For the first time since 2002-04, Rutgers isn't going to be in a bowl game for three straight years.
And yet there is a feeling inside the program that things are headed in the right direction, after a tumultuous 2015 season and a 2016 season marred by blowouts.
There's a bit of solace in that for the more than 20 honorees Saturday as Rutgers hosts Michigan State on Senior Day, but the real goal was the postseason.
"It's still not the season we hoped for," tight end/defensive end Myles Nash said.