Rutgers football narrowly escaped disaster after defeating the Ohio Bobcats 34-31 in Piscataway to open the season. Although the Scarlet Knights got the victory, the game left a lot to be desired, particularly on the defensive end. Here are five takeaways from the season-opening contest, which turned out to be a thriller that went down to the very end.
Athan Kaliakmanis Picks Up Where He Left Off Last Season
The Rutgers offense was potent to start the night, starting with quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis. He picked up where he left off in 2024 by delivering
a strong opening night performance, completing 18 out of 23 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns. Kaliakmanis left something to be desired with his rushing, as he did not extend plays with his legs like he did towards the end of last season. However, he spread the wealth to his playmakers, getting multiple receivers, running backs, and tight ends in on the action to give the Scarlet Knights’ offense a downfield presence.
Playmakers Show Out Early, Offense Stalls In Second Half
After adding DT Sheffield and CJ Campbell Jr. to the transfer portal to complement the returning talent at the skill positions, fans were excited to see what the offense would look like following a strong finish to the 2024 season. Kaliakamanis led a 12-play, 75-yard drive to start the game, which was capped off by a 14-yard touchdown run by Antwan Raymond. The run game was a big factor on offense, with Raymond rushing for 88 yards on 14 carries while Campbell had 70 yards on 10 carries, solidified by solid blocking up front from the offensive line.
After Jai Patel made a field goal (more on that later) to extend the lead to 10-7, Kaliakmanis delivered a strike down the sideline to DT Sheffield, as the North Texas transfer turned on the jets to get behind the Ohio secondary. The deep ball from Athan was beautifully placed, and it was one of the top highlights of the contest, with the Scarlet Knights extending their lead to 17-7. Sheffield ended the night with four catches for 85 yards, with a 54-yard touchdown reception and the game-winning fourth-down conversion over the middle.
Ian Strong hauled in seven catches for a team-leading 100 yards, while KJ Duff had five receptions for 54 yards, including a touchdown catch of his own in the second half. The tight ends were relatively quiet, but Colin Weber made his first catch as a Scarlet Knight for a seven-yard gain, and Kenny Fletcher had one catch for six yards.
However, the offense suddenly got quiet in the second half after an explosive first half. After Rutgers led Ohio 31-17 at halftime, the Ohio defense got some much-needed stops while scoring two third-quarter touchdowns to tie the game at 31. Jai Patel’s fourth-quarter field goal was the difference, as Ohio was unable to come up with the game-tying or winning score before Kaliakmanis found Sheffield on a crucial fourth-and-seven in Ohio territory to seal the game for the Scarlet Knights.
Special Teams Has A Special Night
In addition to the offense, the Rutgers special teams had a strong performance as well. Jai Patel set a program record for most consecutive field goals made, with 14 straight made FGs after putting Rutgers ahead of the Bobcats 10-7 early in the second quarter. His go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter pushed the streak to fifteen made field goals. Look for Patel to increase that streak during the Miami (Ohio) game.
The big play on special teams came during a punt block. After a bad snap, Ohio’s punter was forced to pick up the football, which delayed his punt enough for Rutgers defensive back Kaj Sanders to block it. Penn State transfer Cam Miller was there to recover the football in the end zone, giving Rutgers a special teams touchdown that ballooned its lead to 31-14. Special teams excellence has been a Rutgers staple under Greg Schiano, with the Scarlet Knights leading the country in blocked punts with 11 since 2022.
The Defense Needs Significant Improvement
Shifting to the bad side of things, the Rutgers defense needs a lot of improvement. Ohio outgained Rutgers in the contest with 440 total yards on offense, with 239 passing yards and 201 rushing yards. Formerly the strength of the program, the defense looked unrecognizable, with zero sacks, zero turnovers, and just four takeaways. The Bobcats strung together long drives all game long, with Navarro throwing three passing touchdowns along with being the game’s leading rusher with 93 yards and a rushing touchdown.
Similar to the Scarlet Knights, the Bobcats’ offense had their way for most of the contest with both the pass and the run game. Navarro connected with his tight ends on several occasions, with Mason Williams catching Ohio’s first touchdown pass, while Jake Bruno had two receptions, both for touchdowns from over ten yards out.
The Scarlet Knights’ defense looked fooled by any misdirection or pre-snap motion, and on Navarro’s second touchdown pass to Bruno, two Rutgers defenders collided into each other, allowing Navarro to find the tight end open in the end zone. Rutgers struggled to contain Navarro inside and outside the box, while running back Sieh Bangura had 16 carries for 86 yards, averaging 5.4 yards a carry with his longest rush going for 24 yards.
Perhaps what was most disappointing of all was the lack of impact the defensive front had on the game. After defensive tackle Doug Blue-Eli was ruled out with a season-ending injury, the highly-touted edge rushing duo of Eric O’Neill and Bradley Weaver had quiet debuts. O’Neill had just three total tackles, with one solo tackle, while Weaver had five total tackles, including one chasedown tackle on a scampering Navarro, who had beaten Weaver to the outside for a big gain. Moses Walker had the biggest night defensively, with 13 total tackles, including five solo tackles and two for loss.
Greg Schiano was disappointed in both the lack of turnovers and the lack of sacks, but is confident that the defense will improve as the season goes on. At his postgame press conference, he said, “We have to do more of this, we have to get better at this. We got six guys that had never started and brought in guys that hadn’t played much either, so I knew it’s a work in progress and it will be all year long — we’ll get better. I’m encouraged that we got plenty of room for development, fundamentally that’s how you do it.”
The secondary had its share of strong moments, preventing big plays through the air with good coverage on receivers and making tackles downfield, but it seems that the players are having a tough time adjusting to co-defensive coordinators Zach Sparber and Robb Smith’s scheme. Rutgers allowed Ohio to march down the field with soft zone coverage most of the game, and the Bobcats continuously took advantage.
Although the defense should be credited with a game-saving stop with Ohio trailing 34-31, not much went right for the unit for the rest of the contest. Greg Schiano mentioned throughout the week that the defense was a work in progress, and that may have been an understatement. The Scarlet Knights will have two more weeks to tighten up on that side of the ball before Big Ten play kicks off with a massive contest against Iowa, which has an offense that will be improved from what fans have been used to seeing from the Hawkeyes in previous years.
Ohio Deserves A Ton Of Respect For Their Performance
It was no secret that Ohio was not going to be an easy out after winning the MAC Championship and eleven games last season, but not many predicted the Bobcats coming within three points of an upset victory at Rutgers. The spread had moved up from an opening line of 10.5 points to around 15 by the time the game started, and with Ohio losing a lot of players on both sides of the lines of scrimmage, there was reason to believe that the Scarlet Knights would be able to pull away in the second half. When Rutgers went up 31-14 after Kaliakmanis’ strike to Sheffield and the blocked punt touchdown, the Scarlet Knights had all the momentum. Even with Ohio cutting the lead to 31-17, Rutgers was in a comfortable position at the halftime break.
But the Bobcats were not going to give up so easily. For the second straight game, the Scarlet Knights coughed up a 17-point lead, only this time Rutgers was able to salvage the victory. Navarro dazzled with his arm and legs, Bangura was a solid lead back, while Chase Hendricks led all receivers with 115 yards on just nine catches. The standout Ohio quarterback got all of his playmakers involved, as Max Rodarte, Eian Pugh, Jake Bruno, Caleb Gossett, and Mason Williams each had two catches while averaging over ten yards per reception.
On defense, safety Adonis Williams Jr. led the Bobcats with 11 tackles, with three of them being solo. Linebacker Jack Fries had eight tackles and a pass deflection, while fellow linebacker Michael Molnar had seven tackles, including one for loss. The Ohio secondary was all over the stat sheet, with DJ Walker II and Tank Pearson having six tackles apiece, while the only sack of the game came from Bobcats’ defensive end Jay Crable.
Although Ohio allowed 34 points to the Scarlet Knights, 31 of those came in the first half. The Rutgers offense got shut down in the second half, and the Bobcats nearly sprung the upset, but the Scarlet Knights did just enough in all three phases of the game to hang on for the season-opening victory.
Next Up
Rutgers will host their second straight MAC opponent when the Miami (OH) RedHawks come to Piscataway on Saturday, September 6th at 3:30 PM. Miami will be looking to bounce back from a 17-0 loss to a Wisconsin team that lost its starting quarterback to injury in the first half.
Ohio will play its second of three straight Power Four opponents, with a rare home game against West Virginia on Saturday, September 6th at 4 PM. The Bobcats will look to carry their momentum and try to spring the home upset before heading to Columbus to take on Ohio State one week later.
