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Genuinely, you have to feel bad for Rutgers fans.
First and foremost, I am a Seton Hall grad. Every time I think of that school from Middlesex County, my blood boils. However, Thursday was at first hilarious, then depressing.
By now, Rutgers losing to UMass has made its rounds nationwide. Everyone from ESPN to Fox News mocked the Scarlet Knights for losing to quite literally, the worst team in the FBS the past decade.
Fans were in disbelief, alumni were outraged, and journalists like Jerry Carino bashed their effort. The only reason the reaction has died down slightly was because Michigan, Oklahoma State and Florida State embarrassed themselves over the holiday weekend.
Still, when you pay a team $1.55 million and lose to them, you are simply going to get mocked for that.
From my perspective, seeing Rutgers lose 37-21 to the Minutemen was one of the highlights of my weekend. Remember, UMass had not won a game since 2024 so for them to earn a win against Rutgers made sense in a way.
During the postgame press conference Thursday, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano was frustrated and dejected. From his facial expressions, he knew that this was one of the worst results in program history.
“They outcoached us,” Schiano said. “They outcoached me. They outplayed our players. We got licked tonight, and there’s no other thing to say about it.”
This result, of course, has Schiano on the hot seat because losing to a team like UMass is unacceptable. For Rutgers athletic director Keli Zinn, she will have a massive decision to make regarding Schiano in the near future. It wouldn’t be shocking if she already has made a decision in her mind on what to do with Schiano.
As the days went on, I continued to joke about the result. Though, I started to reflect on the human aspect of things.
I talked to a good pal of mine from high school the other day who attended Rutgers and he was rightfully upset about the loss. I brought up star receiver KJ Duff and for a player of his caliber, this must have been torture for him.
Duff is not only one of the best receivers in the Big Ten, but also in the country, and losing a game like this one was awful.
Despite the team being historically underwhelming, the university in itself isn’t bad. Their business school is one of the best in the nation and The Daily Targum showcases great student journalism all the time.
After a result like this, however, how do you rebound as a program? The amount of resources that have been put into making this team competitive has been astonishing and yet, the results have remained the same. The team, ultimately, will never win a Big Ten Championship because no matter what they do, they are just not talented enough to compete with the conference’s best.
Considering that the SEC is threatening to kick out LSU for a different issue, eliminating Rutgers from the Big Ten would be something. In the year 2026, anything is possible at this point in college athletics.
Heading into the season, I pretty much thought that this was going to be a bad season for the team. Still, losing to UMass was not on my bingo card by any means.
Heading into their next contest on the road Friday vs Boston College, BC transfer Dylan Lonergan will not be starting against his former team. Instead, it will be Pennington native AJ Surace who will get the start as Lonergan deals with an injury.
Does that change the fortunes of the Scarlet Knights? Probably not but Surace isn’t a bad QB at all.
For Rutgers fans, it will most likely never get better for them. Everyone is kicking a dead horse and the program is facing an all time low.
It would have to take a miracle for this program to reach the heights that it once did like in 2006. If there is anything to be optimistic about, a large portion of the season remains to be played. Lets face it though, Jayden Maiava and USC are about to torch the Scarlet Knights on September 19 so nevermind.
Pray for a miracle Rutgers fans because this might get worse from here.