Despite struggling in the first half, Rutgers served up a strong victory over Howard by a score of 44-7 in the Knights home season opener. The Knights were led by their extremely potent running game which racked up 327 yards with five different rushers.
All three running backs who made an appearance scored, Kyle Monangai and Antwan Raymond on the ground and Samuel Brown V through the air. Monanagi, the star running back for the Scarlet Knights and the Big Ten leading rusher last season, tied his personal record for rushing yards in a single game with 165 yards. The Knights also racked up 29 first downs and held the ball around seven minutes longer than their opponent.
Rutgers Tops Howard, Starts off 1-0
The running game was strong. The passing game, which has been a concern for a while now, did not impress. Athan Kaliakmanis, in his first start for Rutgers since transferring over from Minnesota at the end of the 2023 season, went 15/24 for 147 yards and three touchdowns averaging around 6.1 yards per completion.
The poor passing game is one of the major reasons why Rutgers had a slow start in this game. However, when the offense as a whole picked it up in the second half, so did the passing attack. At the end of the game, Kaliakmanis and crew seemed to get into a little bit of a groove with trow out of the last three touchdowns coming through the air. The passing game still needs to improve before the Knights start big ten play but since many of the wide receivers and the quarterback have never played in a game together before getting some consistency at the end is a promising sign for the Knights.
The Rutgers Defensive Performance
The defense for the Scarlet Knights held up their end of the fort pretty well despite not having players like Flip Dixon, Wesley Bailey, and Tyreem Powell. The Knights defense actually started the days scoring when Eric Rogers intercepted a pass and ran it back to the house in the beginning of the game to give the Knights the lead.
However, there is one area on defense that the Knights struggled a little bit in. That would be containing the Bison running game. Howard was able to run for 145 yards on the day with a little less than half of those yards coming from their quarterback. Rutgers needs to do a better job at stopping mobile quarterbacks as they have to play a few more later down the line.
Scoring Summary
1Q
Rutgers defensive back Eric Rogers makes a house call with a 52-yard pick six, 7-0 RU.
2Q
Rutgers Dymere Miller Huals in a two-yard touchdown pass from Kaliakmanis, 14-0 RU.
Howard Running back Eden James scores on a two-yard handoff, 14-7 RU.
Rutgers kicker Jai Patel drills a 36-yard field goal, 17-7 RU. Patel would go perfect on the day making 1/1 Field Goals and 5/5 PATS
3Q
Kyle Monangai scores a touchdown on a seven-yard run. 24-7 RU.
Samual Brown V catches a ball from Kaliakmanis and goes 34 yards for a touchdown. 31-7.
4Q
Kenny Fletcher scores a touchdown on a three-yard pass from Athan Kaliakmanis. 38-7.
Antwan Raymond scores his first career college touchdown on an 11-yard run to end the game. 44-7. (No PAT attempted)
