Rutgers

Big Ten · 2-7CFP unranked

Rutgers is 2-7 and No. 87 of 138 in the machine's ratings, 4.6 points below an average FBS team. Last game: lost 31-10 at Wisconsin in Week 10.

Week 11: vs Nebraska, Saturday, Nov 14: the matchup, unit by unit

Machine rankNo. 87of all FBS teams
Rating now−4.64.6 points below an average FBS team
Since July−4.4from −0.2 in the preseason rating

Why Rutgers is No. 87

  • Rutgers's rating is −4.6: the machine's estimate that Rutgers is 4.6 points worse than an average FBS team on a neutral field. That is No. 87 of 138. For scale, 0 is an average FBS team: right now the closest to it is No. 68 Arizona State (0.2).
  • It started the season at −0.2, ESPN's preseason Football Power Index from July. Its results since have moved it down 4.4.
  • The biggest weekly moves: −5.6 after Week 1 (L 21-37 vs Massachusetts) and +3.1 after Week 3 (L 35-42 vs USC).
  • Its record is 2-7. The 7 losses were to No. 9 Indiana, No. 19 USC, No. 31 Wisconsin, No. 36 Michigan, No. 39 Northwestern, No. 71 Boston College, No. 126 Massachusetts, by 16.9 points on average. The 2 wins came by 29.0 points on average; the best was over No. 73 Maryland. The rating weighs how much a team won or lost by and against whom, not just the win-loss count.
  • Its FBS opponents so far average No. 50 in the machine's ratings.
  • Just above is No. 86 Utah State (−4.5); just below is No. 88 Louisiana (−4.9).

The rating, week by week

Strengths and weak spots

Head coach

Greg Schiano is in his 18th season at Rutgers (since 2001). This season: 2-7. At Rutgers overall: 101-115, counting this season.

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Team stats

Season totals and averages over 9 games, each with its national rank among 138 FBS teams (No. 1 = best). The game-by-game story is in the season, week by week.

Passing

Completions-attempts135-245
Passing yards1979
Touchdowns-interceptions18-12
Yards per attempt*8.0No. 41 of 138
Explosive pass rate10.1%No. 77 of 138
Sacks allowed (rate)8.2%No. 124 of 138

Rushing

Carries-yards320-1292
Yards per carry4.0No. 96 of 138
10-plus-yard runs (rate)11.6%No. 112 of 138
Stuffed at or behind the line (rate)16.3%No. 55 of 138

Scoring

Points per game25.8No. 90 of 138
Yards per play5.83No. 71 of 138
Third-down rate38.9%No. 85 of 138
Red-zone TD rate64.5%No. 52 of 138
Giveaways14No. 113 of 138

Defense

Points allowed per game32.4No. 124 of 138
Yards per play allowed6.74No. 131 of 138
Yards per pass attempt allowed8.3No. 131 of 138
Yards per carry allowed5.4No. 132 of 138
Sack rate4.7%No. 97 of 138
Takeaways8No. 118 of 138
Third-down rate allowed47.2%No. 128 of 138

Totals are the official box score. * Yards per attempt and the rates come from the play-by-play, where passing yards count on completions only, so they can differ from the box score by a play or two.

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Player leaders

The top 3 in each category over the same games. Passing yards count every completion (official box score).

Passing

  1. Dylan Lonergan74-127, 1066 yds, 10 TD, 6 INT
  2. AJ Surace57-107, 823 yds, 8 TD, 5 INT
  3. Sean Ashenfelder3-10, 50 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT

Rushing

  1. Antwan Raymond149 carries, 789 yds, 6 TD
  2. Clay Thevenin90 carries, 475 yds, 5 TD
  3. Dylan Lonergan22 carries, 49 yds, 0 TD

Receiving

  1. KJ Duff45 catches, 774 yds, 9 TD
  2. Ben Black16 catches, 265 yds, 2 TD
  3. Jourdin Houston18 catches, 264 yds, 1 TD

Tackles

  1. Sean Allison43
  2. Chris Joines42
  3. Moses Walker39

Sacks

  1. Sekou Kromah3
  2. Rondarius Porter2.5
  3. Zaire Angoy2

Interceptions

  1. Bradlee Jones2
  2. Moses Walker2
  3. DK Gilley1

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Who's playing

Based on who has actually played this season, from the box scores, not the team's published depth chart. Each bar is that player's share of the team's attempts, carries (quarterbacks left out), catches or tackles. The box score lists no positions, so there is no offensive line here.

Throwing

  1. Dylan Lonergan5 games127 attempts52%
  2. AJ SuraceMost passes in the last game7 games107 attempts44%
  3. Sean Ashenfelder2 games10 attempts4%

Carrying

  1. Antwan Raymond9 games149 carries58%
  2. Clay Thevenin9 games90 carries35%
  3. Aiden Gibson3 games12 carries5%

Catching

  1. KJ Duff7 games45 catches33%
  2. Jourdin Houston7 games18 catches13%
  3. Ben Black7 games16 catches12%
  4. Antwan Raymond8 games15 catches11%

Tackling

  1. Sean Allison8 games43 tackles8%
  2. Chris Joines9 games42 tackles8%
  3. Moses Walker8 games39 tackles7%
  4. Jessie Ofurie8 games35 tackles6%

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

The season, week by week

  1. Week 1 L 21–37 vs Massachusetts. The run game struggled: 1.2 yards a carry, 3.5 less than Massachusetts usually allows. Lost the turnover battle by 4.
  2. Week 2 L 21–28 at Boston College. The pass defense gave ground: Boston College got 8.7 yards an attempt, 2.2 over what it usually gains.
  3. Week 3 L 35–42 vs USC. The run defense gave ground: USC got 5.9 yards a carry, 2.2 over what it usually gains. Lost the turnover battle by 2.
  4. Week 4 W 58–7 vs Howard. Howard is an FCS team, so there is no FBS baseline to grade this one against. Won the turnover battle by 3.
  5. Week 5 L 15–47 vs Indiana. The run defense gave ground: Indiana got 8.4 yards a carry, 3.8 over what it usually gains. Its most yards an attempt of the season.
  6. Week 7 W 37–30 at Maryland. The run defense gave ground: Maryland got 4.4 yards a carry, 0.9 over what it usually gains. The machine had Maryland by 4.5 (62%), so this was a win it did not see coming.
  7. Week 8 L 14–42 at Northwestern. The run defense gave ground: Northwestern got 6.9 yards a carry, 2.6 over what it usually gains. Lost the turnover battle by 2.
  8. Week 9 L 21–28 vs Michigan. The passing game was the strength: 9.5 yards an attempt, 3.8 more than Michigan usually allows. The fewest yards a carry it has allowed all season.
  9. Week 10 L 10–31 at Wisconsin. The pass defense gave ground: Wisconsin got 10.0 yards an attempt, 3.2 over what it usually gains. The offense gave up 5 sacks.

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