Rutgers Football: Working hard at earning respect

The Rutgers Football team went into Saturday’s game against 19th ranked Michigan a 20 point underdog despite having a 3-0 record against albeit lesser opponents.

They had huge wins over Temple 61-14 and Delaware 45–13 and beat a Syracuse team by 10 points, all very strong showings.

Rutgers Football in the past few years has struggled and quite frankly was the doormat of the Big Ten Conference. Enter Head Coach Greg Schiano who came back to Rutgers after he left to coach in the pros with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Since he’s been back the offense has flourished, the attitude has changed and you can feel the excitement take over the football program.

For Rutgers to go into a nationally ranked team’s packed stadium in front of their 104,000 fans and give them a decent ball game is very impressive, it’s leaps and bounds from where they came.

It’s exciting to see and feel the pride of New Jersey’s University doing so well. It was also great to see them on network TV for Saturday’s Michigan game.

That type of exposure and the team's success means better player recruiting and possible bowl games which produce revenue for the team and the conference.

Some of the senior players have seen the transformation and adapted well to the new attitude and winning notion. That attitude is contagious and should continue to make Rutgers a team to be reckoned with in the Big Ten.

It won’t be an easy time for the Scarlet Knights; their next game is with 10th ranked Ohio State, with ranked teams Wisconsin and Penn State also on the schedule.

It will make for an exciting Rutgers season of football, something that hasn’t been around in years. Good Luck, Go Rutgers!

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host Big Joe Henry. Any opinions expressed are Big Joe’s own.