Big Ten · Greg Schiano, year 7 (31-43) · SHI Stadium · 52,454 · 42,454 avg in 2026
LastL 21–28 at Boston College · Fri Sep 11 · Moses Walker 1 sacks, 1 TFL, 2 INT
Nextvs USC · Sat Sep 19 · 3:30 pm ET · SHI Stadium · USC by 24.5 · series 0-1 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 3 | #68 | #258 | -29.5✗ | Massachusetts | L 21–37 126 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 11 | #74 | #132 | +3✗ | @Boston College | L 21–28 129 | 0-2 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Sep 19 | #86 | #25 | +24.5 | USC | |||
| 4 | Sep 25 | #88 | #220 | Howard | ||||
| 5 | Oct 4 | Indiana | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 17 | @Maryland | ||||||
| 8 | Oct 24 | @Northwestern | ||||||
| 9 | Oct 31 | Michigan | ||||||
| 10 | Nov 7 | @Wisconsin | ||||||
| 11 | Nov 14 | Nebraska | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 21 | @Penn State | ||||||
| 13 | Nov 28 | Michigan State |
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11 | @Boston College | L 21–28 | 384 | 4 | 34:32 | +0.064 | 41.2% | 138.8% | |
| Sep 3 | Massachusetts | L 21–37 | 349 | 4 | 23:39 | +0.203 | 39.7% | 156.1% | |
| Season average (2 games) | 366 | 4.0 | +0.134 | 40.4% | 147.5% | ||||
Rutgers held the first college football game in history — November 6, 1869, against Princeton — and ever since has been the program that gave the sport to the world and then watched the world get better at it.
Rutgers fans are weary of being the Big Ten's welcome mat — the school the blue bloods schedule for a comfortable Saturday. They'll remind you who held the first game ever, and that the founder doesn'…
The season in chapters
What fans said
Real posts from the day of the game, chosen by community score · usernames not shown
What it is like to watch them2025 · 5-7 · last season
✓ measured from 12 games · ranks are among Big Ten teams the same season
Recent form · last 10 games · incl. 2025
Cold. 2-8 over the last 10, and lost the last four.
I owe you an apology, because the position we placed you in Saturday was not your doing and it was not your coaches’
Next Sep 19
vs USC · at home
✓ fact on line · ~ our read on style
Market outlook
Sportsbook consensus · best odds across multiple books · 2026-09-14
the open questionwhere does it go from here?
Schiano's sixth season arrives with a 5-7 record and win total dip from 5 to 3.5 — a historic program's reset now faces its first real test.
our readfront page
Antwan Raymond does NOT see a usage spike in garbage time -- his workload holds steady regardless of score, and he's also efficient in competitive snaps -- the production isn't just garbage-time padding.
our readdeveloping
Ian Strong produces at a notably LOWER rate when his team is an underdog than when favored -- he fades when the pressure is on, and his per-target value drops too.
our readdeveloping
KJ Duff is a real deep-ball threat -- a high share of his targets come on throws past the sticks, and he catches those deep shots at a plus rate.
our readdeveloping
Greg Schiano begins his 7th season at Rutgers, where a 5-7 losing record and historic program legacy create tension over whether the Big Ten reset can sustain its identity.
our readfront page
Antwan Raymond: a short yardage signal screened this season.
our readbackground
DT Sheffield: a garbage time merchant signal screened this season.
our readbackground
KJ Duff: a garbage time merchant signal screened this season.
our readbackground
Rutgers collapsed 30 spots in SP+ — the steepest drop in the Big Ten this cycle, and Schiano's job is to prove it's not structural with just 5-7 production returning.
our readbackground
Rutgers: coordinator change reshaping a unit.
our readbackground
Outcome band · Rutgers · 2026
Floor, base and ceiling come from the season-path projection, which plays out conference title games and the CFP — so a ceiling can run past 12 games.
Rutgers win total fell from 5 to 3.5 (-1.5 wins) between May 2026 and Jun 2026. It is win total down 1.5 from 5.0 to 3.5. The coverage is pushing back on the drop. The fan base is running warmer than the market. The coverage runs bullish despite the drop.
The 'market knows something fans don't' read -- when odds move, it's on information.
The 'markets overcorrect' counter -- lines move on noise too; the receipts may not hold.
This event was in 538 of 3213 board posts (17%) over the last 60 days — a fanbase consumed by it. Fan text shown verbatim, attributed to the community not the individual poster.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
Rutgers: the fanbase's identity shifting.
The optimistic read: momentum, and the 'this is real' takes.
The analytical counter: rankings, results, and 'the hype is ahead of the tape' takes.
This event was in 538 of 3213 board posts (17%) over the last 60 days — a fanbase consumed by it. Fan text shown verbatim, attributed to the community not the individual poster.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
Fan mood index · most recent r/cfb data
More in this tab
Rutgers is the program that played the first-ever college football game — November 6, 1869 vs Princeton — and whose Greg Schiano-second-era Big Ten reset answers what historic-program-resurrected looks like.
KJ Duff: 9 rec · 196 yds · 3 TD vs Massachusetts
Top 1% receiving yards game since 2021. vs Massachusetts (FBS) L 21-37.
Aiden Gibson flips to Rutgers
Penn State's recruiting problem just got a name attached to it — a four-star flip to Rutgers, in the Big Ten, hits different when Schiano's class is already sitting at #33 and the WR room needed this kind of upside.
Rutgers reveals Schiano buyout details
Schiano's buyout number is public now — in the Big Ten, that's not a footnote, it's the floor of how serious Rutgers is about keeping him through the rebuild.
UCLA fires athletic director
UCLA blowing up their athletic department mid-cycle is a gift to every program hunting their transfer portal targets — Schiano's staff should be making calls tonight.
Wydeek Collier-Johnson dismissed from Rutgers
Former four-star EDGE gone before he ever counted — Schiano's already thin pass-rush depth takes another hit in a room that can't afford roster attrition right now.
Messiah Tilson rises on depth chart
Pressure at receiver was already real before KJ Duff took center stage at Big Ten Media Days — Tilson climbing the depth chart is Schiano's internal answer to a room that can't afford another wasted development cycle.
Top 3 commits
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
PA leads the 2026 class with 5 commits. National footprint reaching 13 states.
Where they recruit · 2023-2026
102 signees across 20 states, 2023-2026. NJ leads the pull.
That is 10.3% of every high-school FBS signee NJ produced over those cycles — the biggest share any program takes — Syracuse is next. The full map →
Miles from home · 2026 roster
The median Rutgers player grew up 199 miles from campus.
Half this roster came from closer than that; half came from farther.
Straight-line distance from each player's listed hometown to SHI Stadium. Hometowns are placed at city-centroid precision, not street address — fine at this scale, but a player's true door-to-door number can differ by a few miles. 124 of 139 listed players have a geocoded hometown. Source: CFBD roster hometowns.
Top community posts · last 12 months · r/cfb
Fan confidence a bit lower than recent years
26th percentile among FBS programs
Roughly even on flags: 12 penalties committed vs. 12 drawn on opponents.
74 penalty yards committed vs. 85 drawn on opponents, 2026 season total.
Outcome band · Rutgers · 2026
Recruiting Footprint · 2026