RUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

December 5, 2020

Greg Schiano

Postgame Press Conference

Penn State 23, Rutgers 7

COACH GREG SCHIANO: Okay. Guys. The guys played hard but we really didn't play a very clean game. Hats off to Penn State. I thought they played very well. We struggled to handle them up front, especially offensively, and certainly wasn't for lack of fight. The players fought throughout the game. But overall we didn't coach well enough or play well enough to win, so Penn State deserved to win today more than we did.

Questions?

Q. Can you talk about the thought process going for it on fourth and one from your own 45 those two times in the first half and then were you okay with the play calling or was it a matter of getting physically beat up front?

COACH GREG SCHIANO: Yeah, I was good with everything. Good with the decision to go for it. Good with the play call. I believe in our guys. I believe that we can convert those. We just didn't do it. There's been many times we have and didn't happen this time. But I knew we were playing a good football team, so I knew we were going to be aggressive for sure.

Q. What it you see from Noah, and what made their the defense so tough today?

COACH GREG SCHIANO: Well, I thought Noah actually did a pretty good job today. He was under duress much of the day when he dropped back, we didn't protect very well.

Again, hats off to Penn State. You could say we didn't protect well or they did a great job generating pass rush. So it's always a two-sided situation. We just -- we didn't play clean. Our guys played hard. It wasn't -- they fought the entire game to the last snap but hard isn't good enough in this league.

This is big boy football, and you've got to play clean. You've got to play precise. You've got to coach that way, and just as an organization, we didn't do well enough.

Q. Just curious, Tyshon Fogg didn't play much. Is that an injury thing? I know he was dressed. And Isaiah only had five carries. Did he get dinged up or did you just move away from the run?

COACH GREG SCHIANO: You know what, it was so disjointed the entire game offensively. I don't know if anybody really got into a flow. We were hunting and pecking, trying to find some things that would be effective.

So I don't think it's anything about Isaiah. I know there was no injury to Isaiah. It's just -- it wasn't on purpose. It was kind of one of those -- we were struggling to find success on the offensive side today.

With Tyshon Fogg, Tyshon he had an injury he fought through this week but really, didn't get enough practice and was able to do some things. I think as the game went on, it maybe wasn't strong enough to go anymore. So you know, he tried.

Q. Fatukasi had 18 tackles on the day. Can you talk about his play and what his contributions mean to the defense?

COACH GREG SCHIANO: 03 is a very special player. He has a very good nose for the ball. He's a very good tackler. Glad we have him. I think he plays very smart football. Understands what offenses are doing. I think the other thing I didn't mention when I talked to Fogg's injury, I thought Rashawn Battle, without watching any anything, I thought Rashawn Battle stepped in and did a solid job. Yeah, just not well enough to win.

Q. Penn State is going to be a measuring stick for your program for a while now. When you look at this game now, is it a matter of you needing to get more talent to compete at the level that they have recruited at?

COACH GREG SCHIANO: Well, I think, again, as I have talked before this year, just because we are doing things the right way and we're developing and all that, so are other programs and they have been doing it longer than we have.

So we have, when I took the job, we not only have to catch up to people but we've got to pass them. Certainly Penn State is one of those programs. Today we didn't -- you know, we didn't show that. So is it recruiting? Sure. Is it better coaching? Sure. Is it everything? Better execution, all those things add up, but you're right. They are a talented team. They have had some tough losses, but you know, you look at them on the, just looking at them and then you watch the way they play, they are a talented team.

Q. Brendon White was ruled out again today. What's the latest on him and what did you think of Jones filling in for him today?

COACH GREG SCHIANO: You know, I think first off, Brendon wasn't good enough to play health-wise, so we didn't -- we didn't risk that.

And then as far as -- as far as Naijee Jones, I think he did pretty well. It's hard. You're watching everything as a head coach, so I wasn't just watching him, but I thought he -- I thought he played solid.