Opponent Watch: How Rutgers kept it close against USC

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Rutgers football opened up its 2026 season with a widely-panned 37-21 home loss to UMass. But, as we should know by know, teams and seasons are far more than their worst game even if said game is the first one.

The Scarlet Knights haven’t looked great since, sitting at 1-3 on the season, but they were competitive on the road against Boston College before dragging USC into a four quarter game the following week. They blew out the same Howard team Indiana did, 58-7, this past Saturday.

But that game against the Trojans sticks out. A Big Ten home opener against a ranked opponent looking like that intrigues me more than the loss to UMass, USC’s actual on-field performance up to now notwithstanding.

So, how’d they do it? We took a peek:

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Box Score Watching: Stubborn success on the ground and explosive passing

A few things stick out from the Rutgers box score. For one, the Scarlet Knights managed to keep this close in spite of quarterback Dylan Lonergan throwing a pair of interceptions, including one on the first drive of the game.

Aside from that, Rutgers put a lot on the shoulders of running back Antwan Raymond, who finished with 122 rushing yards on 21 carries, good for an average of 5.8 on the ground. He even had a 49-yard burst that largely contributed to that total.

The Scarlet Knights also played the “KJ Duff and friends” game at wide receiver, with Duff hauling in a team-leading seven receptions, which is five more than any other Scarlet Knights receiver managed on the day. He turned those seven catches into 86 yards and a touchdown.

What’s interesting about the rest of Rutgers’ receiving game is that

• Third leading receiver Ben Black III turned his two receptions into 43 yards
• Jesse Ofurie (a defensive back) turned his one reception on a fake punt into 40 yards
• Raymond hauled in three passes for 39 yards

So, there’s the box score, what about the game itself?

Game Watch:

Well, that first interception from Lonergan was about as bad as I’d expected. Operating under as little pressure as a quarterback can ask for, he tried to get the ball to Duff on an intermediate crossing route and, one way or another, tossed it right to a lurking safety. Duff couldn’t catch the ball but had time to turn his head and watch it go right into Christian Pierce’s hands on an athletic catch.

Worse, he had another receiver with a step deeper down the field that would’ve set Rutgers up deep in USC territory if he could make the throw happen. Brutal.

USC was able to get into the endzone through the run on the next possession thanks to some solid blocking and missed tackles from the Rutgers defense.

Lonergan was under pressure almost immediately on the ensuing drive in what would’ve been a huge sack for the USC defense if one of the rushers hadn’t pulled him down by his facemask to give the Scarlet Knights a free first down.

Duff looked like every bit of the monster you’d think he is on his first touchdown reception, overwhelming 5’10” corner Jontez Williams with his size and just getting a toe down to finish out the catch. That’s just not something you can cover.

USC’s second touchdown came courtesy of some really poor play in the secondary gambling on a jump ball and leaving nobody between Corey Simms and the endzone to go up 17-7. The four-man rush also struggled to pressure Jayden Maiava.

Rutgers got really really bold and, deep in their own territory, went for a fake punt that gave Ofurie the previously mentioned 40-yard catch. The Scarlet Knights were spirited after this and dialed up a screen pass for Raymond that he used to get into USC territory before Lonergan found Duff again to set up another red zone possession.

Lonergan actually looked really good in the face of pressure after this, finding Elias Coke with some open grass to work with right in front of the end zone to make it a 17-14 ballgame.

The Scarlet Knights were in really good position to take the lead early in the second half with some strong passing from Lonergan… until he tried to make something out of nothing in the redzone and threw the ball right into triple coverage for his second, awful, pick.

This is something right out of a nightmare.

Raymond’s huge 49-yard burst followed shortly after and came courtesy of really strong blocking from Rutgers. He didn’t quite have the speed to take it all the way, but some really poor tackling from USC’s second level let the Scarlet Knights score on a Clay Thevenin run to make it a 27-21 game right after.

Rutgers answered a USC touchdown with one of their own not long after, with Lonergan finding Vernon Allen III on one of those intermediate routes before he found some space and managed to take it to the endzone.

USC took its lead and put Rutgers away on the ground from there, ending a deeply strange game.

Final Thoughts

A lot of teams would look listless after that loss against UMass. I don’t think that’s entirely the case for Rutgers.

I don’t know if it’s a “nothing left to lose” mentality or anything, but the Scarlet Knights seemed to have some real gumption to upset USC at home. If that’s what they’re bringing for a Trojans program clinging to national relevance, what will they have in store for the defending national champions?

Rutgers is still, of course, very flawed. USC was able to get just about whatever it wanted all day with the run on the edges while Maiava had ample time to throw. Lonergan had moments where he looks downright excellent, making plays on the run or making the right reads, but he also had downright head scratchers on those interceptions and threw some less-than-ideal passes that receivers had to do way too much work to catch up high.

The Scarlet Knights managed a few explosive plays against a Trojans defense that’s consistently shown issues during Lincoln Riley’s time in Los Angeles. Bryant Haines’ unit will have to be ready for those.

I think the Scarlet Knights give the Hoosiers more trouble that you’d have expected after that Week 1 game, but Indiana should have enough openings to exploit to leave New Jersey with a comfortable win.

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