Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano: Ohio State is "the No. 1 Team in the Country For a Reason"

Greg Schiano knows that there aren't any moral victories in college football, no matter who the opponent is.

In a sport where every loss matters and every game is micro-examined throughout each week during the season, the Rutgers head coach was critical of the way his team played and doesn't really believe in moral victories. That said, he acknowledged how good Ohio State is this season following the Buckeyes' 35-16 win over Rutgers in Piscataway Saturday afternoon.

"They're good. They're the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. They don't hand that ranking out to just anybody."– Greg Schiano

With Ohio State's offense struggling early on following a touchdown on the Buckeyes' second drive of the game, Ryan Day's team was forced to lean on the defense, much like OSU has throughout much of the season to date. Just like the first eight games of the season, the Silver Bullets proved, once again, that it wasn't a problem. In fact, the game-changing play took place in the middle of the third quarter when Jordan Hancock returned an interception 93 yards for a touchdown, giving Ohio State a 14-9 lead, one that the Buckeyes didn't relinquish.

It wasn't just the pick-six, though. Ohio State held Rutgers to convert just 4-of-13 third-down opportunities and 1-of-3 fourth-down conversions, proving its dominance on that side of the ball once again.

"They're one of the top-five defenses in America. ... (every starter from that defense) will all be in (NFL) camps. they're all players that the national football league will give a chance. they do that to a lot of folks." – Greg Schiano

Although Rutgers allowed TreVeyon Henderson to have a game-high five catches for 80 yards, it forced Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka to a combined eight receptions for 54 yards and two touchdowns. Stopping arguably the two best receivers in the country was part of the Scarlet Knights' game plan because Schiano realizes just how good that duo is.

"Those two receivers are both first-round draft picks. ... I think for us to win that game we had to be darn near perfect and we weren't."– Greg Schiano

Whether it was trick plays or doing well defensively, Rutgers kept the game within reaching distance until around 12 minutes remained in the fourth quarter. It's what Schiano wanted. He didn't want his team to play not to lose but did everything they could to potentially beat the No. 1-ranked team in the country. The Scarlet Knights fell short, but it wasn't for a lack of effort. They just didn't capitalize when they needed to, especially when they held a 9-7 halftime lead, the first time the Buckeyes have trailed at halftime this season.

"The margin of error is really slim and when we made errors, (Ohio State) cashed in. We had opportunities. We had the ball 10 times inside the 10-yard line."– Greg Schiano

Now 6-3 – the most wins Rutgers has had since 2014 – the Scarlet Knights will look to bounce back next week when they travel to Iowa. Following the matchup against the Hawkeyes, Rutgers will close out Its regular season with games at Penn State and against Maryland.