WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) -Rutgers coach Greg Schiano has seen it before. He just doesn’t want his Scarlet Knights to get hoodwinked by Army’s tricky triple option.
The teams meet Friday night at Michie Stadium, with Army (3-4) seeking to break a five-game losing streak against its metropolitan New York rival.
“You can’t get ready for this in one week,” Schiano said. “You hope you can get ready. They do it every week, they can do it in their sleep. We do it one week a year. We are behind in that. We just need to hope that we don’t do too much. You have to hunker down and do your best at defending it and just try and play.
“If I didn’t have to defend this, I enjoy watching it,” Schiano said. “It is definitely a science.”
opponents under 50 yards rushing.
The Black Knights relish the challenge.
“I like the opportunity we have to come back and play on Friday, in front of a large crowd on national television,” Army defensive tackle Mike Gann said. “It’s a phenomenal opportunity for us.”
Both teams are coming off losses. Pittsburgh beat Rutgers last Friday night on the Scarlet Knights’ home turf and Army lost at Temple. Rutgers is 4-0 outside the Big East this season.
“They are a good football team and they play good people, but we have played good people,” Army coach Rich Ellerson said. “We have been out there with good folks and we have expectations. We are trying somehow, someway, to steal a win here. That’s the plan. We expect to get it done.”
The Army offense will have to step it up for that to happen. The Black Knights have not scored more than one offensive touchdown in four consecutive games. In the past four weeks, they are 11 of 14 inside their opponent’s 20-yard line but have scored just four TDs.
“We are playing a little bit faster each week,” Ellerson said. “We are looking a bit more athletic each time up because guys are a little more comfortable with what they are being asked to do. We’re getting closer to finishing some of those plays where you say, ‘My goodness, there are more yards there.’ It’s such a slim margin between not much and a bunch.”
hman quarterbacks – Army’s Trent Steelman and Tom Savage of Rutgers. Steelman has been Army’s leading rusher the past three games and leads the team with 407 yards on 117 carries. Savage was 23 of 39 for 248 yards and one touchdown against Pitt.
Savage will be making his first start on the road, seeking to become just the second freshman quarterback in school history to win a road game. Ryan Cubit won his first road game at Buffalo in 2001 in his first career start. It was Schiano’s first game as head coach at Rutgers.
Savage is well aware of what he’ll be up against.
Army’s swarming defense is led by defensive end Josh McNary, who had an academy-record four sacks against Temple, giving him 9 1/2 for the season and 15 in his career. He ranks third in the nation with 1.36 sacks per game.
“They’ve just got a strong defensive line, they’re all disciplined, their d-backs are good in press coverages and jamming,” Savage said. “It’s going to be a tough opponent.”
“It will be a real challenge for him (McNary), and they certainly will have some things for him,” Ellerson said. “But I don’t think they are going to change their offense because Josh is out there. He’ll have opportunities, but he’s going to have to whup somebody to make a play.”
The teams last played at Michie Stadium two years ago on a rainy Friday night, and the Scarlet Knights dominated behind tailback Ray Rice, scoring 34 straight points en route to a 41-6 victory. Rice set a single-game school record with 243 yards on 34 carries and scored twice.
This time, the Black Knights will be looking to put Rutgers on its heels early.
“We’ve come out of the locker room and we’ve played so well so early consistently through the year,” Ellerson said. “The only exception has been in the start of the third quarter, where we have been a little bit of a yard sale in some weeks.
“What we’re going to try and do is a little bit of a cut and paste. If we could take that third quarter and this first quarter and put a couple of those together we have a great chance.”
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