Rutgers Football Preview 2024: Key Players, Schedule, Season Predictions

Rutgers College Football Preview 2024

Is it possible Rutgers is finally the team in the Big Ten no one wants to deal with?

It's still Rutgers, and the overall talent level is okay-to-meh compared to the rest of the conference, but who wants to deal with this style?

Who wants to be in for a fight that might come down to one slip, one mental error, or one big play that could go the other way?

There were a few too many penalties last year for this team, but the time of possession battle, offensive line play, turnover margin, special teams, and scoring defense—it all worked, and it should be even better this year with so much experience returning.

Could Rutgers beat the big boys over the last few years? No, but Michigan was kept to 31 points, Ohio State scored 35 and wasn’t totally comfortable, and Penn State was held to 27. All three of those teams are off the schedule.

There should be a wee bit more of a passing game—a lot more on that later—and coming off the first winning season and bowl victory since 2014, there’s a little more confidence now.

And then there’s the part of this that really no one wants to deal with: it's on one side of the country.

It's become a thing to highlight the distance between some schools in the new Big Ten—Rutgers might as well be on the moon for some of these ex-Pac-12 teams.

Yeah, the super late-night game at USC will be quirky, but Washington and UCLA have to go three time zones to the right all to deal with a team that will keep the score low and bring the fight for a full four quarters.

It's the 11th year as a Big Ten team, and Rutgers has yet to come up with a winning conference record. That might change with just a bit more from...

Rutgers Football Preview 2024: Offense

- You know what you’re getting with a Rutgers offense. It’s going to run well, it’ll try to control the clock, and the passing game will … for the umpteenth year in a row, Rutgers will try to do more through the air.

The Scarlet Knights didn’t hit half of their passes last season and only hit 2,000 yards through the air once in the last eight years. That’s where Minnesota transfer Athan Kaliakmanis is supposed to help things.

He struggled last season throwing 14 touchdown passes and nine picks, but he’s big, can run, and he has a good enough arm to power through to get things moving. It helps that …

- This should be the best Rutgers receiving corps in a long time. Leading man Christian Dremel is back after catching 36 passes for 468 yards and three scores. Dymere Miller, a veteran pass catcher from Monmouth, should be a significant volume stat-sheet filler on the outside.

After missing last year, former Western Illinois star Naseim Brantley will be a dangerous part of the puzzle - he’s ready to go. Ian Strong brings additional depth for a group that might really give Rutgers something to take the heat off of...

- It’s Rutgers, so the ground game will still carry the load. Kyle Monangai ran for 1,262 yards and eight scores, Samuel V Brown returns as the key backup, and there’s even more depth to step in if needed.

The offensive front was the best in the Big Ten in fewest sacks allowed and gave up just over four tackles for loss per game. Four starters return - in some configuration - around Hollin Pierce at left tackle and center Gus Zelinskas.

Rutgers Football Preview 2024: Defense

- The defense always keep the team in games. It was 16th in the nation overall, allowed an average of just 21 points per game, and did it all with the worst pass rush in the Big Ten.

The ends are back. The combination of Wesley Bailey and Aaron Lewis on the end might not generate sacks, but they’re strong against the run. Don’t get too hung up on the sack stats - these two generate a ton of pressure and plenty of hurries.

The interior will hold up fine with Kyonte Hamilton ready to do more on the nose and Florida State transfer Malcolm Ray bringing decent quickness and experience.

- The secondary plays with a strong, physical style. Only four teams came up with 200 yards though the air - it’s doing its job if it keeps quarterbacks from hitting 65% of their passes.

Robert Longerbeam is a broken up pass machine - he came up with ten last year. Safeties Shaquan Loyal, Flip Dixon, and Desmond Igbinosun are back after combing for 205 tackles

- Leading tackler Deion Jennings is gone from the linebacking corps, but Mohamed Toure is back after finishing second with 93 stops. Tyreem Powell returns after hitting just about everything before missing the back half of the season hurt.

Key To The Rutgers Football Season

Throw effectively enough to not be totally awful.
It’s not this simple, but it’s the one thing bringing down every thing else.

Yes, it all ties together, but the offensive line is good, the ground game strong, and the defense just needs a little bit of help from the other side to hold up. The problem is when the passing attack can’t do anything right.

Rutgers failed to hit 50% of its passes a whopping nine times. Even so, it still won most of those games, and went 0-3 when it couldn’t do the bare minimum and get past 40%.

Rutgers Key Player

Athan Kaliakmanis, QB Jr.
Gavin Wimsett, Evan Simon, Noah Vedral, Johnny Langan, Artur Sitkowski, Kyle Bolin, Giovanni Rescigno, Chris Laviano. Those are the last eight Rutgers quarterbacks, and all had their positive moments to go along all the pain.

In 2015, Chris Laviano hit 61% of his passes for 2,247 yards and 16 touchdowns. If Kaliakmanis can just do that, Rutgers should go bowling and pull off a big upset or two along the way.

Rutgers Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Dymere Miller, WR Sr.
The former Monmouth star is a volume-catcher who made 165 catches for 2,380 yards and 17 touchdowns over the last three seasons. He’s very quick, very fast, and he’s about to be a big play target on the outside.

Top Transfer Out: Gavin Wimsatt, QB Sr.
He only threw nine touchdown passes and eight picks, but he was also ran for 11 touchdowns and was the team’s leading passer. The offense needs more through the air, but at the very least he would’ve been a good backup option. Now he’s off to Kentucky to try finding a role.

Rutgers Key Game

UCLA, Oct. 19
It’s a rough Big Ten start for the Scarlet Knights with Washington, at Nebraska, and Wisconsin to get going, and with a trip to USC after this.

UCLA makes the 2,800 mile trip to Piscataway for the first ever meeting between the two programs. Realistically, the Scarlet Knights need this to have any shot of going bowling.

10 Best Rutgers Football Players

1. Kyle Monangai, RB Sr.
2. Hollin Pierce, OT Sr.
3. Mohamed Toure, LB Sr.
4. Aaron Lewis, DE Sr.
5. Desmond Igbinosun, S Sr.
6. Flip Dixon, S Sr.
7. Dymere Miller, WR Sr.
8. Christian Dremel, WR Sr.
9. Jai Patel, PK Soph.
10. Gus Zilinskas, C Jr.

Rutgers 2023 Fun Stats

- Onside Kicks: Opponents 1-1, Rutgers 1-3

- Rutgers 3rd Quarter Scoring: 41, Rutgers 4th Quarter Scoring: 110

- Kickoff Return Average: Rutgers 33 yards, Opponents 15.9 yards

Rutgers Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

There's so much to like here.

Greg Schiano has a team full of experience with the upside to pull off a few of the big wins missing for way too long. The lines are great, the defense is sound, and the special teams should be a plus.

And the schedule should help the cause.

There's no realistic beef whatsoever with the 2024 slate. And why? FINALLY, Rutgers is freed from the Big Ten East, and that means—at least this year—no Ohio State, no Michigan, and no Penn State. Is that not enough?

There's no Oregon or Iowa, either. Missing Indiana and Purdue hurts, but you can't miss everyone good.

Washington and UCLA have to go across the country to deal with the Scarlet Knights, and going to Nebraska, Maryland, and Michigan State isn't all that bad.

Going to Virginia Tech is dangerous, and playing a late-night game against USC is an issue, but overall there's a real chance to make this back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2011 and 2012.

Set The Rutgers Win Total At … 6.5

Likely Wins: Akron, Howard

50/50 Games: Illinois, at Maryland, at Michigan State, Minnesota, at Nebraska, UCLA, at Virginia Tech, Washington, Wisconsin

Likely Losses: at USC

2024 Rutgers Football Schedule

Aug 31 Howard
Sept 7 Akron
Sept 14 OPEN DATE
Sept 21 at Virginia Tech
Sept 28 Washington
Oct 5 at Nebraska
Oct 12 Wisconsin
Oct 19 UCLA
Oct 26 at USC
Nov 2 OPEN DATE
Nov 9 Minnesota
Nov 16 at Maryland
Nov 23 Illinois
Nov 30 at Michigan State

Missing: Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue