Rutgers' Stunning Loss to UMass Could Put Greg Schiano's Job in Jeopardy

The Big Ten boasts the reigning national champion in sixth-ranked Indiana, plus No. 1 Ohio State and six other schools in the Top 25.

After Thursday, it’s also home to the biggest flop of the early college football season.

Rutgers’ 37-21 home loss to UMass, a 28.5-point underdog, might end up costing Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano his job.

Ask Schiano why it happened and he rightly and responsibly falls on the sword Rutgers clearly couldn’t get unsheathed at SHI Stadium.

“We got out-licked, outplayed and out-coached,” he said. “There is no other way to say it. I didn’t have them ready.”

A colossal upset seemingly seemed evident to everyone in the stands who wasn’t mad for quarterback Pop Watson III and the Minutemen by halftime. Watson III passed for three first-half touchdowns to help UMass to a 24-7 lead.

The advantage grew to 23 points midway through the fourth quarter, putting UMass well on its way to stopping a 16-game losing streak, longest in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Rutgers reportedly paid UMass $1.55 million to endure a drubbing. Instead, the Scarlet Knights learned that money can’t buy you shove.

Optimistic about a defense ready to retool from 2025, when the unit allowed 432.8 yards per game and 30 or more points eight times, Rutgers saw the same sad story unfold.

Senior defensive lineman Keshon Griffin registered a half-tackle for loss, but the program's only returning defensive starter and the rest of the D generated little excitement. Watson III, a Virginia Tech transfer, had just three incompletions on 22 pass attempts while averaging 6.7 yards on six carries.

UMass rushed for 200 yards on 41 carries, an average of 4.9 yards per attempt.

Rutgers’ own transfer quarterback, Dylan Lonergan, didn’t quite inspire portal remorse among Boston College backers. He passed for 242 yards and connected with breakout wide receiver KJ Duff for two of Duff’s three TDs but also was intercepted four times and lost a fumble.

Again, Schiano collared the blame. As he should.

“I’m in charge of all the coaches. I’m in charge of all the players,” he said. “So when you come out and lay an egg like we did opening night. I thought we had a great training camp. Never saw it coming.

“I’ve been doing this a long time. Never saw it coming. I didn’t expect that at all.”

A dismissal before season's end shouldn't be as stunning.

Indeed, this marks Schiano’s 18th season at Rutgers, and seventh in his second stint at the school. He is the all-time program wins leader but also no stranger to damning defeats.

That goes with the territory of building a program to the extent that vaulted Schiano to coach the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two seasons in the early 2010s.

These days, his connections to the pro game are dwindling. Many project Duff as a possible first-round NFL Draft pick. Thursday’s clunker aside, he snagged a career-best nine receptions and hauled in a career-long 78-yarder among his three scores on a196-yard receiving night.

How much longer Schiano gets to scheme for Duff and the rest of the locker room remains to be seen. Rutgers is set to visit BC in the Lonergan Bowl on Sept. 11 before embarking on a three-game homestand bookended by games against ranked conference foes USC and Indiana.

Vaunted Howard of the MEAC lies in between, and don’t necessary read that “vaunted” as snark.

The Bison won their season opener, after all.