267]

No doubt and I don't understand your confusion. 3-0 in the OOC games was not only doable, but it SHOULD have happened and poor coaching is why RU went 1-2 in those games instead. Maryland and Michigan State are 2-6 and winless in conference play, so those are potential wins (5 wins). RU COULD have won against Michigan, but failed to capitalize on all the opportunities they provided (6 wins). Penn State is 4-4 (1-4 in B1G play) and a potential win despite RU not defeating them since 1988, which could have been 7 wins.

Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, Maryland, and Michigan State have combined for a 5-20 (.200) B1G record. That is hardly a daunting conference schedule to overcome. The only bottom 6 team (excluding RU) we miss is Purdue. You could even have a WTF game and still finish 4-1 in those games, which combined with 3-0 OOC gets you 7. This identifies exactly HOW BAD this season has been when you realize RU will likely only win 2 or 3 games on a schedule that an average B1G team wins 7 or 8. Does that clarify things for you? I think Ash and Shea could have each gone 4-8 or maybe even 5-7.

BTW, you DO know that Terry Shea won 11 games in five seasons here at Rutgers ?
And Ash won 8 in four.
They're both part of the amazing history of "great" head football coaches here at Rutgers that have contributed to the image Rutgers football has had for many, many years. And why Greg Schiano has looked so good here.