At the end of Michigan State football’s 27-21 win over Rutgers, there was a controversial moment as Rutgers had their players dive forward as Payton Thorne was kneeling the ball. The play has drawn some criticism from fans who think this is a dangerous type of play and against the unwritten rules of football.
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano explained his reasoning for his on Monday, which was annotated by Kristian Dyer of RutgersWire.
“If you followed us, if it’s a competitive game, and there’s an opportunity to create a fumble, it’s not — you know, there’s always been a huge area of contention with people,” Schiano told reporters on Monday.
“I think it’s ridiculous, personally. It’s not where we are diving at — contrary to what the experts say, we are not diving at people’s legs. It’s a coached play. We are trying to coach a fumble. We have caused a fumble three times, our doing it. If there’s a chance to win the game, that’s what we do. And if it’s not, then we don’t. You let the game end with a snap and a kneel.”
Schiano, who was a coach in the NFL for Tampa Bay and known for using this tactic back then as well, used some recent NFL examples to justify his decision:
“I thought it was interesting, though. Over the course of my career, I’ve watched teams do it enough. It’s pretty interesting that you ask that question on the heels of the pro game yesterday where Buffalo, that could be a huge loss in their season, and I think everybody kept playing there,” Schiano said.
“I harken back to the Super Bowl where the Patriots beat the Seahawks, very similar situation and Seahawks were firing out and Brady was taking a knee and nobody had a word. It’s a competitive play when the game is competitive. When it’s not competitive, you’ll never see us do that but I don’t think it’s any secret that we’re going to do that. I don’t see an issue with it whatsoever.”
Schiano did point out that Tucker did not bring it up at all after the game to him:
“He didn’t look upset to me,” Schiano said. “I wasn’t really checking Mel’s feelings at the time. We shook hands like we always do.”
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.
