It won’t be an upset this time if Chip Kelly’s team beats Greg Schiano’s.
But the first time the Eagles coach squared off against his Buccaneers counterpart, it certainly was.
Via Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times, Kelly already has an edge in the series, when the New Hampshire team he was offensive coordinator for beat Rutgers 35-24 in 2004.
Rutgers had just beaten Michigan State the week before, but was still building toward success that year, finishing 4-7. They led at halftime, but allowed 21 unanswered points in the second half to lose. It was the last game Schiano would lose to a I-AA opponent, as he’d go on to lead the Scarlet Knights to six winning seasons in his next seven before splitting.
Kelly earned national attention for building an innovative attack at New Hampshire, and jumped to Oregon in 2007.
While that result won’t impact Sunday’s game (unless Nick Foles gets hurt and Ricky Santos shows up to finish the game), it should give Kelly a bit of confidence.