CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Rutgers football is 0-2.

And the Scarlet Knights still have a lot to fix if they’re going to pick up a victory anytime soon.

Greg Schiano’s team came up to Alumni Stadium and turned in a performance that was filled with far too many mistakes, losing 28-21 to Boston College on Friday, Sept. 11 for its second consecutive defeat.

Right now Rutgers has a defense that’s not consistent enough – it got off to a terrible start against the Eagles before improving in the second half.

And perhaps more than anything, it has a major question mark at quarterback.

AJ Surace, making his first career start, finished 18-of-27 for 230 yards with three touchdowns – but it was the four interceptions he threw that jumped off the stat sheet, too often killing potential scoring opportunities for a team that couldn’t afford to give any away.

"I have to take better care of the football," Surace said.

Whether Surace keeps the QB1 job or it goes back to Dylan Lonergan (if he's healthy) remains to be seen.

“There are some things to be encouraged by but there are some things that are incredibly frustrating,” Schiano said. “We just need to continue to get better because this is not good enough. This is not acceptable. We’ll continue to work on that. Improve. I think we improved from last week, just not enough.”

Rutgers lost to a UMass team that went 0-12 last season, and now it’s lost to a Boston College team that was 2-10 last season.

These were winnable games, to say the least.

But for whatever reason, the Scarlet Knights weren’t ready to win.

“We’re just not quite ready yet,” Schiano said. “The word is yet.”

Rutgers has to hope “yet” arrives soon.

Very soon.

Schiano remained steadfast that what his team has shown the last two games isn’t what his team is truly capable of.

But for now, there’s little proof to back up that assertion.

“This team will improve and we’ll beat some people that you don’t think we can beat,” Schiano said. “That’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to continue to get better over time. That’s who’s down there in that locker room and that’s who’s on that coaching staff. They’re professionals, they work extremely hard. We maybe tried too hard tonight to get that thing turned. Once we settled down, I think we played better.”

But by that point, Boston College, which had 402 total yards, had already jumped out to a 17-0 lead and had put Rutgers on its heels.

The Scarlet Knights were chasing the Eagles all game.

The defense’ slow start – again – was too costly. So were the broken coverages, none bigger than Mason McKenzie’s 78-yard touchdown throw to Dawson Pough in the fourth quarter.

Pough was wide open – he cruised into the end zone untouched.

“We have some new guys here and we have to coach them better and they’ve got to develop,” Schiano said. “But it’s two games. Back in 2008, we were 1-5 and then here comes seven straight. Am I saying that’s going to happen? I have no idea what’s going to happen. You coach your guts out, they play their guts out and you let the chips fall where they may. When you start worrying about results is where you get in trouble.”

USC is Rutgers’ next opponent.

Nothing’s getting any easier.

“We’ll beat some people that maybe will surprise you,” Schiano said, “maybe it won’t.”

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers football is 0-2. Where does it go from here?

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Rutgers football is 0-2.

And the Scarlet Knights still have a lot to fix if they’re going to pick up a victory anytime soon.

Greg Schiano’s team came up to Alumni Stadium and turned in a performance that was filled with far too many mistakes, losing 28-21 to Boston College on Friday, Sept. 11 for its second consecutive defeat.

Right now Rutgers has a defense that’s not consistent enough – it got off to a terrible start against the Eagles before improving in the second half.

And perhaps more than anything, it has a major question mark at quarterback.

AJ Surace, making his first career start, finished 18-of-27 for 230 yards with three touchdowns – but it was the four interceptions he threw that jumped off the stat sheet, too often killing potential scoring opportunities for a team that couldn’t afford to give any away.

"I have to take better care of the football," Surace said.

Whether Surace keeps the QB1 job or it goes back to Dylan Lonergan (if he's healthy) remains to be seen.

“There are some things to be encouraged by but there are some things that are incredibly frustrating,” Schiano said. “We just need to continue to get better because this is not good enough. This is not acceptable. We’ll continue to work on that. Improve. I think we improved from last week, just not enough.”

Rutgers lost to a UMass team that went 0-12 last season, and now it’s lost to a Boston College team that was 2-10 last season.

These were winnable games, to say the least.

But for whatever reason, the Scarlet Knights weren’t ready to win.

“We’re just not quite ready yet,” Schiano said. “The word is yet.”

Rutgers has to hope “yet” arrives soon.

Very soon.

Schiano remained steadfast that what his team has shown the last two games isn’t what his team is truly capable of.

But for now, there’s little proof to back up that assertion.

“This team will improve and we’ll beat some people that you don’t think we can beat,” Schiano said. “That’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to continue to get better over time. That’s who’s down there in that locker room and that’s who’s on that coaching staff. They’re professionals, they work extremely hard. We maybe tried too hard tonight to get that thing turned. Once we settled down, I think we played better.”

But by that point, Boston College, which had 402 total yards, had already jumped out to a 17-0 lead and had put Rutgers on its heels.

The Scarlet Knights were chasing the Eagles all game.

The defense’ slow start – again – was too costly. So were the broken coverages, none bigger than Mason McKenzie’s 78-yard touchdown throw to Dawson Pough in the fourth quarter.

Pough was wide open – he cruised into the end zone untouched.

“We have some new guys here and we have to coach them better and they’ve got to develop,” Schiano said. “But it’s two games. Back in 2008, we were 1-5 and then here comes seven straight. Am I saying that’s going to happen? I have no idea what’s going to happen. You coach your guts out, they play their guts out and you let the chips fall where they may. When you start worrying about results is where you get in trouble.”

USC is Rutgers’ next opponent.

Nothing’s getting any easier.

“We’ll beat some people that maybe will surprise you,” Schiano said, “maybe it won’t.”

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers football is 0-2. Where does it go from here?