Rutgers opens its 2026 season Thursday night with the kind of matchup the Scarlet Knights have been used to seeing at SHI Stadium: a non-conference game, a heavy favorite, and a chance to get to 1-0.
UMass comes to Piscataway with a familiar face on its sideline. Former Rutgers defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak was hired as the Minutemen’s head coach ahead of the 2025 season, but his first year did not go well. UMass went 0-12, and Harasymiak heads into year two still looking for his first win.
The two programs have crossed paths five times before, with Rutgers holding a 3-2 edge. Their first meeting came in 1967, and the series has been scattered across nearly five decades, with just one matchup in that span until the most recent meeting in 2019.
That game is hard to forget if you watched it unfold. UMass jumped out fast and led 21-7 after the first quarter, but Rutgers flipped the script in a hurry by outscoring the Minutemen 31-0 in the second quarter and rolling to a 48-21 win.
McLane Carter threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns in that game, though he also had three interceptions. Isiah Pacheco powered the ground game with 156 yards on 7.8 yards per carry and four touchdowns. Bo Melton added six catches for 127 yards and a score, while Raheem Blackshear led Rutgers with nine receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown.
Thursday’s game is set for 6:00 p.m. ET at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, with weather expected to be 70 degrees, partly cloudy, and a 20% chance of rain with 5 mph winds. The game will air on Big Ten Network with Jason Horowitz, Anthony Herron, and Dannie Rogers on the call.
On the Rutgers side, the returning statistical leaders include Dylan Lonergan at quarterback after he went 190-for-284 for 2,205 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions at Boston College. Antwan Raymond returns after rushing for 1,241 yards and 13 touchdowns on 244 carries, and K.J. Duff is back after catching 60 passes for 1,084 yards and seven scores.
Defensively, Rutgers brings back Kaj Sanders, who finished with 64 tackles, along with J’Dan Burnett, who had 6.5 sacks at Tulsa. Sean Allison, who played at Drake, and Mikey Munn, who was at South Dakota State, each had three interceptions.
UMass returns William Watson III at quarterback after he went 2-for-4 for 77 yards at Virginia Tech, and Jordan Washington after he ran for 340 yards and three touchdowns on 86 carries at Murray State.
The expectation for Rutgers is straightforward: start fast, handle business, and give the starters a chance to sit in the fourth quarter. Greg Schiano will also use the game to work new faces into the lineup and show some of the roster depth. Football is back in Piscataway, and Rutgers enters Week 1 with the kind of setup it has seen before.
In Other News...
Rutgers Needs One Kind Of Win To Show Real Progress
Rutgers enters the upcoming season still viewed from the outside as a lower-tier Big Ten team, with ESPNs Football Power Index slotting the Scarlet Knights at No. 68. That ranking lines up with the broad sense around the program: there is work to do, and much of it starts on defense after the staff made significant changes following last seasons struggles on that side of the ball.
The next step, though, is bigger than simply looking cleaner or more competitive for stretches. For Rutgers to show real progress in 2026, it needs a win that changes the conversation, and a ranked upset would do exactly that. Beating a team like that would not erase the gaps, but it would give the Scarlet Knights something more meaningful than incremental improvement to point to. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Womens Golf Has A Real Chance To Climb Sunday
Rutgers spent Saturday in a solid position at the Boilermaker Classic in West Lafayette, Indiana, with Grace Lu and Joline Truong both staying inside the top 30 individually as the Scarlet Knights worked through the opening day of the event. Lu and Truong gave Rutgers the kind of steady scoring it needed to keep itself in the hunt against a strong field, while Miami (Fla.) set the pace at the top of the team standings.
The Scarlet Knights are eighth out of 16 after two rounds at 25-over-par 601, which leaves them close enough to make a move if they can tighten things up Sunday. Truong also gave Rutgers an encouraging start with a one-under 71, and with the leaderboard still crowded behind the leaders, the final round offers a real chance to climb before the trip ends. [Read more 🡒]
Robert Longerbeam Gets Another NFL Shot After Tough Start
Robert Longerbeam is getting another NFL opportunity after a difficult start to his pro career. The former Rutgers cornerback, drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, signed with the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad after Baltimore waived him, giving him a fresh landing spot less than a year after his draft-day rise.
Longerbeam spent the 2025 season on injured reserve because of a knee injury, then got back on the field in the 2026 preseason. His move to Philadelphia also makes him the second former Rutgers player to land on an NFL practice squad following cutdown day, a small but meaningful step for a player still trying to turn draft pedigree into staying power. [Read more 🡒]