Rutgers dominated Michigan State in its last game of the regular seasonAnd as the Scarlet Knights pulled away in the second half for their seventh win, you didn’t need teams watching in man caves and living rooms of diehard fans to know that two words were thrown around.
What if…
It’s only natural, of course. The struggling Scarlet Knights went to East Lansing and pushed around a Spartans team that needed the win to become bowl eligible in what was perhaps their most complete performance against a Big Ten team this season.
Maybe it wasn’t a surprise to see him running back Kyle Monangai power his way through one more defense in what could be his final college game, but it certainly was unexpected — and impressive — to watch this Rutgers defense handle the home team in a 41-14 loss.
And, yes, that’s where those two words come into play. Because, even with the win, this 7-5 team is almost certainly headed to a second-round bowl in the coming days when something bigger was possible if only a few things had gone differently in the last three months
And yes… Greg Schiano hadn’t called that useless timeout to ice the kicker at the end of an Illinois rout last week?
What if … this offense, which scored 31 points in three consecutive Big Ten games for the first time, had played like this in loss in Nebraska?
What if… this all team he had prayed to show his face to a Wisconsin very beatable team at SHI Stadium after starting the season 4-0?
Even Schiano had one of his own.
“If we had a year like we had last year in terms of health, I think this record could look very different,” he said. “But those are ifs and buts.”
And there are many more. One more win on the road, and Rutgers could be playing in the Citrus Bowl in sunny Orlando at the end of next month. Two more, and the Scarlet Knights would have their best season since that long-ago win over Louisville launched the program. Another three?
It’s probably best to stop there, for your mental health.
That yes they are part of the sport at every level. But keep this in mind with this current Rutgers team: It’s only possible to play the game that if because of the way Schiano and his team leaders have held the Scarlet Knights together when it looked like this season might go completely off the rails.
This was a real possibility when Rutgers lost its fourth straight game to Southern Cal. The defense, with key injuries to several important players, looked capable of stopping anyone. The offense, with quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis just finding his footing, didn’t look good enough to overcome this one.
Rutgers was 4-4 heading into the bye week when it came home from Los Angeles. This team didn’t just shake off that demoralizing stretch to beat Minnesota and Maryland, it had to bounce back again after suffering a loss to Illinois that was as crushing as any in Rutgers history to beat the Spartan. Schiano and his players deserve credit for saving the season.
Is this the season Rutgers fans wanted? Of course not. It’s possible, pending results later today, that the Scarlet Knights have played just two teams with records above .500 — 9-3 Illinois and 7-5 Minnesota — all season. That’s unlikely to ever happen in a conference that could land four teams in the first expanded playoff this winter.
“It’s a big step forward for our program,” Schiano said, but that sounds like a head coach trying to talk something into existence.
Next season, Rutgers will face three of those teams: Oregon, Ohio State and Penn State. It’s possible the Scarlet Knights could be better next fall and the record doesn’t reflect that. It’s also possible, with key players like Monangai, linebacker Tyreem Powell and tackle Hollin Pierce moving on to the NFL, that this program will take a step back.
If this happens, the “what if” around 2024 will intensify. But it’s also fair to ask what might have happened if Rutgers hadn’t dealt with all those crippling injuries.
“They lost four in a row and now one was whining and moaning,” Schiano said. “They never blinked. They never wavered. They had a built-in excuse (with injuries) — I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Those two-word fears won’t go away when fans look back on the season. But not even the fact that this team saved its best Big Ten performance for its final game, and did so after the season could have gone off the rails. What does it matter.
MORE FROM STEVE POLITI:
How the 9-year reign of Rutgers AD Patrick Hobbs came to a messy end
NJ gymnast Livvy Dunne is leading a revolution in college sports
How a former Rutgers athlete ended up accused of murder in Tijuana
I was a Little League bird threat – and it’s time to clean up
Searching for Luther Wright, once the greatest talent in NJ hoops
I played at Augusta National and had my own Masters merger
Thank you for trusting us to deliver journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
Steve Politi can be reached spoliti@njadvancemedia.com.
