Positives, negatives from Rutgers football's rollercoaster 2024 season
The Rutgers football team closed out its season last Thursday after a gut-wrenching loss at the Rate Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona, versus Kansas State. The Scarlet Knights (7-6, 4-5) came into the season with the highest expectations in head coach Greg Schiano’s second stint.
The roller-coaster ride the team gave the fans in 2024 certainly had its positives and negatives.
Positive: Offense was the best in years
An explosive offense is a foreign concept for most Rutgers fans, but there’s no other way to describe how they performed this year.
The Knights ranked in the top half of the Big Ten in yards per game and points per game, including seven 30-plus point performances throughout the season.
Senior quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis impressed as he eclipsed the 2,000-yard passing mark for the first time in program history since 2015. Kaliakmanis’ reunion with offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarocca was a catalyst for the offensive turnaround, and the QB did it by feeding sophomore receiver Ian Strong and freshman receiver KJ Duff. The receiving duo’s potential is through the roof and will be key in 2025.
Senior running back Kyle Monangai finished off his illustrious career by earning the program’s inaugural first-team All-Big Ten honors. Even with his departure for the NFL, the offense proved in the two games he was absent that the run game is in good hands with the likes of freshman running back Antwan Raymond and sophomore running back Ja’shon Benjamin.
An offense that had been dormant for years has come alive and set the bar high for next season.
Negative: Bitter end to the season
On November 23, Rutgers was up by 1-point against then-top 25 Illinois with just 14 seconds left. The Knights lined up for a game-winning field goal and missed.
Head coach Greg Schiano, though, had called a timeout prior to the snap. What ensued the next play was a miracle touchdown from Illinois, squandering Rutgers’ chance of earning its first ranked win since 2009 and its first-ever Big Ten-ranked victory.
Fast forward a month later to the Rate Bowl. The Knights had a 34-17 lead over the Wildcats in the third quarter that they let slip right through their hands, spoiling a 41-point performance from the offense.
When the fans, media, even the players and coaches look back on this season in the coming months, it’s going to be hard to forget these glaringly brutal losses in two of the team’s final three games.
A 9-4 season with a ranked win and a bowl championship would have been a landmark season for the program. Instead, it’s a 7-6 season, just like the one they had a season prior.
Positive: Overcame adversity and injury
The volatility of this year’s team can certainly point to the injuries that were suffered as a reason for it.
A point hammered home by members of the media prior to the season was Rutgers’ returning production, but some were lost to injuries throughout the season.
Senior linebacker and preseason All-Big Ten recipient Mohamed Toure didn’t even get a chance to play a single game due to injury.
Every scholarship tight end was lost by week 11. The anchor of the offensive line and senior guard Bryan Felter missed the final nine games of the season. That wasn’t it, as there were many other injuries mixed in throughout the course of the year.
The ability to right the ship with wins against Minnesota, Maryland and Michigan State after a four-game losing streak in the middle of the season does warrant respect to the players and coaches. It also highlights the resilience the team has.
Negative: Couldn’t take advantage of the weak schedule
A prominent reason for the high expectations coming into the season was the fact that the Knights had as easy of a schedule as you can get in the Big Ten.
They faced just one ranked team all year and just six bowl-eligible opponents in the regular season. In a conference that sent four teams to the college football playoff, Rutgers was somehow able to avoid playing any of them.
The Knights could have seized the opportunity in front of them and beat up on weak opponents like its conference foe Indiana did. There’s an alternate universe where, instead of the Hoosiers, Rutgers is the one going 11-1 and forcing the College Football Playoff committee to put them in the playoff.
In reality, the Knights finished with a solid, but not great, 7-5 regular season record.
Positive: Great recruiting class and young talent shines
It’s no secret that Schiano runs a developmental program. Recruiting players to learn and stay on the Banks for three to four years is his MO. Even with the transfer portal controlling the landscape of college football, Rutgers is still able to recruit effectively, keep its guys and use the portal to supplement positions of need.
As this senior class, which was so integral in bringing the Knightl back to relevancy, moves on, there are new classes oozing with talent following them. This season saw true freshmen like Duff, Raymond, defensive back Kaj Sanders and receiver Ben Black already playing important roles.
Couple that with a class for 2025 that ranks number 34 according to 247sports.com, and you have a job well done by Schiano.
Negative: Program’s identity took a hit
Schiano has preached a fundamental, detail-oriented style of football to all Rutgers players and fans. The “CHOP” mantra is written on the walls of the practice facility, is sold on t-shirts and is embedded in the campus fabric.
But where was the “chop” when the Knights blew a 17-point lead in the second half of the bowl game? Where was it when they lost by 35 points at home to a now 5-7 Wisconsin team? Or when they made UCLA’s Ethan Garbers look like UCLA's Troy Aikman.
Those types of moments set back a program for years, especially a developmental one like Rutgers.
All of it comes down to better coaching and a next-man-up mentality.
Next season, it’s imperative for the coaches to combine the skill at their disposal with the hard-nosed style of football that has brought Schiano and the program its success.
For more updates on the Rutgers football team, follow @TargumSports on X.
To view more of James Mertz's work, follow @JamesVMertz on X.
