Way Too Early Wisconsin Football Opponent Preview: Rutgers

In 2025, Wisconsin got punked at home versus Maryland, sparking all sorts of nasty conversations about the future of the program. In 2026, it will once again host a team from the northeast that it, in theory, should handle at home, but will need to be extra careful to avoid another catastrophic loss in front of its home crowd.

The game comes following arguably the toughest two-week stretch of the season, with games versus USC and Iowa, and a bye-week, so there is zero reason for the Badgers to be unprepared and suffer a bad loss at home.

Rutgers hasn’t been a real threat or contender in the Big Ten since it joined the league in 2014, which is why this is a game Wisconsin needs to win, and honestly dominate, for the program to show it has risen from the gutter.

There’s simply a shortage of opportunities to play inferior teams at home in the new-look Big Ten, with so many quality teams, so this is an opportunity Wisconsin can’t take lightly.

How 2025 ended

In reflection, there’s nothing that stands out on Rutgers’ 2025 schedule as a surprising result. It narrowly escaped Ohio before two dominant wins in nonconference play, and went 2-7 in league play to finish 5-7.

The Scarlet Knights were fairly competitive against both Iowa and Minnesota, but looked totally outmatched in every matchup with the league’s best teams.

Matchups with Purdue and Maryland were the victorious efforts for Greg Schiano and his team. But despite struggling against every team that didn’t finish below it in the Big Ten standings, Rutgers had a chance at bowl eligibility at home to close out the regular season.

A narrow Penn State victory, however, kept the Scarlet Knights out of a bowl game, and they were unable to finish above .500 for the first time since 2022.

Key losses

In the past two seasons, Athan Kaliakmanis played nearly every snap for Rutgers. In 2026, it will be a new shot-caller for the Scarlet Knights’ offense. To be determined if that’s the returning AJ Surace or Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan.

That sort of stability at quarterback is by far the biggest loss for Rutgers. 3,000-yard seasons along with 20 touchdown passes don’t come easy in the Big Ten, and replacing that will be difficult.

Luckily for whoever earns the starting job, KJ Duff, who led the team in receiving with 1,084 yards and seven touchdowns in 2025, will return. Although both the second and third-leading receivers from a season ago in Ian Strong and DT Sheffield were lost to the portal and exhausted eligibility, respectively.

Strong tallied 762 yards through the air, with Sheffield adding 577, and each wideout recording five touchdowns. Again, Duff returning will be a massive luxury for whoever earns the starting quarterback job, but outside of him, it will be a revamped receiver room with a new quarterback.

Defensively, Bo Mascoe is the departure I’m following most closely. The cornerback is headed to Texas for the 2026 season after being named honorable mention All-Big Ten in 2025. He recorded 29 tackles, four passes defended, an interception and two forced fumbles last season.

A defensive player with the ability to force errors and turnovers is always key in Big Ten play, so seeing how the Scarlet Knights try to replace Mascoe, who had that ability, will be worth watching.

Athan Kaliakmanis surveys the field. — Rutgers Scarlet Knights quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis (16) looks for an open teammate in the first quarter, Thursday, August 28, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Key additions

Potentially stepping into the Mascoe-sized hole in the secondary is Villanova transfer Zahmir Dawud. He seemed to have his hand on every ball thrown his way in 2025 at the FCS level, recording 13 passes defended, two of which were interceptions. His game went beyond just pass coverage, totaling four tackles for loss on the season.

This game taking place in November means Wisconsin will have ideally figured out what works and which receivers will see the majority of snaps, but with so many new faces out wide and a new quarterback throwing them the ball, any potential game wrecker in the secondary is worth noting.

Another interesting newcomer defensively is linebacker Sean Allison who joins Rutgers via the portal from Drake. The FCS All-American made 126 tackles, 62 of them solo, eight tackles for loss, two sacks, and defended five passes, two of which were interceptions.

Making the jump to FBS competition can be challenging, especially in the Big Ten, but Allison flashed an extremely versatile skillset as one of the best linebackers in the FCS, and if his game translates, he’s another guy who could make big plays on that side of the ball for the Scarlet Knights.

2026 outlook

The schedule is full of major-upset opportunities for Rutgers, hosting USC, Indiana and Michigan, but it’s hard to imagine it competing in those games given last season and the key losses.

With those three games at home, many of the Scarlet Knights’ chances for conference wins will come on the road in 2026, making it extremely difficult to picture them going bowling come December. Additionally, they will play at Boston College in the nonconference, which is winnable, but takes the number of games I’d confidently pick them in from three to two.

Schiano has gotten something out of teams nobody expected to succeed on a few occasions, but with the difficulty of the schedule, it’s hard to see him getting this team to a bowl game, although that should be the goal.

Prediction

Wisconsin 31, Rutgers 10

This is easily the most comfortable win in conference play I see for Wisconsin. I like the defensive playmakers Mike Tressel has, and the starter for Rutgers at quarterback will be a guy who hasn’t seen any meaningful snaps, or a guy who couldn’t earn the full-time job at Boston College.

I think the Badgers force a few turnovers and have a solid day offensively to put the game out of reach fairly early, cruising to a conference win at home.

This is one of the games that if Wisconsin loses, there would be no way Fickell makes it to the next week as head coach in my mind, but I’m confident that that sort of pressure motivates this group all season, and I feel good picking it to avoid disaster here.

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