PISCATAWAY – Rutgers football on Saturday clinched bowl eligibility for a second consecutive season, a milestone in the program’s rebuild under Greg Schiano.
The players who committed to Schiano upon his return clearly played a major role in the resurgence. And before the Scarlet Knights play Illinois on Saturday at SHI Stadium (noon, Peacock), the team’s seniors will be honored as part of Senior Day.
“This group is a special group,” Schiano said Monday during a news conference at the Hale Center. “If you think back to when they decided to come to Rutgers, they had a huge leap of faith. Let’s call it what it was, we were probably the worst Power 5 football program in America at the time.”
That’s not the case anymore and players like running back Kyle Monangai, linebacker Tyreem Powell, defensive end Aaron Lewis and several others helped make that happen.
But beyond Senior Day, the Scarlet Knights will be looking to extend their winning streak to three games and earn their seventh win of the season, which could play a significant part in which bowl game Rutgers ultimately receives an invitation to.
The No. 24 Fighting Illini will come to Piscataway with a 7-3 record, 4-3 against Big Ten teams. Two of their losses came against No. 4 Penn State (21-7 on Nov. 28) and No. 1 Oregon (38-9 on Oct. 26).
Illinois ranks in the middle of the Big Ten in several categories. Offensively they average 357.3 total yards per game, 10th in the conference.
Quarterback Luke Altmyer is 176-of-282 passing for 2,124 yards with 18 touchdowns and three interceptions, an impressive ration.
“He’s had an incredible year,” Schiano said. “Incredibly accurate, runs their offense to a T. Very impressed with him.”
Schiano said the Illini have an “NFL receiving room,” one that’s led by Pat Bryant (43 catches for 717 yards and eight touchdowns) and Zakhari Franklin (48 catches for 559 yards with three touchdowns).
Illinois uses a running back-by committee approach after lead back Kaden Feagin suffered a season-ending injury last month. Josh McCray leads the team in rushing with 391 yards with seven touchdowns, though Aidan Laughery (324 yards on 63 carries) isn’t far behind.
“They lost their lead dog, and now they’re doing it by committee and they’re being effective the way they’re doing it,” Schiano said. “I think that all goes back to their offensive line. They have got a legitimate offensive line and it allows them to run the football.”
Illinois defensively has 27 sacks, which ranks fourth in the Big Ten.
“I think they get after the quarterback very well,” Schiano said. “We’re going to have to protect well.”
Schiano specifically singled out 6-foot-3, 275-pound linebacker Gabe Jacas “as a guy that’s very productive” with 57 tackles (10 for loss) with eight sacks, which is third in the Big Ten.
“Their secondary takes the ball away,” Schiano said. “Linebackers don’t misfit their gaps. You can see it’s a really, really well-coached football team. Coach (Bret) Bielema has done a great job not only recruiting people to the University of Illinois, but then developing they’ve done a really good job. My hat’s off to him.”
Illinois overall has been a solid team this season under Bielema, who’s rebuilt the Illini in the time he’s been in Champaign.
The Illini won’t be an easy team for Rutgers to beat, if the Scarlet Knights pull it off it’ll keep their recent resurgence going.
And it would certainly make the day even more special for the seniors.
“Just a group that we owe a ton to,” Schiano said, “and I hope that our fans are going to be able to come and honor them the way they should be because this group has done a lot for Rutgers University and for the state of New Jersey.”
