Rutgers football to take on Delaware on Saturday
The Rutgers football team will take on Delaware this Saturday in its third game of the season. The game will be the first played against the Blue Hens (2-0, 1-0) since 1973 and is the last non-conference opponent the Scarlet Knights (2-0, 0-0) will play this season.
Rutgers is entering this weekend’s game after a hard-fought 17-7 victory over Syracuse last Saturday. In the win, the Knights defense forced three more turnovers to bring the season total up to eight. This number is tied for first in the nation.
“Our defense stepped up and took the ball away,” said head football coach Greg Schiano. “That’s how you win on the road. You don’t give it away, and you take it away.”
Rutgers was led on defense by senior linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi, who reached double-digit tackles for the ninth time in his career. Among those assisting Fatukasi was junior defensive lineman Mayan Ahanotu, who forced a crucial fumble in the fourth quarter. On offense for the Knights, senior quarterback Noah Vedral passed for 145 yards and one touchdown.
Meanwhile on special teams, senior punter Adam Korsak delivered yet another strong performance on Saturday, earning the Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week, marking the fifth national award of his career as well as Co-Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. Korsak has won two consecutive Ray Guy Award Punter of the Weeks to start the season.
“There was some really great punting again. I mean, [Korsak’s] phenomenal, right,” Schiano said after the game. “I think he had 4 punts, 3 of them inside the 20 and a 50 yard average. He’s special.”
Rutgers started 2-0 for the first time since the 2014 season as the team improves to 4-1 in road games since Schiano took over as head coach last season. Dating back to Schiano’s previous stint as head coach, the program has won 9 of their last 11 road non-conference games under Schiano.
“We need to come out here and establish that we go on the road and we win,” Schiano said. “Now, whether it’s Syracuse or wherever else, that's not important to me ... it's the fact that we went on the road and found a way to win.”
As for the matchup ahead, Delaware is coming off a season in which the program came one game short of a trip to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Championship Game.
This season, the Blue Hens had the most players on the Colonial Athletic Association’s preseason all-conference team and started off the season 2-0, most recently defeating Saint Francis.
“They’re a good football team — they have good players on offense, good players on defense and good players in the kicking game,” Schiano said Monday in his weekly press conference. “To me, just like it was for Temple and for Syracuse, it’s about Rutgers getting ready, our team getting ready to be the best that we can be.”
The first-ever matchup between the Knights and Delaware was back in 1901, and Saturday will be the 32nd time the two schools play against each other. In the last game played between the two teams in 1973, Rutgers defeated the Blue Hens 24-7.
Saturday’s game will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. and will be broadcasted on Big Ten Network+.
"There’s been eight FCS teams that beat FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams in the last nine days, now make it ten,” Schiano said when asked about the possibility of FCS teams like Delaware beating FBS teams. “We don’t need to talk about it. If you watch college football, which our guys do, (the possibility) is very clear.”
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