Rutgers Ends 21-Game Big Ten Losing Streak with Win over Michigan State

Greg Schiano is apparently the only person able to do the impossible: turn Rutgers into a winning football program.

Schiano's second tenure with the Scarlet Knights got off to the best possible start, as visiting Rutgers earned a 38-27 win over Michigan State.

The Knights entered Saturday having lost their last 21 Big Ten games, the country's longest in-conference losing streak for a Power Five team.

Michigan State all but handed the game to Rutgers, turning the ball over seven times—highlighted by a ghastly five fumbles. Including turnovers on downs, eight of the Spartans' 15 drives ended that way.

The Knights had their own turnover issues, coughing the ball up three times, but the offense put plenty of points on the board with advantageous field position to pull away. Noah Vedral accounted for 193 total yards, and Isaih Pacheco rushed for two touchdowns to get Rutgers off to a 1-0 start in the shortened eight-game Big Ten season.

"It has been a roller coaster," Schiano told reporters this week. "The whole thing's a roller coaster, but that's the world we're in right now.

"One of the things we talked about when this thing really hit was, it's not good enough to survive. We wanted to thrive throughout this. That was a big part of what we talked to our team about, and I believe they have. We learned a lot about ourselves."

The Knights will host their first Big Ten game under Schiano next week against Indiana.

Schiano previously spent 11 years at the helm, winning the first five bowl games in program history. He then spent two seasons coaching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before later becoming Ohio State's defensive coordinator from 2016-18.