Despite all the accolades as Rice and Leonard being the best backfield in the country, and possibly the best (neutered) TE in the country in Clark Harris, the Rutgers offense is hampered by Mike Teel at QB. Teel, prior to the Navy game, had only completed 9 passes to Clark Harris in 5 games (someone sent him a memo or something because Harris got 5 catches against Navy).

What has been the big thing for Rutgers this year has been the defense. Something that can be directly attributable to Rutgers HC Greg Schiano since he is also the DC.

And a day after Rutgers’ 34-0 stifling was in the books and its defense was officially installed as the nation’s stingiest, the unit had earned itself … an extra hard week of work.

“That whole game plan was something different,” coach — and defensive coordinator — Greg Schiano said of what produced such raves in Annapolis, Md., and what won’t work this coming Saturday, when his undefeated squad travels to 6-1 Pittsburgh.

Because of last weekend’s bye, and Navy’s incredibly taxing triple-option offense, the No. 19 Scarlet Knights didn’t practice their nickel or dime packages for nearly two whole weeks. They didn’t work on their base defense, they didn’t run their base pressure, their base fronts or their base coverages. Navy demanded such different techniques and reads, Schiano said, this week will be “a big challenge.”

Still, Schiano has to like what he’s working with. Now in his second year of doubling up duties, he’s got his undersized and somewhat patchworked defense ranked first in the country in points allowed, second in yards allowed, fourth in passing yardage allowed and seventh in rushing yardage. He said he full well expects to relinquish his defensive coordinatorship some day, but for now, this group’s got him hooked.

The performance against Navy also got a Rutgers player recognized as a possible player of the week in USA Today.

Ramel Meekins — The Rutgers defensive end had 12 tackles, two sacks and three forced fumbles in the undefeated Scarlet Knights’ 34-0 win at Navy. Meekins helped the Rutgers defense record its second shutout and hold a Midshipmen offense that had been averaging 351 yards rushing to just 161 yards of total offense.

Pitt’s toughest defensive opponent this season has been Cinci. This will be the offense’s biggest challenge to date.