.jpeg)
I’m sure for any New Jersey native reading this, you have traveled south on I-287 at some point in your life. Over the course of the past year, I have lost track of how many times I have gone down it.
For some reason, I have always enjoyed driving on it. When I reach Somerset County and head to places like Bridgewater Commons, I adore it.
Recently, my travels down that road have led me to Middlesex County more frequently. The reason, Rutgers’ athletic programs needed showcasing.
As a Seton Hall grad, I felt out of place there. To me, Rutgers’ campus felt rather large and complex. Seriously, parking there was a nightmare and confusing to the point where I questioned my intelligence.
Anyway, despite being on campus multiple times over the past few months, none of the times involved football. The only instance where I was there for anything football related was back in August 2019 for the Rumble on the Raritan. For your information, Seton Hall Prep took down Archbishop Carroll (PA) when I was there.
I did not play in that win, however. I was dealing with a failed talking stage with a girl.
You know who failed worse than I did over those next couple of months? Rutgers football.
After going 2-10 in 2019, head coach Chris Ash was gone and Rutgers brought back their icon, Greg Schiano, to lead them. In fairness to Schiano, who guided the Scarlet Knights to tremendous success in the late 2000s and early 2010s, his magic has worked at times in the 2020s.
With three bowl appearances this decade, including a win in the Pinstripe Bowl, Schiano has had his moments in his second go around as the program's HC. Players like Isiah Pacheco and Kyle Monangai have also broke through with the program and made it to the NFL in recent years.
But for the Scarlet Knights as a whole, their time in the Big Ten has been ugly. When divisions were a thing in the conference, they had no shot at winning the East. Now with the inclusion of teams like Oregon and USC, they will never capture a Big Ten Championship.
Last season was just another example of how this program will never be one of the conference’s best. The Scarlet Knights finished 2025 with a 5-7 record and had only two conference wins which were against Maryland and an awful Purdue side.
All things considered, the offense was pretty decent. Former quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis played well and was good enough to get drafted by the Washington Commanders in the 2026 NFL Draft.
What helped Kaliakmanis throughout 2025 was the play of star receiver, KJ Duff. A second-team All-Big Ten member last season, Duff was fantastic and he will undoubtedly be one of the best at his position this upcoming season. Seriously, he’s up there with the likes of Texas’ Cam Coleman, but not as generational as Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith.
Running back Antwan Raymond was also one of the best players in the conference, earning second-team All-Big Ten in 2025. A threat on the ground and in the passing game, Raymond assisted Kaliakmanis well and should be great again in 2026.
There was an achilles heel for this Rutgers squad in 2025 and that was their terrible, atrocious defense. The pass rush failed to generate stops, the rush defense was an open door and overall, the production and execution was unacceptable.
For Schiano, his defenses are usually respectable so what transpired last season merit change. So what did he do? He fired nearly the entire defensive coaching staff after the disgusting 2025 campaign they had on that unit.
One major change Schiano deployed was bringing in South Dakota head coach, Travis Johansen, to become the new defensive coordinator. As the head coach of the Coyotes in 2025, Johansen brought them to the FCS Playoffs, where they fell to Montana in the quarterfinals. He also served as South Dakota’s defensive coordinator prior to being their head coach.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out for him and if he can drastically improve this defense. I want to say he will, but I would have to wait and see.
Shifting back to the offense, there will be a new QB with Kaliakmanis off to the NFL. Currently, no official starter has been named with AJ Surace and Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan battling for the spot.
The Pennington native Surace saw some game action in 2025 and has waited for this moment to step up and lead the Scarlet Knights. For the former four-star Lonergan, he’s looking for a better opportunity after his supporting cast at BC was underwhelming and his team was simply bad. Seriously, the Eagles were worse than Rutgers, going 2-10 in 2025.
In terms of the schedule, Rutgers might be doomed again. Their first two games against UMass and BC should be relatively easy considering the current situations those programs are stuck in.
Now, here are the notable opponents that will be visiting SHI Stadium this fall. The following includes the reigning national champions Indiana, USC, Michigan, Nebraska and Michigan State. Genuinely great for the fans attending those games, but a complete nightmare for the team.
What’s likely to occur in 2026 is another miserable season in Piscataway. For the fans, students and alumni of this school, this is just becoming torture at this point. It has been over a decade since they last won eight games in a season and in the current iteration of the conference, it will be difficult to reach.
Under athletic director Keli Zinn, she understands that the situation needs to get better and she has worked on improving the NIL dilemma at the school. Knowing how incredible of a state New Jersey is when it comes to football, they have to fight hard to keep the best players home.
Rutgers has the potential to be good and they will soon experience success again. It just needs to come together. It won’t be this season though.