BC Football Countdown to Kickoff 2026: Rutgers Preview

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SYRACUSE, NY – NOVEMBER 29: Boston College Eagles Offensive Lineman Michael Crounse (77) lines up for a play during the College Football fame between the Boston College Eagles and the Syracuse Orange on November 29, 2025, at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syarcuse, NY. (Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Boston College’s home opener will be against Rutgers. The game will feature as Red Bandana Game and will actually be played on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and Welles Crowther’s passing. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

Last season’s starting quarterback Dylan Lonergan will also make his return with his new team. He started the 2025 season with such promise, but quickly faltered. He’s still in a bit of quarterback competition, but will hope his third stop will see more success.

Game Notes

Who: Boston College vs. Rutgers
Head Coaches: Bill O’Brien, Boston College; Greg Schiano, Rutgers
When: Friday, September 11 at 7:30pm
Where: Chestnut Hill, MA

Series History

The Eagle still lead their old Big East compatriots 20-7-1, with 10 wins at home and away. Rutgers did however snap an 11 game winless stretch with the most recent matchup 22-21 at Alumni Stadium to start the 2022 season.

Scarlet Knights 2025 Recap

Schiano’s team took a step back last season, missing out on a bowl game and going 5-7 overall and 2-7 in conference. They took care of business early, but endured some narrow losses to the likes of Iowa, Minnesota, and Penn State that put a damper on the season beyond the expected blowout losses to Oregon and Ohio State. Late-game execution and defensive breakdowns were a constant headache and not typical of a Greg Schiano team. On the positive, the offense was surprisingly explosive and the team finished fifth in the nation in fewest penalty yards. Although quarterback QB Athan Kaliakmanis was drafted in the 7th round, they still return a lot of their most productive offensive players and will try to replicate that output while cleaning up those defensive woes.

Can the offense do it again?

Junior running back Antwan Raymond and 6-6 junior wideout KJ Duff are looked at among the best in the Big Ten. Raymond was the focal point of the ground game, handling the majority of carries running over 5 yards a cli. He finished nearly 1500 yards from scrimmage and a team-leading 15 touchdowns, while being named Second Team All-Conference. Duff joined Raymond on the Second Team, eclipsing 1000 yards as well to go with seven scores. Both find themselves on Preseason All-America lists for the upcoming year. These two will be a real handful.

Overall offense was remarkably efficient, featuring a wide-open passing game, strong red-zone effectiveness from Raymond, and avoided turnovers. The door is open for Dylan Lonergan to take over and keep the ship afloat, but he does appear to still be in a bit of quarterback competition with redshirt sophomore AJ Surace who saw some action last season. The pieces around them are good. The team also returns a few key lineman particularly on the interior, but must replace the tackles. Pass protection left a lot to be desired, so if they can shore that up so Lonergan can keep his much-needed clean pocket, they can replicate some of their success.

Will the defense turn it around?

Schiano will look to restore his defensive reputation after a disappointing campaign in which they were ranked 127th overall. He started by firing nearly the entire defensive staff and brought in South Dakota’s Head Coach Travis Johansen to be his defensive coordinator.

Up front, the team returns most of their interior defensive line and adds a few productive transfers to bolster the rotation. The front saw a fair amount of injuries that made things even more difficult, but among their big issues was getting to the quarterback, posting just 11 sacks with no one even getting to three sacks. Transfers Malachi Davis (Toledo) and J’Dan Burnett (Tulsa) combined for 12 last season. On top of that, the run defense was dismal allowing over 210 yards per game, sixth worst in the FBS and 33 ypg worse than BC. In comes a new tackle and another back from injury, but it will take a lot to clean this up. Most of the key linebackers return and they add in a couple transfers here to make for a really deep corps.

In the secondary, they found three new potential starters in the transfer portal, including an FCS All-American. Last year’s team was porous and only posted 5 interceptions, and they still lost their best corner to Texas. There are still question marks here with all the new faces and a pretty open competition. Schiano’s helped develop some great players over the years, and it won’t take much to get back to their average output from the previous four seasons.

Matchup Preview

Both teams have questions at how their quarterbacks will play, but Rutgers seems to have a lot fewer question marks than BC. With their returning output on offense, they should have the edge early in the season. You have to think Schiano’s defense will make strides, but hopefully the unknown element Mason McKenzie brings to the offense can create more challenges.

The Rutgers loss in 2022 was a harbinger of doom for the Eagles that year. This time we’ll have our feet wet already and won’t have to think ahead with Maine the following week. Rutgers meanwhile starts with UMass but has a date with USC after this one. This being the Red Bandana Game will add an extra energy. The Eagles will pick up their first win of the season here.

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