PISCATAWAY – After Rutgers football’s victories so far this season, coach Greg Schiano has acknowledged that there are still areas his team needs to improve in. Despite a perfect record, not everything is perfect.
While the Scarlet Knights have done what they’ve needed to do to earn four victories in their first four games, making those improvements is going to be paramount if they’re going to continue to win.
Tackling is among the biggest areas that Rutgers needs to improve, starting with its game on Saturday at Nebraska (4 p.m. ET, FS1).
“We haven’t tackled well, and I wouldn’t say it’s just last week,” Schiano said during a news conference on Monday. “I would say overall I don’t think we have tackled well.”
It was an acute issue during Rutgers’ 21-18 victory over Washington. The Scarlet Knights had 14 missed tackles, according to Pro Football Focus. It’s the second time this season they had double-digit missed tackles after having 11 against Howard. They only had three such games all of last season.
Schiano said there are several factors that could lead to that.
“There’s been some different guys in the lineup,” Schiano said. “We’ve got some guys coming back into the lineup. Attention to detail. A lot of things. Angles of entry on the tackle. There’s a whole bunch of things. But it doesn’t matter. We need to get them corrected.”
Of course, some of it comes down to the opponent, something Schiano also referenced. Washington running back Jonah Coleman is a 5-foot-9, 229-pound bowling ball who’s not easy to bring down.
But things aren’t getting any easier against Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers’ leading rusher is 6-foot-2, 225-pound Dante Dowdell. Behind him is 5-foot-11, 200-pound Emmett Johnson and then 5-foot-10, 200-pound Rahmir Johnson, who’s a Bergen Catholic product.
“They do running back by committee,” Schiano said. “But it’s a pretty darned good committee.”
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Nebraska also has big receivers, led by 6-foot-4, 220-pound Isaiah Neyor and 6-foot-4, 220-pound Jahmal Banks.
“So we’d better get (the tackling) fixed or we’re going to have some issues, and the receivers, we’d better all tackle them,” Schiano said. “They are all 220 pounds. It’s not like tackling your normal 190-, 200-pound receiver.”
Rutgers’ defense overall has done its job, but it still hasn’t been as stout as it was last season.
The Scarlet Knights have allowed 352.2 total yards per game, which ranks 15th in the Big Ten.
They’ve also allowed 172.8 rushing yards per game, which ranks second-to-last in the conference. Again, some of that stems from the opponent – Rutgers has faced several good running backs already, including Coleman, as well as three mobile quarterbacks, such as Virginia Tech’s Kyron Drones, who ran for 60 yards against the Scarlet Knights.
“There’s still a lot of areas we’ve got to get better at,” safety Flip Dixon said. “We’re going to continue to get better at them throughout the season.
Tackling is a big one.
With only Big Ten games ahead, making those improvements is crucial.
“The Big Ten is the most challenging league in the country, and it requires you to get better every week,” Schiano said. “If you don’t you’ll get left in the dust. My main focus is getting our team as improved as we can by Saturday. Will it be enough? I don’t know. But I can’t control that.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers football must improve vs Nebraska in this key area
