Penn State and Rutgers will look to become bowl eligible at the other’s expense on Saturday afternoon when the teams meet in Piscataway, N.J.
Interim head coach Terry Smith was quite direct on Monday when addressing that very topic for the Nittany Lions (5-6, 2-6 Big Ten).
“My focus right now is, obviously we have to beat Rutgers,” Smith said. “We approach these last couple weeks as do or die, playoff-type games, and this is another playoff game for us in our own reality of our world.”
The Scarlet Knights (5-6, 2-6) find themselves in the same position, and head coach Greg Schiano wasn’t shy about addressing his “goals” on Tuesday.
“Goals are a little overrated. My main appreciation of goals is that it forces people to create a plan, but other than that, the team on the other side will have the same goal that we do when the game kicks off,” he said. “They’d like to win and go to a bowl, we’d like to win and go to a bowl.
“It’s all going to be about execution, it’s all gonna be about the preparation that we’ve put in this week, and what kind of execution it leads to this Saturday.”
Rutgers will need to keep a keen eye on Kaytron Allen, who followed up a 181-yard, two-touchdown rushing performance in Penn State’s 28-10 victory over Michigan State on Nov. 15 with 160 yards and two scores in a 37-10 romp over Nebraska last Saturday.
Allen repeated as Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, two days after etching his name in the school record books for the most career rushing yards (3,954) by passing both Saquon Barkley (3,843, 2015-17) and Evan Royster (3,932, 2007-10)
Allen rushed for 69 yards and two touchdowns in Penn State’s last meeting with Rutgers, a 27-6 victory in 2023. The Nittany Lions are vying for the 18th consecutive victory over the Scarlet Knights and 33rd in 35 meetings.
Rutgers is picking itself up off the mat after losing for the sixth time in eight games with a 42-9 setback to top-ranked Ohio State last weekend.
Athan Kaliakmanis completed 10 of 20 passes for 81 yards for the Scarlet Knights, who will look to become bowl eligible for the third straight season.
