Will Rutgers Football Part Ways with Schiano After Disastrous Loss?

Rutgers football squared off against UMASS on Thursday evening for what was supposed to be a tuneup for a trip to Chestnut Hill next week against the Boston College Eagles. The Scarlet Knights entered the game as heavy favorites and, after marching down the field on a 12-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a Dylan Longeran four-yard pass to KJ Duff, it looked as if Rutgers was off to the races with an early 7-0 lead.

What followed was unforeseen by even the most pessimistic Scarlet Knights fan. The Minutemen, coached by former Rutgers defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak, put on a clinic and proceeded to score 30 unanswered points, salting the game away halfway through the third quarter as people headed for the exits, in an all-too-familiar rite of passage for Rutgers fans.

The Defense Was Offensive and The Running Game Vanished

Mobile Virginia Tech transfer Pop Watson gave the new-look Rutgers defense fits all night, making completions downfield and using his legs to escape pressure in the pocket. Watson completed 19 of 22 passes for 197 yards, and scampered for another 40 on six carries. Overall, the Rutgers defense allowed 200 rushing yards, an alarming statistic just one game into the season, quickly erasing any confidence the unit would be a strength this season. After a historically bad season in 2025, it looks as if Rutgers' new-look roster is anything but ready for Big Ten play.

Rutgers kept pace with opponents last year with a balanced air attack and ground game. Last night, its supposedly strong offensive line couldn't generate any holes for All-Big Ten back Antwan Raymond, who had to fight and claw for his 42 yards. A bruising ground game was a strength of Rutgers in 2025, but in 2026, if they cannot run the ball, they have little chance of winning a Big Ten game.

Harasymiak Outschemed His Former Boss

There will be upsets all weekend. That’s nothing new in the chaos that is college football. But when you are a heavy favorite against a lower-conference opponent who went winless in 2025, and you run a secretive camp with little information provided to the media and public, you better darn well come out firing on opening night.

That wasn’t the case last night in Piscataway. UMASS rattled quarterback Lonergan all night, seemingly anticipating his throws and tendencies, which makes one wonder why former DC Harasymiak was able to anticipate Rutgers' plays without Schiano making any adjustments. As for Lonergan, he locked onto receivers, was slow to make decisions and deliver the ball, and his passes looked like wobbling ducks after watching Athan Kaliakmanis sling the ball all over the field over the last two seasons.

Schiano played his games of secrecy all summer, telling the media and fans that Lonergan was neck-and-neck with third-year Rutgers homegrown product AJ Surace. If Lonergan is the best Rutgers can trot out on the field after his three-interception, four-sack night against a UMASS squad that went winless in 2025, the Scarlet Knights are in for an awfully long season.

The Elephant in the Room

That brings us to the elephant in the room: Has the game passed Schiano by? He’s certainly lost spectacularly over the years — see the Penn State finale in 2025 and the Illinois timeout blunder in 2024 — but at least those were competitive Big Ten squads. Long-suffering fans may recall the infamous loss to FCS New Hampshire in 2004, but that was during Schiano’s first stint, when his leash was considerably longer as he worked to turn around the worst program in Division I.

Fast-forward to Schiano 2.0, and what makes last night’s loss even worse is that he finally has the financial support under new Athletic Director Keli Zinn. In the offseason, Rutgers was able to keep KJ Duff and Antwan Raymond and pay an accomplished, legitimate coaching staff. Yet, Schainio's team appeared not ready to play and started a transfer quarterback who was benched by a woeful Boston College Eagles team last season. In a results-driven business, the inability to put the best players on the field typically will cost a coach his job.

What Happens Next?

Unfortunately for Schiano, barring some miraculous turnaround where the team scraps its way to six wins and punches above its weight in the ever-rugged Big Ten, the loss last night will hang over him and the program like a dark rain cloud all season. There's just no escaping the ineptitude and little chance of regaining the fanbase's trust after a summer of "secrecy" and the home team's atrocious play last night.

It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Schiano returns in 2027. Heck, it’s hard to fathom why he will still have a head coaching job on Monday. AD Zinn has already faced a myriad of challenges a little over one year into her tenure, as she works to bring Rutgers Athletics out of a perennial state of mediocrity. Now, after the first game of the football season, she truly faces her first crisis on the banks.

It’s unlikely Zinn makes a rash decision and fires Schiano after one game. This is Rutgers, after all, not a blueblood with unlimited coffers to buy out the coach. That said, after seeing the look on Zinn's face last night after the loss, one has to imagine she’s already thinking about how much money she has to raise to buy out Schiano and bring in a head coach more suited to the age of NIL and modern college football.

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