Rutgers’ season-opening game was supposed to be a cinch.
After all, the school paid a reported $1.55 million to host UMass, a team with 16 straight losses.
But the Scarlet Knights’ cakewalk turned into them getting run out of their own building.
Rutgers was soundly defeated 37-21 by a Minutemen program that finished last season 0-12 and was a 29.5-point underdog coming into SHI Stadium in Piscataway, N.J.
Head coach Greg Schiano put the onus on himself for the loss, admitting it wasn’t something he envisioned.
“I’m in charge of all the coaches. I’m in charge of all the players. So when you come out and lay an egg like we did opening night, I thought we had a great training camp. Never saw it coming. I’ve been doing this a long time,” Schiano said in his postgame press conference. “Never saw it coming. I didn’t expect that at all. Now, again, I don’t say congratulations to Coach [Joe] Harasymiak and UMass lightly.”
Rutgers and UMass were tied at the end of one quarter, but the Minutemen broke through for good with 17 unanswered points in the second quarter, never looking back.
Starting quarterback Dylan Lonergan, in his first year at Rutgers after two seasons at Alabama and one at Boston College, struggled, going 16-for-29 on his passes with more turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble) than touchdowns (two).
After suffering an injury, he was replaced on the final drive of the game by AJ Surace, who led a touchdown drive.
The defense wasn’t much better, as it yielded 397 yards and did not record a turnover.
Receiver KJ Duff was one of the few positives for Rutgers, hauling in nine catches for 196 yards and three touchdowns, including a 78-yard reception in garbage time.
Schiano returned to the program in 2020 after initially exiting after the 2011 season. After winning seasons in 2023 and ’24 — with a Pinstripe Bowl victory in the former — Rutgers dropped to 5-7 last year.
He reiterated that he does not believe this loss means the team is in dire straits.
“I’ve been down this road before. We know our way out,” Schiano said.
“We’re going to chop our way out of this and we’re going to be a good football team,” Schiano added. “So again, if I didn’t believe in the people downstairs, I wouldn’t say that. I’d say, ‘Hey, things have gone awry,’ but that’s not how I feel.”
Rutgers gets a chance to rebound next Friday against another Massachusetts-based school when it heads to Chestnut Hill to face Boston College.
