Rutgers’ season opener turned into a rough night fast, and it never really got better. The Scarlet Knights lost 37-21 to UMass at home, and the damage showed up everywhere: offense, defense, and the line of scrimmage.
Dylan Lonergan’s first start at Rutgers was especially shaky. His fourth-quarter interception came after he missed a wide-open Clay Thevenin in the flat and forced a throw to Jourdin Houston, who was covered by two defenders.
Rutgers got the ball back, and on the very next play Lonergan nearly threw another pick before he was intercepted by Jahmad Harmon on the following snap. Lonergan was locked in on his receiver, and Harmon had an easy read.
Over the course of the game, Lonergan floated passes, held the ball too long, and looked stuck in an offense that never found much rhythm. His three second-half interceptions told the story.
By contrast, AJ Surace gave Rutgers a cleaner look in limited action. He led a 75-play scoring drive and finished 6-of-9 for 77 yards. UMass was in prevent defense, but Surace still looked more settled than Rutgers had for most of the night.
The offensive line had a night to forget. Rutgers posted an adjusted rushing average of 2.6 yards per attempt, and the unit was described as having its worst showing since 2022, the season before Pat Flaherty arrived as offensive line coach.
There was at least one flash play through the air. With 7:09 left in the fourth quarter, Lonergan hit KJ Duff on a 78-yard touchdown on a simple go route.
That kind of shot raises the obvious question of why Rutgers didn’t go to the vertical game more often earlier, especially with the run game going nowhere. A little more urgency in the third quarter might have changed the shape of the offense.
Defensively, the first look at Travis Johansen’s group was uneven. The second half was better than the first, but Rutgers still had issues with blown assignments, tackling, and physicality at the line of scrimmage. UMass controlled those areas for long stretches.
Dyzier Carter provided one of the few bright spots for Rutgers, catching three passes for 19 yards in the second half. Outside of that, it was mostly a frustrating opener for a team that now sits at 0-1 and has plenty to clean up.
In Other News...
Rutgers Fans Now Have One Big Reason To Judge Keli Zinn
Keli Zinn has spent her first year on the job doing what any new athletic director eventually has to do: deciding what parts of Rutgers athletics need to change and where the department can be pushed further. That has already led to a notable shift in womens basketball, where she moved on from Coquese Washington and brought in Gary Redus to take over, a clear sign that Zinn is not planning to let inherited decisions define her tenure for long.
She has also started putting her stamp on football, pointing to progress under Greg Schiano in both recruiting and the way the program has used its resources since her arrival. For Rutgers fans, that creates a bigger standard for Zinn now, because the early question is no longer simply what she plans to do, but whether the moves she has made will translate into the kind of results the department has been waiting for. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Just Put Greg Schiano And Keli Zinn In A Brutal Spot
Rutgers loss to UMass landed like a gut punch, the kind of result that instantly turns a season into a referendum on where the program is headed. The criticism has been loud and immediate, and it has put athletic director Keli Zinn in a difficult position as she weighs how to manage the fallout around a team that was expected to be moving in a more stable direction.
Greg Schiano has not sounded like a coach ready to fold under the pressure, insisting that one game will not define the team. Still, the schedule does not offer much room to breathe, and the next stretch will matter a great deal for a program trying to stop a bad loss from becoming something much bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Former Rutgers Players Already Gave Scarlet Knights Fans A Painful Reminder
UMass 37-21 win over Rutgers brought an especially familiar face back to Piscataway, with former Scarlet Knights linebacker Timmy Hinspeter starting for the Minutemen and finishing with nine tackles in his return. For Rutgers fans, it was the kind of early-season reminder that stings a little more when it comes from someone who once wore the same colors, especially in a game that already tilted the wrong way on the scoreboard.
And Hinspeter was hardly the only ex-Rutgers player making an impression in the first week of the 2026 season, as several transfers around college football logged meaningful snaps for their new teams. Those performances matter in the Rutgers orbit because they keep reinforcing the same question for Scarlet Knights followers: which departures were survivable, and which ones are going to linger long after opening week? [Read more 🡒]