Rutgers football has spent the last few seasons knocking down droughts that had lingered for years, and 2026 could bring another round of long-awaited firsts.
The Scarlet Knights already checked off a stack of them in recent years. In 2023, Kyle Monangai became the program’s first 1,000-yard rusher in 11 years, and Rutgers landed its first traditional bowl bid in nearly a decade. A year later, Athan Kaliakmanis gave the team its first 2,000-yard passer in a decade, Monangai became the first Rutgers back in two decades to post back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, and the Scarlet Knights finished with a winning record and a bowl berth in consecutive seasons for the first time since joining the Big Ten.
Then came 2025. Kaliakmanis became the third 3,000-yard passer in school history and the first to top 2,500 yards in back-to-back seasons since 2007 and 2008, when Rutgers had its best offense ever. Antwan Raymond joined the 1,000-yard rushing club, and KJ Duff became the seventh 1,000-yard receiver in program history, and the first in 11 years.
Now the question turns to what comes next.
Rutgers enters 2026 with a chance to end some of the biggest skids in the sport, from finally beating a ranked opponent to getting back into the AP Top 25. There are also individual milestones within reach for Duff and Raymond, who could join some exclusive company in the school record book.
The biggest team droughts are the most glaring. Rutgers has not appeared in the AP Top 25 since the final week of the 2012 season, when it was No.
- That is 217 straight weeks outside the poll, the longest active drought among Power Four programs.
West Virginia is next, and it was last ranked in the Week 2 poll of the 2018 season.
The Scarlet Knights also haven’t beaten a ranked team since Nov. 12, 2009, when they knocked off No. 23 South Florida in Piscataway.
Since then, Rutgers is 0-43 against ranked opponents, with an average margin of defeat of 29.2 points per game. That is the longest ranked-win drought among all Power Five programs.
There are also a few firsts sitting on the schedule. Rutgers has never beaten USC, Wisconsin or Nebraska; it is 0-1 against the Trojans, 0-6 against the Badgers and 0-7 against the Cornhuskers.
The Scarlet Knights could also finally beat Penn State as Big Ten opponents. They last beat the Nittany Lions in the 1988 season, are 2-32 all-time against them and dropped a 40-36 heartbreaker in last season’s finale.
Another target is a fast start. Rutgers will try to open 3-0 for a sixth straight season, which would extend the program record it set last fall.
That run will be tested early, because the Scarlet Knights are undefeated in regular-season games against non-conference opponents since Greg Schiano returned in 2020, going 15-0. That streak will get a serious challenge on the road at Boston College.
Then there’s the bigger stage. Rutgers has never hosted ESPN’s College Gameday, and it has never been the road team in a marquee game when the show was on site.
The best shot in 2026 could come if Rutgers starts 4-0, with a road win at Boston College and a home upset of USC helping set up a possible matchup with defending national champion Indiana, which should also be 4-0. The only other realistic opening is a Halloween home game against Michigan, though the Wolverines are not expected to be a top-10 team.
One more team milestone remains untouched: Rutgers has never finished with a winning record in Big Ten play. The closest it came was 2024, when it went 4-5, a program best for conference wins.
And there are individual marks still on the table. Rutgers has not had a tight end catch more than two touchdowns in a season since Matt Flanagan had three in 2015.
The defense, meanwhile, has not posted at least 25 sacks in a season since 2014, when it had 33. No individual player has reached five sacks in a season since Julian Pinnix-Odrick in 2016, eight sacks since Jonathan Freeny’s 9.5 in 2009, or double-digit sacks since 2005, when Ryan Neill and Val Barnaby each had 10.
In Other News...
Rutgers Just Earned A Level Of Big Ten Respect Few Reach
Antwan Raymond and KJ Duff spent the 2025 season giving Rutgers a legitimate one-two punch, and now the preseason recognition is starting to match the production. Raymond powered the ground game with 1,241 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns, while Duff emerged as a true difference-maker on the outside with 60 catches for 1,084 yards and seven scores, enough to land both players on Athlon Sports preseason All-Big Ten first team for 2026.
For Rutgers, the bigger takeaway is the company it now keeps. Since 2014, only two other programs have had both a running back and a wide receiver earn that preseason first-team nod in the same year, which says plenty about how far the Scarlet Knights offense has come under Greg Schiano. The honors also set a sharper spotlight on a unit that will be expected to carry that respect into the fall, starting with the opener against UMass on Sept. 3. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Just Set Another Standard Fans Can Be Proud Of
Rutgers Athletics had plenty to celebrate beyond the scoreboard this week, with 139 Scarlet Knights student-athletes earning spots on the 2025-26 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars list. The recognition underscores how consistently Rutgers has paired Big Ten competition with classroom success, and it extends a run that has now reached six straight academic years with more than 125 honorees.
The Distinguished Scholar Award is reserved for athletes who have already earned Academic All-Big Ten honors and maintained at least a 3.70 GPA, so the list reflects sustained performance rather than a one-time surge. Rutgers also had 30 student-athletes post a perfect 4.0 GPA during the previous academic year, another reminder that the programs academic standard is not just holding steady, but continuing to rise. [Read more 🡒]
Lily Bolen And Aspen Maxwell Put Rutgers Volleyball On The Big Ten Stage
Rutgers volleyballs rise last season is getting another bit of public recognition, this time with junior setter Lily Bolen and junior outside hitter Aspen Maxwell set to represent the program at the 2026 Big Ten Volleyball Media Day on Aug. 3 in Chicago. It is another sign that the Scarlet Knights are starting to draw more attention on a conference stage that has long been a tough place to get noticed.
Bolen was the engine of the offense in 2025, while Maxwell gave Rutgers a steady finishing presence after transferring from Missouri. Their selection also comes on the heels of a season full of firsts and markers of progress, from a school-record attendance figure to the programs first Big Ten win over Ohio State, all part of a stretch that showed Rutgers can make noise beyond just a single match. [Read more 🡒]