20 years ago, USC and Rutgers football both enjoyed good times

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Rutgers coach Greg Schiano hasn't coached the Scarlet Knights for each of the past 20 years. He went to the NFL to scratch his pro coaching itch with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That move failed, and he went back to Rutgers for a second go-round. This second tour of duty hasn't been nearly as successful as his first one. It brings to mind the simple point that 20 years ago, Rutgers and USC were both very good teams.

In 2006, USC narrowly missed out on playing in yet another national championship game. The Trojans were still good enough to win 11 games, including the Rose Bowl. That same year, Rutgers, under Greg Schiano, went 11-2, the best season of Rutgers football since 1976 and one of only two times the program won double-digit games in a season. Had Rutgers won an overtime game at West Virginia, it would have played in a BCS bowl for the first time in school history. As it is, Rutgers joins South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and North Carolina State as the only four programs to not have played in one of the major (New Year's Six) bowl games. Nevertheless, what Schiano did at Rutgers two decades ago was incredible, and remains so today. Rutgers won eight or more games five times in a six-year span under Schiano from 2006-2011, just the second time the program ever achieved that feat (the other period being 1975-1980).

Two decades ago, USC and Rutgers were both really good. The passage of 20 years makes both fan bases long for the better days of the past. This Saturday, two schools with not a lot in common over a longer period of college football history will remember the era when they both enjoyed good times.

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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: 20 years ago, USC and Rutgers football both enjoyed good times

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