After Rutgers finally found the win column against a Maryland team that parted ways with Michael Locksley just days later, they took a step up in competition and were immediately hit with a blowout loss to #24 Northwestern immediately dominated on both sides of the ball and built a 28-3 lead, and the Scarlet Knights were unable to cut the deficit beyond two scores before the Wildcats built the lead up to a final margin of 28.
Here are my takeaways from another dismal loss that was honestly a tough one for us to watch.
It was a game that saw Dylan Lonergan exit with a concussion early after diving headfirst on an early scramble on third down. For the second time in three games, his day was done early, but this time he didn't attempt a pass, getting knocked out with a concussion on his first carry of the game.
In came AJ Surace at quarterback, and as he did in his Boston College start, he struggled mightily, with no help from the offensive line. After the first Rutgers drive resulted in a field goal, Rutgers dug themselves a hole with the defense surrendering big plays, and the offensive line provided Surace with not much help.
With the Knights down 14-3, Surace was strip-sacked for a 17-yard loss by defensive lineman Michael Killbane and recovered by Jamaal Johnson at the Rutgers six-yard line. That resulted in the Wildcats going up 21-3 before the end of the first quarter.
On the next drive, Surace was sacked and threw an incompletion, and Rutgers was forced to punt. Although both teams stalled out for most of the rest of the first half, it was Northwestern that scored another touchdown to go up 28-3 before a late drive saw Dane Pizarro knock through his second field goal to send Rutgers into the locker room trailing 28-6.
After a 21-yard screen pass from Antwan Raymond got Rutgers into Wildcat territory, Rutgers faced a fourth-and-five, and Surace threw an interception on a hopeless play that had no chance of converting a first down. Eventually, the coaching staff had seen enough and inserted Sean Ashenfelder into the lineup, but his performance was not much better in relief duty, going two for nine for 36 yards and an interception.
The one bright spot on offense was the play of both running backs, as the Scarlet Knights had two 100-yard rushers for the first time since Kyle Monangai and Gavin Wimsatt did it in 2023. Raymond had his best game of the season after dealing with injuries, picking up 150 yards on 18 carries, while Clay Thevenin rushed for 116 yards on 14 carries, as the Knights had a solid one-two punch on the ground all game against a solid Northwestern defense.
Thevenin and Raymond picked up 41-yard and 31-yard gains to set Rutgers up with first-and-goal from the Northwestern 8-yard line in the third quarter. Ashenfelder proceeded to miss KJ Duff and Dyzier Carter before taking a nine-yard loss on a sack, as the Wildcat rush was relentless all game against the struggling offensive line.
For the quarterback play to be this poor from Surace and the offensive line play to be this poor, it appears that all the offseason hype about this team was oversold by Greg Schiano. If not for a 46-yard touchdown run for Raymond after an interception by DK Gilley, the Scarlet Knights would have been out of the end zone entirely.
On the defensive side of the ball, it was not much better, as Aidan Chiles reminded Rutgers fans of what they were missing at quarterback by going a surgical 19-25 for 219 yards and three passing touchdowns, although he threw his first interception of the season to DK Gilley.
Rutgers defensive backs played far off their assignments all afternoon, as Griffen Wilde was wide open on several occasions and finished with 133 yards on nine catches and the game's first touchdown. Compared to how tightly KJ Duff and the Knights' wideouts were covered, Chiles had no problem finding his guys in wide openings in the zone coverage deployed by Rutgers.
On the second drive, junior running back Caleb Komolafe broke off a 56-yard run up the middle that set Northwestern up in the Scarlet Knights' red zone. That set the tone for the game, as he averaged 11.5 yards per carry and picked up 150 yards in addition to a rushing touchdown.
As expected, Rutgers struggled with the quarterback run, as Chiles was able to take it to the house himself from 37 yards out with no Scarlet Knight on the right side of the field to account for his mobility. Rutgers was severely overmatched in all three levels, lacking much of a pass rush, struggling to finish tackles in the linebacking corps, and playing poorly in coverage all game long.
The strong point of the defense was Rondo Porter, who had a sack on Chiles and finished the game with three tackles for loss. Outside of him and DK Gilley, the defense was a liability and looked all too similar to last season, in which they surrendered big plays in the run and the pass, including to the quarterback's legs.
With the Scarlet Knights returning home to face Michigan, this matchup looks interesting, as the Kyle Whittingham Wolverines are not the same team that Big Ten fans are used to seeing and have lost three of their last four games, including losses to Iowa and Minnesota. After benching Bryce Underwood for Tommy Carr, Michigan scored a total of six points in a 13-6 overtime loss to #6 Indiana.
On the one hand, the Michigan offense has been struggling mightily, being held under 20 points in all but two games. Between the shockingly poor play of Underwood and Carr struggling in his first collegiate action, sometimes looking like he is still on training wheels, the Wolverines have had to rely on their outstanding defense and cashing in on their limited trips into opposing territory just to score.
On the other hand, the Michigan defense has been standing on its head, limiting Indiana to six points in regulation and out of the end zone completely. After Rutgers struggled to score on Northwestern, it will be hard to envision the Scarlet Knights scoring a ton of points on an even better defense next week.
Although the Rutgers defense has struggled mightily, their opponent may be very limited on the offensive side of the ball, giving the Scarlet Knights a prime opportunity. If Dylan Lonergan can find a few splash plays to KJ Duff, or the running backs can push through Michigan's staunch defensive front even somewhat successfully, Rutgers will have a chance to pull off the upset next week.
However, after another disheartening loss to a ranked opponent, there will not be much optimism that the Scarlet Knights will be able to play well enough to take down Michigan. We shall see on Saturday at SHI Stadium.
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