Greg Schiano breaks down Rutgers first half against Miami in Pinstripe Bowl

The Miami Hurricanes and Rutgers Scarlet Knights are in a battle with one another in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. At the half, Rutgers leads by four, 14-10, in a contest that pits Greg Schiano up against one of his former staffers and good friends in Miami’s head coach, Mario Cristobal.

As the two programs headed into the locker room, the ESPN team covering the game caught up with Schiano to gauge the Scarlet Knights headman’s thoughts on his defensive performance and what the offense needs to do to secure the victory in the second half.

“We really just have to stop shooting yourself in the foot with penalties. I mean, it’s three or four big, big penalties. Which [we] haven’t done that all year. So we’ll have to get in there and get that adjusted,” said Schiano.

The Miami offense was kept in check for the majority of the first half by the Rutgers’ physical style of defense. However, several penalties of the 15-yard variety allowed the Hurricanes to finish the half with two straight scoring drives. And had it not been for Miami receiver Xavier Restrepo having one cheek land just out of bounds, the contest would be tied at the half 14-14.

As far as the Rutgers offense is concerned, they, too, have been able to out physical the Miami defense. Quarterback Gavin Wimsatt is not blowing the competition away with his first half numbers. Still, he is leading the Scarlet Knights with exceptional execution on the field.

In Schiano’s eyes, in terms of closing out the game on offense, Rutgers is a long way away from doing so. To the Scarlet Knights headman, his team does not need to focus on that. However, they do need to focus on continuing to play the right way if they are to walk out of Thursday afternoon’s contest victorious.

“There’s no closing out. It’s a 14-10 game. So you just gotta keep playing; it’s what we thought it would be.”

Wimsatt has been solid through the first two quarters of play. The Rutgers quarterback has completed 6-10 pass attempts for 78 yards. Wimsatt also has one of the Scarlet Knights’s two rushing touchdowns on the day and is credited with six carries for five yards. The other Rutgers touchdown is courtesy of running back Kyle Monangai. Monangai leads all rushers in the game with 15 carries for 69 yards and the one rushing touchdown mentioned previously.