Rutgers coach Greg Schiano was disappointed following the Scarlet Knights' loss to Nebraska on Saturday. But he was also proud of his team’s performance in a game where they were searching for the inches that could have made the difference between winning and losing. “Haven't had this feeling since Thanksgiving weekend,” Schiano said after Rutgers' first loss of the year.
“Guys in that locker room, I’m proud of how hard they played, proud of how smart they played. We just didn't play well enough to win this game. So get on the plane, go home and get back to work and figure it out.
” Schiano wasn't surprised by how the game was played, just disappointed by his team’s execution, especially in the first half when they fell behind 14-0. “It was everything it was built up to be, an old-fashioned, Big 10 slugfest,’ he said. “Two teams played really hard.
We made a couple of mistakes in the first half that I think hurt us. In the second half, that's the defensive football team I know. They’re suffocating.
” Even though Rutgers’ defense put the clamps on Nebraska in the second half, the offense only made it into the red zone twice and scored a single touchdown on a pass from Athan Kaliakmanis to Ben Black with just over four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, “To only have seven points on the scoreboard to show for that, disappointed for sure,” Schiano said. "Tip my hat to Nebraska's defense. They played really well.
There's always a counterforce. I .