Rutgers is walking into its Big Ten opener with a line that tells the whole story.
When USC visits SHI Stadium on Saturday, the Scarlet Knights will do so as a 25.5-point underdog, according to FanDuel. Hard Rock has the Trojans even higher at -26.5. The over/under sits at 55.5, with USC listed at -2500 on the moneyline and Rutgers at +1400.
Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Piscataway on CBS.
The matchup pits a 0-2 Rutgers team against a USC squad that is 3-0 and already piling up points at a ruthless pace. The Trojans have scored 130 points in three games, and they’ve already been favored by huge numbers twice this season without covering in either game. USC beat San Jose State and Louisiana as a big favorite, then did cover against Fresno State in a 39-0 win as 21.5-point favorites.
Rutgers, meanwhile, has done little to make bettors confident. The Scarlet Knights opened the year as 29.5-point favorites over UMass and lost 37-21.
They then went to Boston College as 3-point underdogs and fell 28-21. Rutgers is 0-2 against the spread and has thrown seven interceptions in two games.
The defensive numbers are even uglier. Rutgers is giving up 32.5 points per game, and the pass rush has been nonexistent so far, with no sacks in losses to UMass and Boston College. BC quarterback Mason McKenzie ran for 94 yards, while UMass piled up 200 on the ground.
USC brings a much sharper offensive profile into the game. The Trojans average 43.3 points and 172.7 rushing yards per game. Quarterback Jayden Maiava has thrown for 896 yards and 10 touchdowns through three games.
For Rutgers, the offense has leaned on KJ Duff and Antwan Raymond. And the Scarlet Knights’ two weakest FBS opponents are already in the loss column.
The teams last met on Oct. 25, 2024, in Los Angeles, where USC handled Rutgers 42-20.
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Rutgers Pressure Around Greg Schiano Is Already Getting Hard To Ignore
Rutgers 0-2 start has quickly turned a promising offseason into an uncomfortable early-season conversation around Greg Schiano. The program had reason to believe this fall could look different after a better NIL setup and a renewed sense of optimism, but the early results have been ugly on both sides of the ball and the noise around the head coach has grown louder as the losses have piled up.
Schiano has tried to keep the focus on his players and assistants, but the backdrop matters here. Rutgers is operating under new university leadership, and with expectations rising along with the resources, there is less patience for another slow beginning. The Scarlet Knights still have time to steady things, but the pressure surrounding the program is already hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
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USC arrives in Piscataway unbeaten, ranked No. 12 and carrying the kind of early-season momentum that tends to get attention fast once conference play starts. For Rutgers, the draw of the Trojans Big Ten debut is obvious, but so is the challenge: this is a road game against a team that has already shown it can pile up offense and has plenty of national belief behind it heading into its first league test.
The concern for Rutgers is that USC does not have to be perfect to be difficult to handle, especially when the Trojans are still sorting out how they want to use their roster as the schedule tightens. Even with some defensive unevenness in the mix, the market sees a clear gap here, which leaves Rutgers with the kind of matchup where early resistance matters almost as much as the final score line. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Tech Just Got Pulled Into A Brutal Week 2 Debate
Week 2 put Greg Schiano and Rutgers in an uncomfortable early-season spotlight, even in a broader roundup that also took aim at Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Oregon. For the Scarlet Knights, the issue is less about one bad afternoon than the way the first two games have left the program searching for answers on both sides of the ball and wondering how much patience usually comes with an October-like sense of urgency in September.
The bigger concern is that this is the sort of start that can quickly turn a coach into part of the national conversation for all the wrong reasons. Rutgers has not just stumbled into a rough stretch, it has invited the kind of debate that follows programs when performances lag behind expectations and the results start to pile up, with the focus now shifting from what went wrong in Week 2 to what Schiano can realistically do to steady things before the season gets away. [Read more 🡒]