Rutgers ‘understands our responsibility’ to play games on Friday night
The Big Ten will feature six prime-time Friday night games on next year’s schedule. And the recent decision to implement that has not sat well with all the league’s coaches, who basically believe in uniformity that it will hurt local recruiting in their areas — HS games are typically on Friday night.
On Thursday, Rutgers released a statement saying it understands its responsibility to play games on Fridays.
“One of the reasons Coach (Chris) Ash was so attracted to Rutgers is the quality of high school football here in New Jersey,” Rutgers athletic director Pat Hobbs said in a statement. “He’s worked incredibly hard since his arrival to strengthen our ties with these programs. In its continuing efforts to advance the Big Ten, the conference has asked us to be open to playing one game a year on Friday night, preferably Labor Day weekend. As a proud member of the Big Ten we understand our responsibility and will work with the conference while continuing to do everything we can to support high school football here in New Jersey.”
Other Big Ten coaches such as Penn State’s James Franklin have voiced displeasure at the new schedule, saying he would not want to host any Friday night games.
