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What Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said after his team's loss to Penn State

IMG_1698 5 (1)by:David Eckert•11/20/21•

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(Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Penn State Nittany Lions football started slowly, but ultimately claimed a 28-0 win over Rutgers on Saturday at Beaver Stadium.

Let’s dive into what Rutgers coach Greg Schiano had to say about his team’s defeat.

Rutgers unable to crack Penn State defense

Rutgers never managed to make a mark on the scoreboard in its loss on Saturday, becoming the second team to be shut out at Beaver Stadium this season after Indiana also failed to score.

The last time the Scarlet Knights even cracked double digits against the Nittany Lions was in 2014, a narrow Penn State victory. It was also the last time Rutgers earned bowl eligibility.

The Scarlet Knights only ventured into Penn State territory once throughout the entire game. They made it down to the Penn State 15-yard line, before a failed fourth-down conversion turned the ball back over to the Nittany Lions.

“Firstly, they’re good,” Schiano said when asked about his offense’s struggles. “I don’t really know without watching it. I can’t tell you watching the line — why couldn’t we run the football even a little bit? We’re going to have to look at that.

“Their secondary did what they’ve done. They played well. They’re a top-10 defense for a reason. They’ve played a lot of good teams. When you accumulate all their statistics, they’re a top-10 scoring defense. That doesn’t happen this late in the season by accident.

“To win that game offensively, we were going to have to play almost perfect and we didn’t play close to that.”

Schiano offers thoughts on Christian Veilleux

A true freshman quarterback sparked Penn State’s offense.

Making his collegiate debut for the sick Sean Clifford, Christian Veilleux completed 15 of his 24 passes for 235 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions.

He also contributed with his legs, rushing for 36 yards on 10 attempts.

In his assessment of how Veilleux changed the game, Schiano lamented a personal foul penalty that helped the Nittany Lions on their first scoring drive of the game late in the second half.

“Some of it is what he did and some of it is what we did,” Schiano said. “It feels like you’re going to halftime 0-0 and we get a late hit out of bounds. Just a couple small errors.

“There’s some good skill guys out there, so we can’t afford to have those little errors…We’re playing well enough defensively to win a game like that, we just have to get the other side cooking a little bit.”

Perspective on Malick Meiga’s touchdown

One Canadian freshman — Veilleux — connected with another in Malick Meiga late in the third quarter to put the game away for the Nittany Lions.

It was a 67-yard touchdown, and there was never a Scarlet Knight close enough to Meiga to prevent him from going all the way.

“In the second half, we had a bust on the long touchdown,” Schiano said.

“There’s a lot of them that I’m disappointed about. That one is more than disappointing.”

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