Rutgers comes into USC’s fourth game with an 0-2 mark and a long list of familiar themes: some real talent, a defense that has to be better, and a few numbers that show why the Scarlet Knights have been stuck in the middle under Greg Schiano.
The big-picture record tells part of the story. Rutgers is 31-43 in Schiano’s second stint leading the program, and only two of the last six seasons have finished above .500. That’s a sharp contrast to his first run, when Rutgers won in all but one of his final six seasons before the 2011 exit.
On the field, the 2026 metrics are not kind. Rutgers sits at No. 67 in OFEI, No. 119 in DFEI and No. 85 in SFEI.
In Big Ten play, the Scarlet Knights are averaging 21.0 points per game, which ranks No. 16 in the league, along with 5.6 yards per play, also No. 16.
Defensively, they’re allowing 32.5 points per game and 6.44 yards per play, numbers that place them No. 17 and No. 18 in the conference.
Still, there are players USC has to account for. Wide receiver KJ Duff is tied for the national lead with five receiving touchdowns.
He also ranks second with 333 receiving yards and is tied for sixth with 17 catches. Duff, offensive lineman Kwabena Asamoah and running back Antwan Raymond were preseason All-America selections, giving Rutgers three such picks for the first time since 2008.
Rutgers’ latest game showed both the punch and the problems. Last Friday at Boston College, the Scarlet Knights dug out of a 17-0 hole and made it a 20-14 game late in the third quarter before falling 28-21 at Alumni Stadium on the 25th anniversary of Sept.
11, 2001. Duff had eight catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns, Raymond rushed for 134 yards on 27 carries and added a receiving touchdown, and quarterback AJ Surace threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns in his first college start.
On defense, linebacker Moses Walker had two interceptions and a sack, while defensive back Bradlee Jones forced a fumble that Kevyn Humes recovered.
Surace’s debut was one of the more notable individual performances in Rutgers’ recent run. He completed 18 of 27 passes and became the fourth Rutgers quarterback since 1990 to throw three touchdown passes in his first start, joining Athan Kaliakmanis in 2024 against Howard, Giovanni Rescigno in 2016 at Minnesota and Bryan Fortay in 1992 at Boston College.
The offense had some real production in 2025, too. Rutgers averaged 407.1 total yards per game and 389.1 in Big Ten play, both program bests since joining the conference.
The Scarlet Knights passed for 266.1 yards per game, which ranked third in the Big Ten and marked the program’s best conference finish. They also ranked ninth nationally in fewest turnovers lost with nine, 13th in time of possession at 32:31 and 13th in yards per completion at 13.7.
That offense featured rare balance at the top. Rutgers had a 3,000-yard passer in Kaliakmanis, a 1,000-yard rusher in Raymond and a 1,000-yard receiver in Duff for the second time in program history. Only five Power Four teams and two Big Ten teams hit that standard, and both Duff and Raymond are back this season.
The roster has been heavily turned over, though it still carries plenty of experience. Rutgers’ game notes list 87 returners and 47 newcomers.
The 2026 high school recruiting class was ranked No. 45, the transfer class No. 81, and the 2027 high school class is currently No. 51 after the de-commitment of three-star edge Josiah Sturdivant. Rutgers has a no-visit policy, and Sturdivant backed off after visiting Vanderbilt.
On the sideline, the staff has changed on defense but stayed familiar on offense. Kirk Ciarrocca is back for his fourth season as Rutgers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2026, with more than 30 years of coaching experience and 22 years as an offensive coordinator. He previously worked under Schiano for three seasons and won two bowl games with the staff from 2008-10.
Travis Johansen is in his first year as defensive coordinator after leading South Dakota to the FCS Playoffs quarterfinals in 2025 in his first season as head coach and winning a national championship at Grand View before that. The Minnesota native has coached six top-10 defenses, spent 14 years as a defensive coordinator and produced 16 defensive players who went on to be drafted, sign as free agents or receive camp invites.
In the numbers that matter on defense, transfer safety Chris Joines leads Rutgers with 12 tackles, including nine solo stops and three assists. He came over from Mercer after playing in 29 games there from 2022-24. Four players share the team lead with one tackle for loss apiece: Walker, Jones, Rondo Porter and Sekou Kromah.
Rutgers also arrives with a place in football history that nobody else can claim. The Scarlet Knights and Princeton played the first game of intercollegiate football on Nov. 6, 1869, on the ground where Rutgers’ present-day gymnasium now stands in New Brunswick. Rutgers won 6-4 that day under rugby-like rules, in a game described by one player as “replete with surprise, strategy, prodigies of determination and physical prowess.”
At 3 p.m. that afternoon, 50 combatants and about 100 spectators gathered on the field. Some of the crowd sat on a low wooden fence while the players removed hats, coats and vests and used suspenders as belts. Rutgers students, including the players, wore scarlet scarves turned into turbans to set themselves apart from the bareheaded visitors.
The Scarlet Knights also have 15 former players in the NFL, counting three on practice squads and two on injured reserve.
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