Rutgers is set to play two of the newest Big Ten members on Friday night this season under what the Rutgers social media team is calling “Friday Knight Lights”.
The news was first broken by the Big Ten and Fox Sports on Wednesday when both of them announced their slate of Friday night games. Rutgers got its number called twice, the first game being against Washington at home in Rutgers’ Big Ten opener on September 27th at 8 p.m. and the second contest being against USC in southern California at 11 p.m. The late kickoff for the Rutgers-USC game is an attempt to avoid a timing conflict with Game 1 of the World Series.
The game against Washington has been announced as Rutgers blackout game, a game where the team wears all black and fans are encouraged to do the same. It is also the third time that the two schools are facing off and the second consecutive time that the game will be hosted in Piscataway. Washington currently stands undefeated in the all time record at 2-0 having won their last match against the Knights 30-14, a match that oddly enough took place on a Friday in 2017.
Friday Night Firsts?
Rutgers has never played against USC. This will be the first time that the two schools will be meeting head to head on the gridiron in their entire histories.
Rutger’s matchup against the Huskies will be Rutgers’ first time on Fox in a while as its last matchup to be presented by Fox was against Michigan State in 2018. It is also the first time in a while that Rutgers will be hosting Fox as the Michigan State game was played at Michigan State.
This will also be Rutgers’ first time having two primetime games in one season since 2022 and its first time hosting one since the same year.
Rutgers will be looking to secure their first Power 4 primetime win in a long time. The two primetime opponents they faced off against in 2022 were both Big Ten foes, Nebraska and Iowa, who handed Rutgers two demoralizing losses on a national stage. Their last prime-time win against a Power 4 team came in 2014 against Michigan.
Friday Matchup Previews
Neither of these games is a near-impossible task for the Knights. Yes, Washington did make it to the College Football Playoff National Championship last year. Yes, the Trojans did have an offense that could consistently put up 35 points a game last year. The keywords in both of these sentences are last year. Both of these teams have seen tremendous turnover in the off-season.
USC lost its all-star quarterback, Caleb Williams, to the draft. He played the most crucial role in making their offense sting. They also lost two of their best running backs and receivers to the NFL. Also, important to note is that USC was only one game above Rutgers in terms of record last season.
Washington was more of the same. Despite going to the national championship game, they lost their head coach to Alabama. They also lost their star quarterback and star wide receiver to the draft. Major elements of what made these teams great have gone away in the offseason.
Rutgers, on the other hand, finally began to show competitive improvement last season. Their biggest loss in the draft was corner Max Melton however, in 2023, cornerback Flip Dixon had proved that he can be the number one corner if need be. In addition, Rutgers has made some improvements to its last year’s squad through the Transfer portal, most notably at the wide receiver and quarterback positions. They also are returning the Big Ten leading rusher, Kyle Monangai.
Keeping this in mind Rutgers will most likely split their Friday night matches with a 1-1 record, bringing to an end Rutgers’ winless streak under the lights against Power 4 opponents.