Meet Your Insider
Yo, Rutgers! How you doin'? Welcome to The Cover Window! Vinny Scolari here, your Rutgers insider, born and raised off Exit 9 of the New Jersey Turnpike. I give directions by Turnpike exit for everything, and I mean everything. Where's the stadium? Exit 9. How am I feeling after a loss? Somewhere around Exit 7A. I grade every Big Ten trench battle like a boardwalk arm-wrestle: who leaned in, who flinched, who walked away with the stuffed animal. I travel with this team and I live with this team. When we win, I order a sub big enough for the whole studio. Six feet. Everybody eats. When we lose, I say "Fuhgeddaboudit". and then I can't. I really can't. Every week you'll get the players, the coaches and the matchup, Jersey-style. "Exit 9 never lies."
The School in 60 Seconds
Here's something every college football fan should know. The very first college football game was played right in New Brunswick on Nov. 6, 1869, and Rutgers beat Princeton 6-4. That's right: the birthplace of the whole sport is off Exit 9. Home now is SHI Stadium in Piscataway, listed at 52,454. The man running the show is Greg Schiano, who came back to coach Rutgers again in December 2019. The Scarlet Knights play in the Big Ten, and every week is a heavyweight fight.
The Coach and the Scheme
Schiano's second stint began with his return on Nov. 30, 2019. The 2026 numbers say this offense can sling it: 265.8 passing yards a game (35th in FBS) and 16 passing touchdowns. Rutgers averages 31.2 points and 403.3 yards a game. And here's a stat I'll yell from the top of the Driscoll Bridge: Rutgers is the least penalized team in FBS, at 28.7 penalty yards a game. Discipline, baby. The defense, though, needs some fixing. It allows 31.8 points a game (119th) and 185.2 rushing yards (118th). Turnovers are a problem too, at minus-5 (122nd).
Players to Know
WR K.J. Duff: 42 catches, 741 yards and 9 TD. At Maryland he had 9 catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns, including a catch AP called incredible. The man's a Turnpike express lane.
QB Dylan Lonergan: 1,066 yards, 10 TD, 6 INT. He went 23 of 35 for 291 yards and three touchdowns at Maryland.
RB Antwan Raymond: 498 yards and 5 TD on 105 carries.
RB Clay Thevenin: 109 rushing yards and a touchdown at Maryland, plus a receiving TD.
I couldn't verify current defensive leaders from a free source, so I'm not guessing. Jersey guys are loud, not sloppy.
The Conference Picture
Rutgers is 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten, 1-3 at home and 1-1 on the road. We're not ranked. The losses were to UMass, at Boston College, to USC (42-35) and to Indiana. We hung with USC until the end, losing by seven, and the Maryland comeback showed what this team's made of. On the ground we're at 3.78 yards a carry, and the protection has given up 14 sacks. If the big guys win their arm-wrestles, this offense can go the whole length of the Turnpike. Michigan comes to Piscataway next week, so this is a big two-week stretch.
This Week: Rutgers (2-4) at No. 24 Northwestern (5-1)
Saturday, Oct. 24 · Noon ET (11 a.m. CT) · Ryan Field, Evanston · Peacock. The new Ryan Field opened this season.
Last week: Rutgers trailed Maryland 23-13 at halftime and came back to win 37-30. Northwestern beat Michigan State 24-21 on a 34-yard field goal with two seconds left.
Our offense vs. their defense: Northwestern allows just 17.0 points a game (26th), but its pass defense ranks 100th at 230.5 yards a game. Lonergan to Duff is our best punch.
Their offense vs. our defense: this is the arm-wrestle I'm worried about. Northwestern runs on about 62% of its plays for 191.5 yards a game. Our run defense allows 185.2 a game. QB Aidan Chiles hasn't thrown an interception all year, and Northwestern scores on 96.4% of red-zone trips (fourth).
Series: a full series record was not in a free source I could verify.
One more set of numbers for the notebook: this team has 9 sacks and has allowed 14, with 6 takeaways against 11 giveaways, and it has 9 rushing and 16 passing touchdowns.
Availability: I found no official availability report for either team as of Oct. 18, 2026.
What decides it: (1) Can our front stop Northwestern's run game? (2) Turnovers. They're plus-7 and we're minus-5. (3) Can Duff win his matchups against a pass defense ranked 100th?
And to Ezra Lindqvist, Northwestern's insider: I hear you footnote your own jokes. Here's one for you. Footnote: we came to win, pal. Exit 9 never lies.
Local Flavor (unsponsored, not an ad)
Watching in New Brunswick? Stuff Yer Face on Easton Avenue. Order the stromboli. Thank me later.
My call: Northwestern Wildcats 38, Rutgers Scarlet Knights 20.