Indiana Takes Over SHI Stadium In Rout: What Does It Mean For Rutgers?
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The crowd at SHI Stadium was a sea of red on Saturday night for Rutgers Homecoming.
The only problem was, the red was that of Indiana fans throwing a party 740 miles away from Bloomington.
The Hoosiers made the trip to Piscataway and made themselves at home. The reigning national champs racked up 593 total yards, with 329 on the ground, in a 47-15 win over Rutgers. If you made the trip from Indiana, or happen to reside close to New Jersey, you got a chance to see your team and fans take over the building.
For Rutgers, losing during Homecoming, or in general, is nothing new. But when Indiana comes up and puts on a show like it did over the weekend, it becomes a sting that does not go away easily.
Let’s not forget, it was not long ago that the Hoosiers were at the bottom of the Big Ten with little to no way out. As college football shifted into a new era, Indiana made a move to hire Curt Cignetti as head coach and reaped the benefits of wealthy donors. Of course, this is led by Mark Cuban and his multi-million donation into Indiana Football. The alumni are wealthy and want to see the Hoosiers win. In just year two under Cignetti, the undefeated Hoosiers brought home a national championship.
In year seven under Greg Schiano, Rutgers is losing games by 30+ and is 1-4 with teams like UMass and Boston College on the schedule.
Where are the wealthy donors going to come from for Rutgers? Who knows, but it is clear that Schiano did not bring in a coaching staff capable of doing the job right, despite his belief. And he did not build a team in the offseason capable of competing in the Big Ten — and probably not in other smaller conferences either.
Step one for Rutgers, a new head coach needs to be hired next season. There needs to be a new voice taking over the program that knows how to put a coaching staff and team together. All we heard this offseason was that there is “vertical alignment” within the athletic department. No one knowing what that truly means, and it is a classic line from Schiano. Whatever vertical alignment means, it should be done with a new coach next season.
Right now, Rutgers continues to get embarrassed on the field and there is no end in sight. William Tate, Keli Zinn — your move.
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