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Rutgers plays at Army this Friday night and I’m not quite sure if Rutgers coach Greg Schiano’s really not pumped about the game – or really pumped for it. You tell me…

Sunday morning, at the week’s press conference, Schiano basically said defending Army is a pain the you-know-what. Now don’t get him wrong, he really admires the triple option and he even said that way in the future, when he retires and becomes a high school coach (that’s his retirement plan?), he “maybe …will employ that offense, I don’t know. I think it is very good. It really is a joy to watch.”

He said Army’s triple option is a science, he twice said he enjoys watching it and he said, “the fact that I have to defend it is what I don’t like.” I even asked him if just as a defensive mind, if as a strategist, it’s not sort of fun to get ready for something totally different and… he looked at me funny. And said no.

But then, Monday, on the Big East coaches’ weekly teleconference, Schiano said he was sorry Army isn’t permanently on Rutgers’ schedule.

“I really like (the meetings),” he said. ”I think it’s great. The two Division I institutions that are in the New York metropolitan area, I think it’s a great game for the area.”

And that wasn’t even it. He went on, ”I love the fact that we’re going to be playing in Giants Stadium one time, we’re going to be playing at Yankee Stadium, we’re going to be playing at Rutgers Stadium, playing at Michie Stadium. I think it’s just great for all of our fans.”*

And then even more: “Right now, I’m not sure, I haven’t looked at the schedule, but I think we’re playing for a couple years and then we’re off. I wish, I think that should be an every-year game. But I’ll leave that up to the athletic directors and see if they can’t get that worked out.”

Now what would be cool is if Army-Rutgers could become a real regional rivalry. New coach Rich Ellerson is doing some very impressive things for sure. And Navy’s recently shown that a service academy can be legitimately tough. But Rutgers has won five consecutive meetings and scored more than 30 points in seven of those meetings and so… we probably have a ways to go before we see a real rivalry. Then again, maybe not. At least one beat writer thinks Army can win.

*Rutgers and Army will square off in the first college game at the new Giants Stadium, on Sept. 25, 2010, and they’ll meet on Nov. 12, 2011 at what will then be a three-year old Yankee Stadium.