Rutgers spent its bye week watching the rest of the college football world reshape the path ahead, and not much of it helped the Scarlet Knights.
At 1-4 and 0-2 in the Big Ten, Rutgers finally got a weekend off while the season kept grinding on around it. Saturday’s results didn’t exactly hand the Scarlet Knights any clean relief. The teams still left on the schedule mostly stayed in the same range - but a few of them flashed just enough to make Rutgers’ remaining stretch look a little tougher.
Michigan State and Maryland, the two most obvious targets left on the calendar, both lost on Saturday. Neither looked easy to brush aside.
The Spartans dragged themselves back from a 17-point hole and pushed Illinois into overtime before losing 38-37 at Spartan Stadium. Pat Fitzgerald’s team couldn’t finish the job after failing on a two-point conversion in the first extra period, but the comeback alone was enough to show Michigan State has some fight in it.
Maryland took a harder hit on paper, falling 45-16 to No. 5 Ohio State, but the final score doesn’t tell the whole story.
The Terrapins produced a pick-six, put together a 75-yard touchdown drive against the Buckeyes’ defense and looked more competitive than they did in their 54-3 loss to UCLA. Rutgers still has both teams ahead, and both still look beatable - just not as softly as they might have before Saturday.
Nebraska, meanwhile, came out of the weekend looking more dangerous even after coughing up a late lead against Indiana. The Cornhuskers kept the Hoosiers in check until the fourth quarter, then watched star wide receiver Nick Marsh rip off a pair of long touchdowns.
Nebraska’s offense also piled up nearly 400 yards against the defending national champions. Of the seven games left for Rutgers, this one may be the toughest to crack.
Penn State went the other direction. The Nittany Lions dropped their third straight Big Ten game, losing to USC during their annual White Out and giving Lincoln Riley’s Trojans another reason to feel alive. It’s a long shot, but there’s at least a scenario where Rutgers’ late-November trip to State College could carry real weight in the race to avoid the bottom of the conference.
Elsewhere, UCLA offered Rutgers administrators a sharp reminder of what a turnaround can look like. No.
21 UCLA moved to 5-0 with a win over No. 13 Oregon in Eugene on Saturday afternoon.
Bob Chesney, in his first year with the Bruins, has taken a program that was 8-16 in its first two Big Ten seasons and turned it into a legitimate College Football Playoff contender.
And then there’s UMass, which is sliding. The Minutemen lost their second straight game Saturday, dropping a 20-19 decision to Miami (Ohio). They did it without quarterback Pop Watson, who was out with an ankle injury, and still nearly stole it before the two-point try came up short.
Joe Harasymiak, Rutgers’ former defensive coordinator, went for the win instead of playing for overtime. That decision deserves credit, even if the result only made Rutgers’ season-opening loss to UMass look worse.
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Rutgers Debut Brought Back One Concern Fans Hoped Was Gone
Rutgers first look of the preseason came with a familiar feel in more ways than one. In an exhibition against Villanova, associate head coach Brandin Knight handled the sideline duties for Steve Pikiell, and the Scarlet Knights dropped a 77-75 decision in a game that echoed too many of last seasons offensive stretches. Even in an early setting, the possession flow and scoring patterns looked like concerns the program had hoped to move past.
There were also absences to note, with Tariq Francis, Will Sydnor, Dorin Buca and Martin Tonejc not taking part. The bright spot was Virginia Tech transfer Christian Gurdak, who made his Rutgers debut at center and gave the staff something to build on in the frontcourt. For a team still sorting out its identity before the games start to count, that kind of first impression matters, even if the bigger questions from the exhibition remain unresolved. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Heads Into A Defining Big Ten Test With Pressure Rising
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Greg Schianos group is walking into a tough setting as well, with Maryland getting its Homecoming spotlight and an offense that leans heavily on the pass. ESPNs matchup predictor also gives the Terps the edge, so Rutgers is facing more than just another conference road game, it is staring at a test that could say plenty about where this team stands in Big Ten play. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Swimming Is Showing Early Depth Fans Can Feel Good About
Rutgers swimming and diving continued to make a strong early impression at the Rutgers Invitational, closing out the second day with multiple first-place finishes and a steady stream of top-three efforts across both the pool and the boards. The Scarlet Knights looked balanced throughout the meet, with contributions from several areas and enough depth to suggest the roster is settling in well this fall.
The results also hinted at how much room this group may have to keep climbing, especially with a tri-meet against Liberty and James Madison coming next. Rutgers left the invitational with momentum from strong swimming and diving performances, and the kind of early-season showing that can give a team confidence before the schedule gets busier. [Read more 🡒]