newjerseynewsroom.com

Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano's address to the media heading into Saturday's game against Navy (INTERNET TV: ESPN3, 2 p.m., at High Point Solutions Stadium, Piscataway, N.J.):

COACH SCHIANO: Looking forward to Navy now, a unique set of challenges. They're running the football better than anybody else in America. They have two guys, No. 2, their quarterback, and No. 39, their fullback. Both of the guys are averaging over 100 yards a game. That's very rare to have two guys in your back field averaging over 100 yards a game.

It's the triple option offense. They rely on hitting big plays in the pass game, which they've been able to do. They're as productive as anybody in the country right now at moving the football.

It's a huge challenge because it's a unique offense and one we don't see very much. You guys that are around practice and training camp know that we spend some time periodically working on it, because there is no way you can get ready for it with one week of preparation.

ALSO

Rutgers Football Preview: Scarlet Knights face Navy's triple-option

Rutgers Football Gameday: vs. Navy

Rutgers faces tough task in defending Navy's triple-option

Big East expansion includes Boise State, Air Force, Navy, Temple, Central Florida and East Carolina

Gary Nova brings winning ways to Rutgers as the new starting quarterback

What we learned from Rutgers' victory over Pittsburgh

You flip over to the defense. We've had our issues offensively against Navy's defense. Coach Green is Navy's defensive coordinator. He's been there a long time. He's an excellent football coach, and he's done a good job of matching up with us.

You look at it personnel wise, I think their defensive end, No. 98, jumps off the screen. He's a senior, and he plays like a senior. Their linebacking corps, I think, is good. No. 9 is a very active player. They'll be aggressive and jump from odd to even, and blitz and do all those things. With a front like ours that's trying to find their footing, that makes it difficult. Yet they play a more conservative style of coverage behind it. It's been something that we've struggled with.

That's kind of the landscape of what we have to get ready for, and it's going to be a week where, as is every week, but maybe more so than ever, our preparation is critical because it's some different things.

Q. Is Nova going to start?

COACH SCHIANO: Yeah, Gary is going to start. That's after going through things, that's what we've decided to do. Again, Chas will be prepared and ready to go.

Q. What does Navy do defensively? I know you talked about their defense, but why do you think they give you trouble? You have trouble against them?

COACH SCHIANO: You know, they go from odd to even, they jumped from an odd front to an even front. They run backers through. They do some things that we just haven't done a good job of picking up.

You sit there in game planning and say we'll be able to run this play and then they've made plays. They've played very hard, which doesn't surprise you. That's their entire football team. They play very hard. And we have to be able to move the football on these guys, because they're now, like everybody else, they've gone now to the no huddle. So they're running no huddle, triple option, which, if it wasn't hard enough before.

So now instead of running the play, they start the guy in motion, and the whole group looks to the sideline, not every play, but a bunch of plays. It's going to be a challenging week.

Q. Coach, have we seen Logan Ryan develop into a true number one corner? What's he done since the beginning of the season to improve?

COACH SCHIANO: He's worked very hard to thicken his skin. You know, he had some plays, you think back to the Carolina game where he got beat over the top and got beat underneath. We talked at that time. That was a critical time for him in his career. I think what he's done is worked very, very hard in practice and built up.

When you earn that confidence, then you deserve to have it. You deserve to play with it, and he's playing with confidence right now.

Q. Your defense has been so good at forcing turnovers this year. Does that approach change at all against Navy because it's primarily running the ball?

COACH SCHIANO: They do throw the ball. One of the things that's lost in this triple option offense, is Navy counts on hit ting in two of those big plays, so we have to make sure we cover. And the hard thing is it's all off these run actions. Very rarely do they just drop back and throw it. So you're having trouble stopping that run, stopping that run, and all of a sudden they pop a receiver.

If you watch their game tapes, they have runners. They have guys that are running free and people bust coverage. It's not easy. You have to have great eye discipline.

As far as creating takeaways, you don't try to create takeaways. You drill it in practice and they're incredibly hard. They either happen or they don't.

It's a little different now because on several of their running plays, they're pitching the football. They're reading down linemen. So we have to play physically and play fast, and see if we can't create takeaways both in the run game and the pass game. But that happens. I don't think you try to do that.

Q. Is Rashad Knight, is it a setback or is his foot just not healing the way you'd hoped?

COACH SCHIANO: You just don't know. He's going to get an X ray here sometime this week to see where we are. I hope he can come back in the latter part of the year, but we don't know that.

Q. What was your thinking on Marcus Thompson starting in?

COACH SCHIANO: Don't read too much into the defensive front stuff because I do it just so you guys have a two deep. But we will, by the end of the week, figure out who has practiced best, who has looked the best and we'll rotate them in that way.

I think we played ten guys last week, maybe 11. We'll continue to play as many guys who have earned the right to play. Certainly playing a no huddle triple option offense, we'll have to play several defensive linemen, otherwise we'll run out of gas.

Q. Should I read anything into Betim being right guard?

COACH SCHIANO: Maybe that I forgot to change it. I don't know. Our offensive line is a work in progress. I can't tell you who is going to be the starting five. I really can't. I hate to do that because we put this document out. I'd like to put out a document that says, "I don't know. We'll see." But I don't think that flies well on the press release.

Q. With the line, did you figure out what went wrong with Caleb and Gary on those snaps?

COACH SCHIANO: Yeah, yeah, that's all right. We'll get it fixed.

Q. How was it to see Steve get back to that production level at middle linebacker?