Rutgers — Big Ten
PPA off / def
0.21 / 0.31
2025
Class rank
#36
class of 2026
Returning PPA
44%
returning production
| 2025 |
OSU W 42–9 | Columbus |
| 2023 |
OSU W 35–16 | away |
| 2022 |
OSU W 49–10 | Columbus |
| 2021 |
OSU W 52–13 | away |
| 2020 |
OSU W 49–27 | Columbus |
| 2019 |
OSU W 56–21 | away |
| 2018 |
OSU W 52–3 | Columbus |
| 2017 |
OSU W 56–0 | away |
| 2016 |
OSU W 58–0 | Columbus |
| 2015 |
OSU W 49–7 | away |
| + 1 earlier meetings in archive |
2026 schedule
2025 results (5–7)
Statistical comps — 2025 Rutgers's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (15 in / 15 out)
| Incoming |
|---|
| Kameron Anthony | TE | ← Ball State | ★★★ |
| Dylan Lonergan | QB | ← Boston College | ★★★ |
| Malachi Davis | EDGE | ← Toledo | ★★★ |
| Bradlee Jones | CB | ← The Citadel | ★★★ |
| Kevyn Humes | CB | ← Maryland | ★★★ |
| Zahmir Dawud | CB | ← Villanova | ★★★ |
| J'Dan Burnett | EDGE | ← Tulsa | ★★★ |
| Ty Morris | LB | ← Rice | ★★★ |
| + 7 more |
Origins
Where the sport began: Rutgers 6, Princeton 4, November 6, 1869, a soccer-adjacent scrum on a field in New Brunswick. The program has won relatively little since, but everyone else is playing its game.
Founded 1766 · Colonial college chartered as Queen's, eighth in America · first football 1869 · defined by William Leggett
All-time record
All-time
523–599–25
1869–2025
Win %
46.7%
151 seasons played
Winning seasons
50
33% of seasons
By level: FBS 516–589–24 (1869–2025) · ii/iii 7–10–1 (1937–1945)
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 1976 | 11 | 0 | FBS Independents |
| 2006 | 11 | 2 | Big East |
| 1961 | 9 | 0 | Middle Atlantic University |
| 1975 | 9 | 2 | FBS Independents |
| 1978 | 9 | 3 | FBS Independents |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1869 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 339 | 52% |
46% | 44 of 136 | 5.9 | 12% |
| 2nd down | 251 | 47% |
48% | 18 of 136 | 6.7 | 15% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 47 | 72% |
68% | — | 4.0 | 4% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 48 | 40% |
33% | — | 4.4 | 10% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 49 | 27% |
31% | — | 7.5 | 16% |
| 4th down | 30 | 43% |
63% | — | 4.4 | 7% |
128 drives · 39% ended in points · 8.1 plays and 50.7 yards per drive · 1.39 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 9 | Purdue |
(07:43) No Huddle-Shotgun #16 A.Kaliakmanis pass complete deep left to #8 K.Duff caught at… |
72 | 6.37 |
| 10 | Illinois |
End of 4th quarter. |
95 | 4.76 |
| 3 | Norfolk State |
AJ Surace pass complete to Michael Thomas III for 25 yds for a TD (Dane Pizzaro KICK) |
25 | 4.76 |
| 11 | Maryland |
(11:45) No Huddle-Shotgun #16 A.Kaliakmanis pass complete deep left to #8 K.Duff caught at… |
49 | 4.41 |
| 14 | Penn State |
(06:09) No Huddle-Shotgun #16 A.Kaliakmanis pass complete deep left to #8 K.Duff caught at… |
42 | 4.23 |
| 10 | Illinois |
End of 1st quarter. |
59 | 4.19 |
| 1 | Ohio |
Athan Kaliakmanis pass complete to DT Sheffield for 54 yds for a TD (Jai Patel KICK) |
54 | 4.18 |
| 9 | Purdue |
End of 4th quarter. |
68 | 4.08 |