The 2018 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team represented
Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
during the
2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 149th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...
. The Scarlet Knights played their home games at
HighPoint.com Stadium
SHI Stadium is the football stadium at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers Scarlet Knights football, Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's lacrosse, and women's lacrosse use the venue for home games. It is located on the Busch Campus a ...
in
Piscataway, New Jersey
Piscataway ( ) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of the New York metropolitan area, in the Raritan River, Raritan Valley. As of the 2020 United ...
and competed as members of the East Division of the
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
. They were led by third-year head coach
Chris Ash
Christopher Ash (born December 24, 1973) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He served as the head coach of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights from 2016 to 2019, and defensive coordinator of ...
.
Rutgers began the year with a 35–7 victory over
Texas State, but things quickly turned south for the team. After a blowout loss to
Ohio State
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...
in Rutgers' conference opener, the team traveled to play
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
, who had lost 39 of their previous 42 games against FBS opponents. Rutgers lost in a blowout, 55–14. The next week, the team was blown out 42–13 by
Buffalo
Buffalo most commonly refers to:
* True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo
* Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo
* Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...
of the
Mid-American Conference
The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...
. In the remainder of conference play, the Scarlet Knights were mostly outmatched, losing the rest of their games, despite holding fourth quarter leads in games against
Northwestern and
Michigan State
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...
. Rutgers' final record of 1–11 matched the previous school record for losses in a season with their 1–11
2002 team and 0–11
1997 team.
Freshman quarterback Artur Sitowski led the team in passing, finishing with 1,158 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions. Sophomore running back Raheem Blacksheer led the team in both rushing and receiving yards, and had 953 yards from scrimmage on the year. On defense, senior linebacker Trevor Morris finished in sixth in the conference with 105 total tackles. He concluded his career in ninth on the school's all-time leaderboard for total tackles.
Offseason
Recruits
The Scarlet Knights signed a total of 21 recruits.
Award watch lists
Listed in the order that they were released
Schedule
Roster and coaching staff
Game summaries
Texas State
At No. 4 Ohio State
At Kansas
Buffalo
Indiana
Illinois
At Maryland
Northwestern
At Wisconsin
No. 4 Michigan
No. 16 Penn State
At Michigan State
Players drafted into the NFL
References
{{Rutgers Scarlet Knights football navbox
Rutgers
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...
Rutgers Scarlet Knights football seasons
Rutgers Scarlet Knights football
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights football program represents Rutgers University in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA). Rutgers competes as a member of the Big Ten Conference. Prior to joining t ...