Greg Schiano didn’t get the win Rutgers needed, but he did get something almost as important in a season that was already tilting the wrong way: proof that his team can stand toe-to-toe with a ranked opponent and make the night uncomfortable.
That’s where Rutgers is after a 42-35 loss to No. 12 USC at SHI Stadium.
The Scarlet Knights fell to 0-2, and the pressure around Schiano’s program had been building fast. But against an undefeated, nationally ranked team, Rutgers showed a version of itself that looked physical, organized and capable of hanging around in a game that could have easily gotten away from it.
The numbers backed that up. Rutgers rolled up 460 yards, with Dylan Lonergan throwing for 252 yards and three touchdowns. Antwan Raymond added 122 rushing yards and a score, giving the Scarlet Knights a running game and offensive rhythm that had been tough to find early.
“The way they work and how they execute, but again, when the lights come on we have to execute and make those plays,” Schiano stated. “That small margin of error, we have to find a way, and that’s my job.”
That’s the part Schiano kept coming back to after the game: the gap between competing and finishing. Rutgers wasn’t short on effort against USC. It was short on the handful of plays that turn a close loss into something bigger.
“There’s nobody to blame but me; I have to figure out how to do it as a head coach after 39 years of doing this,” Schiano continued.
And no, Rutgers isn’t in the business of handing out moral victories. A close loss still counts as a loss, and this team badly needs an actual win.
But the USC performance mattered because it suggested Rutgers can at least make a nationally ranked team sweat. That’s a starting point, not a destination.
The problem is that the mistakes are still piling up. Rutgers has 10 turnovers through its first three games, and two against USC led directly to Trojans touchdowns. That kind of giveaway problem wipes out the good work in a hurry, especially when the margin is already this thin.
Schiano now has a clearer picture of where his team stands. The record is still ugly.
The questions around the program haven’t disappeared. But the USC game changed the temperature around the conversation, because Rutgers looked like a team with some fight left in it.
The next step is the hard one: turning that into something repeatable. The Scarlet Knights showed they can compete. Now they have to show they can finish.
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There will be broadcast details for fans who want to follow along, along with statistical leaders on both sides to frame the matchup. But the bigger picture is simple enough for Rutgers: home games like this are supposed to be the kind you handle cleanly, especially when the previous meetings have all gone the same way. Anything less would turn a routine nonconference night into a missed opportunity. [Read more 🡒]