Rutgers Football Is a Long Way From Contending In Big Ten East

By Jason Shawley
Rutgers Football Is a Long Way From Contending In Big Ten East
Jim O’Connor-USA TODAY Sports

Rutgers was one of two newcomers to the Big Ten in 2014 and it’ll be a while until we see the Scarlet Knights contend in one of the more ‘stacked’ divisions in all of college football.

The Scarlet Knights had a very uneven season in 2014, finishing with an 8-5 record and a win against North Carolina in the Quick Lane Bowl. Despite a strong finish to the campaign, Rutgers couldn’t compete against the conference’s elite teams. The Scarlet Knights finished their conference slate with a -112 point differential, including four lopsided losses against ranked opponents.

Three of Rutgers’ four non-conference wins in 2014 were against teams with a losing record (Washington State, Howard and Tulane). The Scarlet Knights’ schedule in 2015 has been ranked as the third weakest in college football. It probably feels good to beat up on a few bad teams, but it won’t prepare a team for a Power 5 conference.

2015 Prediction: 5-7 (1-7 Big Ten). Rutgers still hasn’t named a starting quarterback for the upcoming season and the conference schedule will be a little more difficult this season. Rutgers nearly picked up a win against Penn State last year, but don’t expect the Nittany Lions to have another 7-6 season. Michigan will surely be more difficult with Jim Harbaugh in command. Wide receiver Leonte Carroo and defensive end Darius Hamilton will be two solid playmakers, but aside from them, Rutgers won’t have many returning starters from 2014. I expect the Scarlet Knights to sweep their non-conference opponents, but I don’t see them winning more than two games in conference.

They might have a better chance to win if they would be playing in Big Ten West division, but the reality is that they’ll have to play Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State every year. That’s a very tough situation for any program to be placed in and Rutgers will likely struggle in the conference for the foreseeable future.

Jason Shawley is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering Big Ten Football. Follow him on Twitter @jshawls.

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