Honestly, if you looked at the first three weeks of the 2025 Rutgers football schedule, you’d probably think Greg Schiano had it easy. Three straight home games against non-conference opponents. No travel. No jet lag. Just pure Jersey home cooking at SHI Stadium.
But college football is never that simple.
The 2025 season turned out to be a massive reality check for the program. While the Scarlet Knights entered the year with plenty of hype—especially with Athan Kaliakmanis returning under center—the grind of a modern Big Ten schedule is a different beast entirely. We saw a year where the team went 5-7, narrowly missing a winning record because the back half of the calendar was essentially a gauntlet of Top 25 programs.
The Non-Conference "Sugar High"
Rutgers started exactly how everyone hoped. They opened on a Thursday night, August 28, against the Ohio Bobcats. It wasn't the blowout some expected—a tight 34-31 win—but a win is a win.
Then came the blowout. On September 6, they handled Miami (Ohio) 45-17. By the time they crushed Norfolk State 60-10 on September 13, the vibes in Piscataway were through the roof. People were talking about a 10-win season.
That was the peak.
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The problem with starting 3-0 against that level of competition is it can mask some serious depth issues. When the Big Ten play kicked off on September 19 against Iowa, the cracks started to show. It was a Friday night "Blackout" game at home, but the Hawkeyes did what they always do: they suffocated the Rutgers offense. That 38-28 loss was the beginning of a very long autumn.
Navigating the Big Ten Gauntlet
The 2025 Rutgers football schedule didn't offer many breathers once the calendar turned to October.
One of the weirdest stretches was the back-to-back road trips to the Midwest and then the Pacific Northwest. First, they went to Minneapolis on September 27 and lost a heartbreaker to Minnesota, 31-28. After an off week, they had to fly all the way to Seattle to face Washington on October 10.
That’s a lot of miles for a college kid.
The October/November Reality
- October 18: Oregon came to town. The Ducks were ranked #8 at the time and frankly, it wasn't a contest. Rutgers lost 56-10 on Homecoming.
- October 25: A rare bright spot. They beat Purdue 27-24 in West Lafayette. It felt like they might save the season.
- November 1: A thumping by Illinois (35-13) quickly killed that momentum.
- November 8: They took care of business against Maryland with a 35-20 win. This put them at 5 wins.
The math was simple: they needed one more win to go bowling.
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The Brutal Finish
The final two games of the 2025 Rutgers football schedule were basically a nightmare scenario for a team sitting on the bubble of bowl eligibility.
First, a trip to Columbus. Facing Ohio State at the Horseshoe is hard enough, but the Buckeyes were the #1 team in the country. Rutgers fought, but you can't stop that kind of talent. They lost 42-9.
Then came the finale. November 29. Penn State at home.
This was the season. The stadium was packed. The energy was there. Rutgers actually led for a decent chunk of the game, but the Nittany Lions pulled away late to win 40-36.
It’s kind of a gut-punch, right? Finishing 5-7 after a 3-0 start is the kind of thing that keeps coaches awake at night. They were actually offered a spot in the Birmingham Bowl because of their high Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores—even at 5-7—but the program ultimately declined the invite.
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What We Learned from the 2025 Season
If you're looking for why things went south, you have to look at the defensive side of the ball during the "Big Three" games (Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State). In those three contests, Rutgers gave up an average of nearly 46 points.
You just can't win in the Big Ten if you're giving up half a hundred to the top-tier teams.
The schedule also highlighted the difficulty of the new "coast-to-coast" Big Ten. Traveling to Washington and Minnesota in a three-week span is a logistical hurdle that Rutgers hadn't really mastered yet.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans
If you're planning your travel or looking ahead to how Rutgers handles these schedules in the future, here is what actually matters:
- Watch the Friday Night Slots: Rutgers is becoming a "Friday night" staple for FOX and FS1. If you're planning to attend, don't assume every game is a Saturday kickoff.
- The "Middle Eight" Strategy: In 2025, Rutgers struggled in the last four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second. In games like the one against Penn State, those lapses were the difference between a bowl game and staying home.
- Depth at Linebacker: The 2025 season showed that when the starters get dinged up during those long road trips, the drop-off to the second string is still too steep for the Scarlet Knights to compete with the Oregons of the world.
The 2025 Rutgers football schedule was a rollercoaster that started at the top and ended in a very frustrating "what if" scenario. But for a program still trying to find its permanent footing in the toughest conference in America, these growing pains are part of the process.
To get ready for the 2026 season, fans should keep an eye on the transfer portal, specifically for defensive line depth. Without a more consistent pass rush, the late-season collapses we saw against Ohio State and Penn State are likely to repeat. Checking the early 2026 spring practice reports will be the best way to see if the young talent recruited during this 2025 cycle is ready to fill those gaps.