Category: Rutgers football

ESPN FPI now has Rutgers football favored in one of their last three Big Ten games

ESPN FPI now has projections for Rutgers football’s final three games.

Following a tight -and tough – loss on Saturday to No. 1 Ohio State, the eyeball test says that Rutgers football should be able to compete in their remaining three games and potentially grab another win or perhaps two. And ESPN would agree with that assessment.

With the loss on Saturday, Rutgers is now 6-3 (3-3 Big Ten).

The analytic measurement ESPN FPI is projecting for the first time this season that Rutgers will win their season finale against Maryland. In their update following this weekend’s games, ESPN has Rutgers at 51.2 percent to beat Maryland in their regular-season finale.

Rutgers remained at No. 44 in the national FPI rankings despite the loss, an indicator of the quality of their opponent this weekend as well as their overall strong performance in defeat. Maryland, however, was handled by Penn State and they tumbled eight spots to No. 40 in the ESPN FPI rankings.

Maryland had the biggest drop of any team in the top 50 of the FPI rankings.

[lawrence-related id=31835,31833]

As for Rutgers, their next two games…well…the ESPN FPI projections are not as kind. All three of their remaining games are in the Big Ten:

The projected win/loss total for Rutgers is 7.0-5.0, which would represent their best season since they joined the Big Ten in 2014.

Greg Schiano talks importance of NIL, Knights of the Raritan

Greg Schiano sees NIL as vitally important for his program.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — During the first quarter of Saturday’s game against Ohio State, an advertisement was played at SHI Stadium for the ‘Knights of the Raritan.’ It was the first time that the ad, which featured a QR Code, was played at a Rutgers football game.

In terms of hitting its desired audience, it is probably the largest exposure the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) collective has received. Now in its second year, the Knights of the Raritan (KTR) has had several big fundraising initiatives in an effort to better support Rutgers student-athletes.

And while Schiano was obviously busy during the game break when the advertisement was announced throughout the stadium (and the QR code displayed on the giant scoreboard), he was familiar with the announcement’s purpose.

More than that, he understood the intent of the fundraising push that KTR is currently engaged in this month:

“It’s paramount in what we are doing right now. That is where college football is, and you have to be able to be competitive in that landscape, and we have to be able to be competitive in that landscape. And it’s not going to get less. It’s going to only get more,” Schiano said about NIL on Monday.

“We have guys that have performed at a high level. Well, you know what, they are going to be people that’s trying to get them off our team. That’s the facts. And there’s going to be guys, we are not only going to want to keep our own guys here, but we are going to want to go out and pursue; and we have to do the things that Big Ten teams do to be competitive and eventually be champions. Every bit helps but we need every bit.”

 

#Rutgers Nation:

Have your phones ready in the 1st quarter tomorrow to participate in our “Give To Knight” flash fundraiser supporting our @RFootball NIL efforts.

Scan the QR code, contribute in real time, bookmark it to give later, or scan now and support as some already have. pic.twitter.com/7ITfztN6LR

Rutgers held a halftime lead over No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday before falling 31-16. In many ways, the game was the perfect advertisement for the program’s need for continued NIL funding.

[lawrence-related id=31833,31823]

Rutgers was up on the nation’s top team at halftime, ultimately playing a tight game and falling short. As things stand, Rutgers currently has the talent to compete in the Big Ten against the top teams, but needs to attract better players and retain them.

That’s where Schiano’s continued push for NIL funding is going to decide the direction of the program.

Greg Schiano: If I didn’t leave for the NFL, Rutgers football would be similar to Iowa

Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano sees Iowa as a mirror-program to his team.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Greg Schiano believes that if Rutgers football is to succeed, it needs to be a developmental program. On Monday, he reiterated this mindset with the program, even going so far as to say that if he hadn’t left for the NFL, Rutgers would be similar to Iowa in their stature as a Big Ten program.

Fitting, since Iowa is the program Rutgers plays this Saturday in an important Big Ten match-up for both schools.

Schiano left Rutgers after the 2011 season, which ended in the Pinstripe Bowl with the Scarlet Knights beating Iowa State. Schiano spent two years in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before landing back in college with Ohio State as their defensive coordinator and then briefly with the New England Patriots as their defensive coordinator.

Now with Saturday another measuring stick for Rutgers, Schiano believes that had he never left for the NFL, his program would have grown into what Iowa has been and currently is.

Like I said, I have nothing but great respect for Coach Ferentz and the way that he’s built his program over the last 25 years. You know, had we stayed, had I done — made the right decision and stayed here, it would be very similar I think. But we didn’t. We took a nine-year break. So we are playing catch-up for sure.

But I do have so much respect for how they play and what they do, and we are just in a spot where we’re getting better slowly, and we’ve just got to continue to do that. Will it be enough? We’re going to find out here in whatever it is, five days, six days.

Schiano currently has Rutgers at 6-3 (3-3 Big Ten) and bowl-eligible outright for the first time since 2014.

[lawrence-related id=31826,31823]

Iowa comes into this game with a record of 7-2 (4-2 Big Ten). The Hawkeyes are currently atop the Big Ten’s West Division.

They have made a bowl game every non-COVID-19 season since 2013.

The Hawkeyes have finished ranked three of their last four seasons under head coach Kirk Ferentz.

[lawrence-related id=31739,31794]

Schiano called Saturday “a huge challenge” for his program.

“So much respect for what Coach Ferentz has done at Iowa over a long period of time and really, what they have done lately. You look at their last 15 games, they are 12-3, and you look at what they have done over the last four years in the month of November, they are 15-1, which is astounding,” Schiano said.

“So we certainly are going into one of the toughest places to play in America against a team that’s leading the Big Ten West, 7-2. We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us.

“So it’s right back at it every week in the Big Ten and that’s the way we like it. We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and Saturday, and then we’ll go lay it on the line.”

[lawrence-related id=31813]

On Saturday, Rutgers held a 9-7 halftime lead on No. 1 Ohio State. Down 21-16 early in the fourth quarter, Rutgers lost 35-16 to the Buckeyes.

Rutgers football: Secondary did well in containing Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka

Rutgers football stopped Ohio State’s outstanding wide receiver duo.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Into the early stages of the fourth quarter, Rutgers football was hanging tight with No. 1 Ohio State. And it was the play of the secondary that was a major reason why Rutgers was down just 21-16 in the fourth quarter.

Rutgers did a tremendous job in limiting the space and amount of touches that Mark Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka got in Saturday’s game. Both wide receivers, likely first round picks, have been impressive this season but each standout struggled against a strong performance from the Rutgers secondary.

Harrison was held to just 25 receiving yards, his second-lowest tally of the season (although he did have two important touchdown catches in the second half). As for Egbuka, his 29 receiving yards were also the second-lowest of the season.

[lawrence-related id=31799,31794]

It was part of a strong defensive display from Rutgers that limited Ohio State to just 328 yards of total offense in what was a 35-16 win for the Buckeyes.

“We are getting better on defense, we are getting better on offense, we are getting better in the kicking game,” Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said after the game.

“Those two receivers are both first round draft picks, okay, and I think they were held to something like 50-some-yard together, both of them. Those are two first round draft picks. But again, for us to win that game, we needed to be darn near perfect. I wasn’t; the players weren’t; the coaches weren’t. We’ll keep battling away but there’s nobody that’s saying, oh, that was a good, close, no, no. There’s two things. There’s winning and there’s losing. Those are the only two things that happen in a game.”

Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord threw for 189 yards, his lowest passing total of the season.

[lawrence-related id=31739]

Down 9-7 at halftime, Ohio State capitalized on Rutgers mistakes and miscues to start rolling in the second half. A pick-six in the third quarter and some strong running from TreVeyon Henderson (128 rushing yards and a touchdown on 22 carries) keyed Ohio State to the win.

 “Give a lot of credit to Greg [Schiano] and their staff. He’s doing a great job with their players,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said after the game.

“Playing on the road, you have to find a way to win the game and we did. It was good to pull away.”

Rutgersrooski? Fumblegai? Monangairooski? Inside how Saturday’s ‘Fumblerooski’ worked for Rutgers football

Rutgers football used a big trick play in their tight loss to Ohio State.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Was it a fumblerooski? Well, not really. But a trick play on Saturday delivered a huge play in what was an upset bid by Rutgers football against No. 1 Ohio State.

In what became a 35-16 loss, Rutgers utilized a bit of trickeration to kickstart their offense and get back into the game against Ohio State.

Down 7-0 and with 10:29 left in the second quarter, Rutgers faced a fourth-and-short on their own 43-yard line. That’s when Rutgers rolled the dice with a trick play that changed the momentum of the game for the next quarter.

It was a designed play, where Gavin Wimsatt (under center),  received the ball and then snapped it between his legs to running back Kyle Monangai.

Wimsatt sold the quarterback dive and Monangai instead squirted into the open field, running 45 yards as he took the ball down to Ohio State’s 12-yard line.

It was a trick play that Rutgers had been working on in practice.

“It worked like that, except I scored,” Monangai said after the game.

Monangai finished with 159 rushing yards against the Big Ten’s second-best defense. With the win, Ohio State is 9-0 (6-0 Big Ten). Rutgers saw their two-game winning streak snapped and are now 6-3 (3-3 Big Ten).

The play came at an important time for Rutgers. It helped kickstart the offense and brought the crowd at SHI Stadium back into the game.

 

Four plays after Monangai’s run on the trick play, Jai Patel had a 22-yard field goal to make it a 7-3 lead for Ohio State. Rutgers would add two more field goals in the second half to take a 9-7 lead at halftime.

[lawrence-related id=31799,31794]

The play call showed some considerable moxie from Rutgers, but its success was in the details.

“Their quarterback sneak defense – it’s really good, actually,” quarterback Gavin Wimsatt said after the game.

“You know, so we’re just prepared and we had practiced it and then my job was to be a great actor, you know, trying to sell it I had just trying to get it but credit to Kyle and our offensive line for selling it.”

The offense, after a slow start, started to get things rolling nicely. The defense was strong all game.

[lawrence-related id=31754]

Rutgers actually outgained Ohio State and had a decided edge in time of possession. It was a strong performance from Rutgers, one that showed

“You’ve got to be willing to try stuff in a game where you know that it is – they are a good team,” Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said after the game.

“Yet we didn’t go crazy with a whole bunch of stuff because I felt we could do just what we did. We could run the ball if we stuck to it. Kyle and the offensive line, I thought they ran the ball hard, Gavin ran the ball hard.”

 

 

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, following a tight win, praises Rutgers football

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day praised the performance of Rutgers on Saturday.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Through three quarters, Rutgers looked like a team that had a legitimate chance to knock off the top program in college football. For Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, Saturday’s game was a sign of the progress that Rutgers and head coach Greg Schiano are making with their program.

Down 9-7 at halftime, Ohio State (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten( rallied for a 35-16 win at Rutgers (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten). The tight margin for Ohio State, coupled with a very strong performance from Rutgers, is something that Day talked about following the game.

Rutgers outgained Ohio State on offense and held the edge in possession. But mistakes in the second half did not go unpunished against a team the caliber of Ohio State.

Just days after Ohio State was named the top team in the College Football Playoff rankings, Rutgers stepped up and had the Buckeyes very much on the ropes for much of the game.

“Give a lot of credit to Greg [Schiano] and their staff. He’s doing a great job with their players,” Day said after the game.

“Playing on the road, you have to find a way to win the game and we did. It was good to pull away.”

After the game, Rutgers was adamant that this wasn’t a moral victory. But it was clear that progress was made.

[lawrence-related id=31794,31740]

This wasn’t 80-0 from seven years ago against Michigan. This was Rutgers, up at halftime and down just 21-16 early in the fourth quarter.

A fourth-quarter pick-six was the difference in this game. If Rutgers, driving at the time, gets points and Ohio State doesn’t get their touchdown, this game could have been very different.

Day said that “Rutgers is physical. They played us hard.” That wasn’t enough for Rutgers to get the win but they showed a rather significant step forward, even in the loss.

[lawrence-related id=31754]

“The margin of error is real slim and when we made errors, they cashed in,” Schiano said after the game about his Rutgers team.

“We had opportunities. We had the ball ten times inside the ten-yard line. They are good. They are the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. They don’t hand that, you know, that ranking out to just anybody. So we knew exactly what — you know, no one ever played a perfect game but we knew we were going to have to play one play at a time really, really about as well as we could. And at times we did that. I thought the defense at times was spectacular, right. Just not ready yet. Going to keep saying that word ‘yet’ because this is going to get done.”

Week 10: The five takeaways from Rutgers football vs No. 1 Ohio State

The Scarlet Knights played tough against No. 1 Ohio State but fell short to the Buckeyes 35-16. Here are the five takeaways from Week 10.

On Saturday, the Scarlet Knights played tough against No. 1 Ohio State but fell short in a 35-16 loss.

The turning point of the game came in the third quarter when Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt threw an 80-yard interception inside the red zone, giving the Buckeyes a 14-9 lead. Rutgers was marching down the field with a 9-7 lead, but Buckeyes’ defensive back, Josh Proctor, made a crucial play to give his team the lead midway through the third quarter.

The Scarlet Knights leaned on their rushing attack in their Week 10 matchup, producing 232 yards on 43 attempts. Rutgers averaged 5.4 yards per carry and out-gained the Buckeyes by 93 yards on the ground.

 

Rutgers’ offensive struggles inside the red zone led to their Week 10 loss. The Scarlet Knights scored points only 66.7 percent of the time inside the red zone on Saturday, producing only 16 points compared to the Buckeyes 28.

[lawrence-related id=31754,31743]

Scroll down for the five takeaways from Rutgers’ 35-16 loss to No. 1 Ohio State in Week 10.

 

Not moral victories, but progress, mark Rutgers football in loss to No. 1 Ohio State

Rutgers football showed that the rebuild is legit in loss to No. 1 Ohio State.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Not surprisingly, no one associated with Rutgers football acknowledged that Saturday afternoon’s 35-16 loss to No. 1 Ohio State was a moral victory. But, there is the concession that this is a team that is headed in the right direction and making considerable gains in their rebuild.

A 9-7 lead for Rutgers over Ohio State at halftime began trending, as much for the shock value that the nation’s top team was on the ropes as for the fact that Rutgers was holding its own. And hold their own they did, as Rutgers was very much in this game for a long time.

The loss stings for Rutgers.

Down 21-16 early in the fourth quarter, Rutgers had chances to stop Ohio State but simply couldn’t as the star power of the Buckeyes shone forth. What Rutgers did show on Saturday, even if it didn’t want to admit it, was that the rebuilding project under head coach Greg Schiano is paying dividends.

“We’re just not there. We’re getting better. I don’t know how to put it other than we are not there yet. We are a work-in-progress. We are getting better. We are just not there against the No. 1 team in the country, not quite yet. We have to,” Schiano said after the game.

“You can’t say, well, we are going to get there. You have to go make yourself get there, so that’s what we’ll do, we’ll come back in this room, we’ll be honest with each other tomorrow and those kids love each other, those coaches love those kids and we are just going to keep going and eventually we’re going to get there.”

Rutgers outgained Ohio State 361-328 yards. They had more first downs (22 to 15) and held possession of the ball for a little over 11 minutes more than the nation’s top team.

[lawrence-related id=31743,31735]

Some of those numbers can be skewed by the fact that Ohio State is capable of making big plays, but the point is not lost that Rutgers went punch-for-punch with Ohio State for much of the game.

It was a sign that, against the class of the Big Ten, Rutgers has the ability to hang tough. But the message was clearly sent from SHI Stadium on Saturday that Rutgers isn’t rebuilding anymore.

Rutgers is rebuilt, even if the loss hurts for veterans like senior tight end Johnny Langan.

“I don’t know-  we we did make some mistakes that normally would crush a team and in the past might have put us back a lot,” Langan said when asking about this team making progress.

“So, yes, and no. I mean, we can’t make those mistakes. If we didn’t make those mistakes, that would definitely be huge progress. But the fact that we made those mistakes and still were in the ball game, I guess you could say that’s progress.”

There was a sting to Saturday afternoon that comes from knowing that Rutgers wasted an opportunity. Games against the top-ranked team in the nation don’t come often and rarely does an opponent step up the way Rutgers did on Saturday afternoon.

[lawrence-related id=31730,31726]

Rutgers played well and could have beaten Ohio State. The argument could be made that but for a play or two, they should have beaten the Buckeyes.

But the sting of this loss comes from the fact that Rutgers hung in there against the No. 1 team in the nation and very nearly de-throned them.

“It shows what coach Schiano has instilled, you know, into the players, into this program,” linebacker Deion Jennings said.

“There’s progress, but we’re still working hard and there’s still progress to be made.”

Watch: Rutgers wide receiver JaQuae Jackson holds on for an acrobatic touchdown catch against Ohio State

Rutgers football wide receiver made a big play against Ohio State in the fourth quarter.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — JaQuae Jackson said he picked Rutgers football this offseason to play in big games, on the big stage. The senior wide receiver got just that in Saturday’s game, emerging with a big fourth-quarter touchdown catch to pull Rutgers within five points.of No. 1 Ohio State.

In what would be a 35-16 loss, Jackson finished with three catches for 41 yards and that fourth-quarter touchdown.

Jackson, who got held earlier in the touchdown play, won a contested catch with Ohio State defensive back Davison Igbinosun to finish the scoring play. The touchdown made it a 21-16 lead for Ohio State early in the fourth quarter.

An addition out of the transfer portal, Jackson has been quite the solid grab for Rutgers.

 

[lawrence-related id=31735,31730]

The touchdown was a glimmer of second half hope for Rutgers, who took a 9-7 lead into halftime. The Scarlet Knights played well in the game, pushing an Ohio State team that was named the top team in the nation in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings.

Watch: Rutgers’ Kyle Monangai runs 45 yards on a trick play, converts fourth-and-short against Ohio State

Kyle Monangai had a huge first half run to set up for points for Rutgers football against Ohio State.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — The bye week was good to Rutgers football, who used a trick play and a long run from Kyle Monangai to set-up their first points of the game against No. 1 Ohio State.

On 4th-and-1 from their own 43-yard line, Rutgers ran a trick play. In their short yardage set-up, quarterback Gavin Wimsatt was under center and took the snap. He appeared to botch it, but instead snapped it back to Kyle Monangai.

With that, Monangai was off, running 45 yards down to the Ohio State 12-yard line.

Four plays later, Jai Patel kicked a 22-yard field goal to cut into the Ohio State lead and make it a 10-3 game.

 

Monangai finished the first half with 91 rushing yards.

Rutgers came into this game against Ohio State off a bye week. Two weeks ago, they improved to 6-2 (3-2 Big Ten) with a win at Indiana.

With the win, they became bowl-eligible for the first time since 2014.