Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano: ‘Disappointed but not Discouraged’

Thursday night, the Scarlet Knights (7-6) fell to Kansas State (9-4), 44-41, in the 2024 Rate Bowl. Despite fumbling a big lead, Rutgers still has a ton of positives to build off. Years ago, the Scarlet Knights were a laughing stock, however the past four seasons Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano has helped shape this culture and turn the program around. Since 2020, when Schiano returned back to the sidelines, the Scarlet Knights have played three bowl games. Meaning, in three of the four years of coaching, Schiano has managed to secure three bowl appearances and has come out victorious in one of them.

“In life, if you do everything you can to be the best you can be, you can be disappointed,” Schiano said. “I know that this team did everything they could, just came up a little short."

This game was a tale of halves for the Scarlet Knights. Early in the game, the Scarlet Knights appeared unstoppable and hitting on cylinders. RB Antwan Raymond finished with 113 rushing yards on 18 carries with three touchdowns, while RB Ja'shon Benjamin added a rushing and receiving score. QB Athan Kaliakmanis completed 14 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown. WR Ian Strong finished with a game-high 104 receiving yards on five receptions. Despite star running back (RB) Kyle Monangai sitting to not 

“I'm certainly disappointed, but not discouraged,” Schiano continued. “We have a really good core in our program right now. We have a huge gratitude for the senior guys who played their last game today. They chose Rutgers when it was nothing to believe in, other than us.”

Turning Point of the Game

On defense, DB Robert Longerbeam recorded his fifth career interception with eight tackles. LB Tyreem Powell matched Longerbeam's game-high with eight tackles of his own. DB Shaquan Loyal contributed seven tackles and a sack. However, in the second half, Kansas State continued to feed the ball to the explosive Dylan Edwards and he contributed hugely to their historic comeback.  

“They controlled the game in the second half with their offense and their defense,” Schiano emphasized.

K-State bounced back from a 34-17 deficit midway through the third quarter and used a bowl record-setting night from running back Dylan Edwards to pull off the greatest bowl comeback win in school history in a 44-41 victory, using proverbial home-run hitters in Chase Field to smack away any doubt and clawing to nine wins behind a group of coaches and players that simply wouldn't give up in their final meeting together.

"I'm just so proud of the guys and their resolve and continuing to fight," said K-State head coach Chris Klieman. "We're so thrilled with finding a way to get stops on defense and then capitalizing with some big-time plays offensively."

‍Offseason Concerns

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights will have plenty of holes to fill in the offseason. Kaliakmanis is one of six senior starters on offense, and the defense has eight.

‍