Rutgers Football is 0-40 Against Ranked Opponents Since 2009. Who Will The Knights Beat in 2025 To End That Streak?
When Rutgers shellacked No. 23 South Florida, 31-0, with Tom Savage at the helm in 2009, handing the Bulls their first-ever regular-season shutout, little did fans celebrating at the time expect Rutgers would follow that game with forty consecutive losses against ranked opponents.
Sports Illustrated released their preseason Top 25 rankings in early June, and three Scarlet Knight opponents are at the top of the rankings and expected to remain there. Rutgers enters this season with their deepest and most talented roster since joining the Big Ten in 2014. Can they finally get over the hump and earn that signature victory during Schiano 2.0?
Here's a look at potential upset candidates.
No. 4 Ohio State, November 22nd
The Buckeyes are loaded once again. Rutgers played a competitive half in Piscataway in 2023, even leading 9-7 at the half, before Ohio State pulled away. In the penultimate regular-season game, look for the Buckeyes to impose their will after Rutgers hangs tight for a quarter. Upset Alert: Slim to None.
No 5 Penn State, November 29th
Thanksgiving Weekend on the banks. Cue Gordon Lightfoot's The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, "when the lake it is said, never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy." Rutgers' history against the Lions is certainly gloomy, going 2-29 all-time and not securing a win since 1988.
Don't sleep off your turkey dinner on this game. If Rutgers is sitting at five wins and desperate, this could very well be the game that ends the drought. Penn State Head Coach James Franklin has been known to be very charitable to a lucky opponent in November. Maybe the Raritan gives up her dead, and Rutgers secures that long-elusive ranked victory in the regular season finale to secure bowl eligibility. Upset Alert: Medium.
No. 6 Oregon, October 18th
Homecoming weekend, Saturday night under the lights in Jersey? What could possibly go wrong for the mighty Oregon Ducks? If Rutgers can keep pace offensively and a couple of breaks fall their way, it has a chance. Schiano is 19-10 under the lights at SHI (excluding 2020 with no fans), when his teams have performed at their best. Upset Alert: Medium.
Nobody else on Rutgers' schedule is currently ranked in the preseason but with Iowa, Minnesota, Washington, and Illinois on the slate, there will be opportunities.
Speaking of the Illini, Rutgers had the game all but won in 2024 against No. 23 Illinois. Illinois head coach Brett Bielema sent out his kicker to attempt a game-winning 50-yard field goal into 30-mph Piscataway winds. The kick wasn't close, the Scarlet Knight players celebrated, the fans went wild, but head coach Greg Schiano inexplicably called a timeout before the kick in an attempt to freeze a kicker that was already frozen.
Illinois sent the offense back out and won on a miracle touchdown to wide receiver Pat Bryant with four seconds left in what became known as the OMFG timeout heard around college football. With Illinois a dark-horse playoff contender entering 2025, Schiano would like nothing better than to exact revenge and derail the Illini's playoff hopes. Upset Alert: High.
It's only June but the winds of November can't get here soon enough for the Scarlet Faithful.
Recommended Articles
Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano's Golf Raises Six Figures for Charity
Rutgers Football Director of Recruiting Joining NFL Staff
Former Rutgers Scarlet Knights Star WR Getting Chance at New Position
Eastern Conference Contender Looking into Draft Trade for Rutgers Scarlet Knights Star
John Catapano graduated from Rutgers in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, covering the women’s field hockey and soccer teams for the campus paper, The Daily Targum. After college, he moved to Los Angeles, got a job at Walt Disney Television, and has worked in media ever since. John currently works with the Wasserman Media Group in their Brooklyn, NY office, collaborating with brands, influencers, and athletes across the globe. When the pandemic struck in 2020 and Catapano began working remotely, he resumed writing by contributing to a Rutgers fan blog. He covered various sports, highlighted human interest stories, and focused on topics that Scarlet Nation wanted to discuss. It’s never easy being a Rutgers fan, but with over 500,000 alumni living worldwide and a passionate fanbase, covering the Scarlet Knights is always engaging.