Maryland is heading into homecoming weekend with a chance to snap its Big Ten skid, and the setup is straightforward enough: Rutgers comes to SECU Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 17, for a 12:30 p.m. kickoff on the Big Ten Network.
The Terps are 4.5-point favorites, according to FanDuel, and after last week’s trip to Columbus to face Ohio State, this one carries the feel of a game Maryland is playing for pride as much as anything else.
One of the biggest storyline threads on the Rutgers side is KJ Duff, whose decision to return last season said plenty about how the program operates. Richie O’Leary of On3’s The Knight Report pointed to Rutgers’ ability to use NIL to keep its best players in place, especially when it comes to retention. He also noted that the Scarlet Knights have done a strong job of keeping top talent over the last few years, citing Kyle Monangai as another example from the early NIL era.
Duff, O’Leary said, made a point of talking about building his legacy at Rutgers, and that message fit the pitch from the coaching staff. His choice to stay, and then keep producing, has reinforced the idea that players can “get paid” and still become stars while building something lasting in Piscataway.
Even with the season going the way it has, O’Leary said there are a few reasons Rutgers can point to as positives going forward. The biggest is that the program’s key returners have continued to develop individually even if that hasn’t shown up in the win column.
He singled out KJ Duff, Antwan Raymond, and Kobe Asamoah as the main returning pieces from last year, saying they’ve generally met expectations and, at times, improved. He also said the work at wide receiver and running back remains a bright spot behind Raymond and Duff.
Beyond that, though, he said there hasn’t been much else to celebrate around Piscataway this season.
Greg Schiano’s future was another major topic. O’Leary’s bottom line was blunt: “Winning, point blank, period.”
He pointed back to comments from Athletic Director Keli Zinn before the season, when she said: “I want what he wants, and he wants what I want. What that is, in its simplest form, is to improve what we saw from last year.”
But, O’Leary added, a true turnaround seems unlikely after a 5-7 2025, and Schiano’s fate already feels sealed. He still may get the rest of the season to try to salvage things, but if he can’t, Rutgers will face a major decision on whether to move on from the coach who has defined the modern program.
If that change comes, O’Leary said Rutgers needs a coach who can identify and maximize talent. He noted that the Scarlet Knights are operating with roster investment in the middle-to-lower part of the pack, which limits how much they can compete for the biggest names in the portal and high school ranks. He also believes the next hire should probably come with head-coaching experience, given the challenges Rutgers presents, though he stopped short of calling that a must.
Ideally, O’Leary added, Rutgers would also look for someone with an offensive background, both because that’s where the sport is headed and because it would break from a long run of defensive-minded head coaches over the last 25 years, with only a couple of exceptions. Among the names he mentioned are New Mexico’s Jason Eck and Memphis’ Charles Huff, who figures to be near the top of many Group of 6 lists.
He also raised the possibility that Athletic Director Keli Zinn and President William Tate could lean on their LSU ties, with Brian Kelly as the obvious connection. O’Leary said he’s not especially sold on that idea, but suggested Kentucky offensive coordinator Joe Sloan, one of Kelly’s former coordinators, as another possibility.
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