CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Instead of easing concerns, Rutgers football has only raised more.
Instead of securing a victory to take a step toward correcting the early part of the season, the Scarlet Knights came out on the wrong end of a mistake-filled performance.
The questions about the direction of the program this season – and beyond – only continue to increase.
Greg Schiano's team lost to Boston College 28-21 Friday night at Alumni Stadium, its second straight loss to open the season after its embarrassing defeat to UMass that opened the season.
The Scarlet Knights closed the gap in the fourth quarter with a 60-yard touchdown catch by KJ Duff, and they had another chance to get into the end zone with two minutes left but AJ Surace, making his first career start, threw an interception that killed the drive.

#season #instead #knights #hill

It's hard to believe Rutgers football is already facing a "must-win" game in Week 2, but that's exactly the situation for the Scarlet Knights.
After losing to UMass in a stunning and embarrassing loss to open the season, Greg Schiano's team needs to rebound by pulling out a victory against Boston College in their Week 2 game Friday, Sept. 11 at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
A win would allow the Scarlet Knights to take at least one step toward righting the season after becoming the topic of a national conversation for all the wrong reasons.
A loss?
Well, a loss would send the season into more of a spiral, creating even more questions and uncertainty about the future of the program.

#loss #season #greg

Everyone is excited for the start of the 2026 college football season until their team loses. While the UCLA Bruins are hoping to avoid that fate this weekend versus Cal. UCLA saw a conference rival begin the season in humiliating fashion.
Rutgers kicked off on Thursday versus UMass and the Minutemen pulled off a 37-21 road win at SHI Stadium. Rutgers came into the season looking like a Big Ten Conference bottom-dweller and that was all but confirmed with a blowout loss to UMass.
The loss to UMass is different from your run-of-the-mill upset. The Minutemen went winless in 2025 and were four touchdown underdogs against Rutgers.
Last season Rutgers went 5-7, winning two more games than UCLA, but things are looking worse to begin 2026 for the Scarlet Knights. USA TODAY writer Matthew Glenesk discussed buyout options for Rutgers' head coach Greg Schiano after the humiliating start to the season.
"Greg Schiano is the winningest coach in Rutgers football history. But that distinction can't sugarcoat the disaster Thursday night was as the Scarlet Knights — a 29.5-point favorite — lost at home to UMass," Glenesk said. "If the school was to make a change, Schiano is owed 76.875% of his remaining base salary when he is fired. If he is let go at the end of November, that number would be approximately $18.5 million, per documents obtained by USA TODAY Sports."

#season

On social media it stung after heavily favored Rutgers football lost to UMass Thursday night in a result that puts coach Greg Schiano on the hot seat.
"Rutgers invented college football in 1869 and has spent the last 160 years regretting the decision," someone wrote on X.com
Here are five unbelievable things that are going to live on in infamy from the 37-21 Rutgers loss to Massachusetts:
Greg Schiano reacts to Rutgers' UMass loss: 'Never saw it coming'
1. A college football "buy game" (or guarantee game) refers to an FBS program paying a smaller school a guarantee check to travel for a game. The buyer usually wins the game but not always. Rutgers paid UMass $1.55 million, according to FBSchedules.

#umass #Football #college

In one of the first days of the 2026-27 college football season, chaos ensued at the SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey. On Thursday, Sept. 3, coach Greg Schiano's Rutgers Scarlet Knights hosted coach Joe Harasymiak's Massachusetts Minutemen for their first game of the campaign. Unfortunately for the Scarlet Knights, the Minutemen defeated them by 16 points, 37-21.
It was an embarrassing defeat, to say the least, for the Scarlet Knights, as they were the overwhelming favorites to beat the Minutemen. As the rest of the college football world reacts in shock to the game, insider Brett McMurphy called out the Big Ten Conference, where the Scarlet Knights play, following the Minutemen victory with a post on X/Twitter.
"Can a conference be considered the nation's best conference if one of its teams loses to UMass? Asking for a friend," McMurphy wrote.
– Brett McMurphy, September 3, 2026
McMurphy later reported on On3 that the Scarlet Knights paid the Minutemen $1.5 million for the fixture, which ended up backfiring for the Big Ten program.

#scarlet #conference #coach

Rutgers football paid $1.55 million to lose to UMass, 37-21, on Sept. 3, snapping the Minutemen's 16-game losing streak. But that number presumably didn't include pyrotechnics.
The Scarlet Knights hosted the saddest fireworks show in the world after the loss at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, putting a droopy exclamation point on an 0-1 start to Greg Schiano's seventh season.
REQUIRED READING: UMass snaps longest college football losing streak with rout of Rutgers
It's the kind of loss that immediately puts a coach on the hot seat, and Rutgers will now have to reconcile what this means for the nation's oldest program. While the team has hardly been even middle-of-the-road in the college landscape since Schiano's first stint in 2001-2011, losing a buy game to a team that hadn't won a game since 2024 is program-shakingly bad.
The loss to UMass is arguably as bad or worse as losing to some FCS programs. Since joining the FBS in 2012, the Minutemen have been brutally bad, amassing a 26-134 record with six seasons with 11 losses or more.

#rutgers #umass #loss #Football

In this week's Closer Report, Mason Montgomery has been lights out for the Pirates in the second half. The Marlins lost Pete Fairbanks to the injured list just as he'd been pitching well. And Elvis Alvarado has quietly been great since the All-Star break, taking the lead for the closer role in Sacramento.
⚾️ Baseball is back! MLB returns to NBC and Peacock in 2026! In addition to becoming the exclusive home of Sunday Night Baseball, NBC Sports will broadcast MLB Sunday Leadoff, "Opening Day" and Labor Day primetime games, the first round of the MLB Draft, the entire Wild Card round of the postseason, and much more.
Fantasy Baseball Steals Report: Tyler Tolbert makes most of chance, target Eduardo Valencia
Who is stealing bases, who isn't, why, and how?
James Schiano,

#Baseball #report #sunday #round

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano hosted his first press conference of training camp last Tuesday on August 4. In the beginning of the press conference, Schiano announced that defensive back Zilan Williams is out for the season with injury while EDGE Canaan Edwards is no longer with the program.
Schiano did not go into detail about William's injury besides saying that he is done for the season. Williams, a senior, was mostly used in a reserve role at cornerback and on special teams as well. Williams did appear in all 12 games last season, mostly on special teams, where he recorded 4 total tackles. He has appeared in 25 games and made 6 total tackles during his 4 seasons so far at Rutgers.
Canaan Edwards came to Rutgers as a part of the 2025 recruitment class and was listed as a three star athletes by 247Sports when he committed. He only appeared in one game last season, the Scarlet Knights blowout win against Norfolk State. It is currently unknown why he decided to leave the program.
Neither scenario is exactly uncommon for the start of training camp for any team, as their is usually a bit of off-season attrition for most teams.
Schiano also takes the time to discuss other things in the press conference, such as how he thinks this team has the most depth out of any team he has had since being back and how he thinks the change in the strength and conditioning program under new coach Spencer Brown has changed the team for the better overall.

#schiano

College football has gone the way of the transfer portal and NIL movements. Not to mention redshirts, eligibility battles, COVID-years, and other waivers that can be filed in attempts to return to school.
The NCAA has done away with this under the new "five-for-five" rule and Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano is in favor.
Rutgers opened up training camp this week and Schiano was asked how this new rule impacts the use of younger players.
"I think it's great," Schiano said. "What you use to have to worry about was, if we have a game where we're in the lead by a lot, we'll get them in there maybe to get some playing time, but then are we using up possible opportunities?"
In the past, coaches would be able to use players in up to four games before burning a year of eligibility. Now, the rule states that players will get a single, five-year window that begins at the time of college enrollment of the year after the athlete's 19th birthday.

#schiano #five #college

Rutgers offensive lineman Kwabena Asamoah was one of the three player representatives that the Scarlet Knights sent to Big Ten media days to speak on behalf of the program. He was joined by wide receiver KJ Duff and running back Antwan Raymond, who largely spoke about their decision to return to Rutgers. Asamoah's line of questioning was a little bit different, with his first major question revolving around the leadership he will bring to the Rutgers offensive line room this season.
With graduations and the transfer portal, Asamoah, who was named an All-American by ESPN last season, is the only returning starter on the Rutgers offensive line who played all 12 games at the same position.
"For me, it puts me in a position to, like you said, be a leader. That's an honor to me personally. When I came in as a young 17 year old there were guys on the team that helped me become the player I am today, so I am just blessed, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to do the same for others," said Asamoah when asked about what his experience means to him as he becomes a leader on the offensive line.
He was also asked about the relationship between the offensive line, the offensive line coach Jim Turner, and Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano.
"With our new coach, Coach Turner and Coach Schiano, I feel like they are on the same page, and coach Ciarrocca as well, I feel like they are all on the same page with how they want the offensive line to play and how they want the offense to operate, so you know with coach Turner coming in, we have been working hard at being violent, being passionate, you know playing hard every single down, so I am really excited for what this year holds," said Asamoah.

#asamoah

Rutgers fans have gotten accustomed to waiting until game week to learn who the starting quarterback will be.
Will that be the case once again? Maybe not.
Head coach Greg Schiano joined the Big Ten Network crew on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the upcoming season. He was asked about when the right time is to name a starting quarterback.
"You wish after that first scrimmage," Schiano said. "I think our first scrimmage is practice 12. But if it's not time yet, it's not time yet but it better be the week after. I don't want to go much more than that because right soon after that, you're getting into your first game prep for UMass."
This has become an annual tradition for Schiano and Rutgers. The exception came two years ago following the arrival of Athan Kaliakmanis. He was quickly named the starter, which gave Gavin Wimsatt the right amount of time to be able to transfer.

#game #week

Rutgers was present during the first day of Big Ten Media Days from Chicago.
On Tuesday morning, head coach Greg Schiano took the podium before joining the Big Ten Network, along with player representatives KJ Duff, Antwan Raymond, and Kwabena Asamoah.
Here is what Greg Schiano had to say during his appearances about the upcoming season.
On program changes people do not see:
"I believe strongly in protecting the football but also taking the football away. We did a great job protecting the football and I expect to do even better. It's a programmatic thing that goes throughout our entire coaching staff, every player, our trainers, our equipment manager. Anyone is allowed to coach ball security within our program. What we need to do is get better at taking the ball away. We need to get better at defense period. That is why we hired Travis Johansen as our new coordinator. I am really thrilled and excited to see the chemistry between the players and the coaches."

#better #schiano #player #protecting

Recently, Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano went on the Y-Option podcast, a podcast all about college football hosted by Yogi Roth, to talk about the state of the program, Schiano's optimism going forward, and how much the program has benefited from a change in leadership in the athletic department.
The podcast started with a conversational feel, with Roth asking Schiano about his personal life, his path to coaching, and how he sees his role as not just coaching the team but also helping prepare young men for life. One interesting thing they talked about during this segment was how Schiano addressed new defensive coordinator Travis Johansen's concerns about being there for his family, so he would feel comfortable making the move to Rutgers.
Schiano was also allowed to speak about the positive changes that have occurred because of the hiring of Keli Zinn and the new alignment at the university.
"We have never had vertical alignment from the president down through the athletic director to the football coach. For the first time we do, and that certainly means a lot when it comes to fundraising and NIL and all of that. But it is so much more than that. It's an attitude of excellence. It's winning is important, and the commitment to win," said Schiano. "I think Keli Zinn is going to do a great job here, and I think that President Tate understands what it takes to compete in this league."
"It might take a minute because other schools have been competing at full capacity, their might be a little lag, but we are now in the game,' said Schiano.

#Football #podcast #president #program

Former Rutgers football captain and defensive end Jamil Merrell passed away yesterday at the age of 36, according to a post his brother Jamal made on social media. No cause of death was made public.
Merrell played at Rutgers from 2009-2013, and served as a captain during that time. He played alongside his brother and saw playing time under both head coach Greg Schiano during his first stint and former Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood.
Merrell continued his football career after Rutgers, landing on the Chicago Bears practice squad before spending a few seasons in the AFL.
Jamal released the following statement on Facebook to honor his brother.
"As I write this, I'm sitting beside my twin brother, surrounded by our family, knowing that we're witnessing one of the hardest moments we'll ever have to face. With tears in our eyes and love in our hearts, I want everyone to know that my twin brother, Jamil, is peacefully transitioning to be with God.

“Rutgers financial distress doesn’t reflect apathy.”
A recent post by Scott Dochterman of The Athletic broke down the financial situation at Rutgers Athletics and compared it to that of the Maryland Athletics program, which is in a very similar situation. Despite repeating several ugly financial figures well known to the Rutgers faithful and seeming like it could be another hit piece, something that Rutgers fans know all too well, it brings up a lot of positives that make it not so. The positives that it talks about are the program’s good overall turnout at events, despite the product on the field, the good work that the current athletic department is doing behind the scenes to get Rutgers up to standard financially, and the progress they have made to achieve that.
“Rutgers’ financial distress doesn’t reflect apathy, however,” Dochterman said in his article. “Last year, the school reported 93 percent capacity at SHI Stadium for home football games despite a 5-7 record and stagnant growth in ticket sales. Its men’s basketball ticket revenue ranked seventh among Big Ten public schools during the 2025 fiscal year,”
Attendance and the overall strong capacity percentage show that the fans have not abandoned the Scarlet Knights. For football, that might not have been the case in the Ash era, or the early Schiano 2.0 era, but with the overall improvement of the team, the fans have reflected that and have shown up in response. Basketball, on the other hand, has shown strong attendance numbers throughout head coach Steve Pikiell’s tenure.
This makes it clear that fan apathy is not the major cause for the increase in the athletic department’s debt, at least from an attendance point of view.