Here's what Greg Schiano said about USC as Rutgers football preps for cross-country trip
PISCATAWAY – Rutgers football needs to snap a three-game losing streak, and now comes a cross-country trip to Los Angeles.
The Scarlet Knights will play Southern California Friday night at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on national television (FOX) with kickoff scheduled for 11 p.m. ET.
This won’t exactly be a typical road trip for Rutgers, which is headed west on Wednesday.
“Without getting into all our schedule and all that stuff, we generally don’t go out a day early,” coach Greg Schiano said Monday. “We stay on Rutgers time. But when you have an 8:00 start Pacific, I don't think it's prudent to stay on Rutgers time. We've done it in NFL and college and everywhere and it's really served us well.”
This is an important game for the Scarlet Knights, who are coming off a disappointing 35-32 loss to UCLA, which followed up defeats to Wisconsin and Nebraska.
Beating the Trojans, whom Rutgers has never faced before, would certainly make a statement that this season is still very much alive.
Still, the Scarlet Knights are banged up at multiple positions. They’ve lost key players to season-ending injuries.
So going beating USC, which has had challenges of its own this season, won’t be easy.
Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano on USC offense: “Talented as all get out.”
The Trojans are 3-4 and are on a three-game skid of their own with losses to Minnesota, Penn State and Maryland.
It’s been a tumultuous first season in the Big Ten for Lincoln Riley’s team.
But USC ranks seventh in the conference in total yards per game (434.0), sixth in passing yards per game (288.6) and 12th in rushing yards per game (145.4).
Trojans quarterback Miller Moss is third in the conference with 1,954 passing yards. He’s completed 64.4 percent of his passes.
Overall, the Trojans haven’t been as explosive as most expected them to be coming into the season. But they’re still going to present a formidable challenge for a Rutgers defense that has largely struggled in recent weeks.
“They have speed and athleticism at receiver, they have a young, or inexperienced, but very, very talented quarterback,” Schiano said. “He's rolling up the cash register as far as numbers go.
The running back situation is really strong. They had their lead guy like we do, and they have a guy that spells them. Then the offensive line is gigantic. It's typical USC, what you would expect from an USC football team.”
That lead running back Schiano mentioned is 5-foot-10, 208-pound Woody Marks, who’s rushed for 661 yards on 118 carries (5.6 yards per attempt) with five touchdowns. Backing him up is 5-foot-11, 216-pound Quinten Joyner, who has rushed for 300 yards on 33 carries (9.1 yards per attempt) with three TDs.
USC has two receivers – Kyron Hudson and Ja’Kobi Lane – who have 303 receiving yards. Lane has five touchdowns.
Schiano is also plenty familiar with Riley. He was Ohio State’s defensive coordinator in 2016 when Riley was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma.
The Buckeyes beat the Sooners that year 45-24 in Norman.
“You see how he's evolved over the years to this time,” Schiano said. “I just think they are really well-coached. Schematically they present as many issues as anybody we play all year.”
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Could Schiano make changes with who he plays?
It’s possible. Schiano didn’t rule out making changes, with the possibility of playing healthy back-ups at some positions instead of starters who might not be fully healthy.
It’s unclear who will be available for the USC game – Schiano leaves that to the availability report released two hours prior to kickoff – but for the UCLA game, cornerback Robert Longerbeam, linebacker Tyreem Powell and cornerback Eric Rogers were all listed as questionable, but they all played.
“I made the decision to play some people that may be weren't a hundred percent, thinking that they were better than someone else was, at 80 percent,” Schiano said. “I have to reconsider that. I may play the exact same people if they are able. I don't know that. That's what this week's practice is about.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers football: Greg Schiano previews USC game
