American college football season
The 2018 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team represented Rutgers University during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The Scarlet Knights played their home games at HighPoint.com Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey and competed as members of the East Division of the Big Ten Conference . They were led by third-year head coach Chris Ash .
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 in Rutgers' conference opener, the team traveled to play Kansas , who had lost 39 of their previous 42 games against FBS opponents.[ 1] Rutgers lost in a blowout, 55–14. The next week, the team was blown out 42–13 by Buffalo of the Mid-American Conference . 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 .[ 2] [ 3] 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 .[ 4]
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.[ 5] 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.[ 6]
The Scarlet Knights signed a total of 21 recruits.
US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date Jarrett Paul CB Paramus, New Jersey Paramus Catholic High School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 197 lb (89 kg) Apr 22, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Jalen Chatman QB Harbor City, California Narbonne High School 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) May 15, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Zihir Lacewell WR Staten Island, New York Tottenville High School 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jun 13, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Isiah Pacheco RB Vineland, New Jersey Vineland High School 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jun 21, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Kessawn Abraham CB Brooklyn, New York Erasmus Hall High School 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jun 22, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Matt Rosso OT Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania Pennsbury High School 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 260 lb (120 kg) Jun 24, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Deion Jennings CB Erial, New Jersey Timber Creek Regional High School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jun 26, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Reginald Sutton OG Baltimore, Maryland Calvert Hall College High School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 278 lb (126 kg) Jun 27, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Avery Young CB Coatesville, Pennsylvania Coatesville Area High School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jun 30, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Paul Woods WR Buffalo, New York Canisius High School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jul 11, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Adam Korsak P Maribyrnong, Victoria Prokick Australia 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jul 12, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Raiqwon O'Neal OT Conway, South Carolina Conway High School 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 270 lb (120 kg) Aug 16, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Matthew Thomas DE Brooklyn, New York Midwood High School 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 237 lb (108 kg) Aug 25, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Christian Izien DB Brooklyn, New York Erasmus Hall High School 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Oct 13, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Artur Sitkowski QB Old Bridge, New Jersey IMG Academy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Nov 1, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Jalen Jordan WR Philadelphia, Pennsylvania IMG Academy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Dec 13, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Daevon Robinson WR Medford, New Jersey Shawnee High School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Dec 18, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Jamree Kromah DE Springdale, Maryland Charles Herbert Flowers High School 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 246 lb (112 kg) Dec 20, 2017 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Malik Dixon S Thatcher, Arizona Eastern Arizona College 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jan 5, 2018 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Robin Jutwreten DE Stockholm, Sweden N/A 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jan 21, 2018 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Eddie Lewis WR New Monmouth, New Jersey Mater Dei High School 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 179 lb (81 kg) Feb 1, 2018 Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : Overall recruiting rankings: Note : In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:
Listed in the order that they were released
Date Time Opponent Site TV Result Attendance September 1 12:00 p.m. Texas State * BTN W 35–740,124 September 8 3:30 p.m. at No. 4 Ohio State BTN L 3–5293,057 September 15 12:00 p.m. at Kansas * FSN L 14–5528,044 September 22 12:00 p.m. Buffalo * HighPoint.com Stadium Piscataway, NJ BTN L 13–4234,574 September 29 12:00 p.m. Indiana HighPoint.com Stadium Piscataway, NJ BTN L 17–2432,056 October 6 12:00 p.m. Illinois HighPoint.com Stadium Piscataway, NJ BTN L 17–3836,702 October 13 12:00 p.m. at Maryland BTN L 7–3432,995 October 20 12:00 p.m. Northwestern HighPoint.com Stadium Piscataway, NJ BTN L 15–1832,514 November 3 12:00 p.m. at Wisconsin BTN L 17–3174,379 November 10 3:30 p.m. No. 4 Michigan HighPoint.com Stadium Piscataway, NJ BTN L 7–4243,786 November 17 12:00 p.m. No. 16 Penn State HighPoint.com Stadium Piscataway, NJ BTN L 7–2044,840 November 24 4:00 p.m. at Michigan State FOX L 10–1464,951 *Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time
Roster and coaching staff [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total Bobcats 0 0 7 0 7 Scarlet Knights 7 14 7 7 35
At No. 4 Ohio State [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total Scarlet Knights 0 0 3 0 3 No. 4 Buckeyes 14 21 10 7 52
1 2 3 4 Total Scarlet Knights 7 7 0 0 14 Jayhawks 17 14 10 14 55
1 2 3 4 Total Bulls 14 21 0 7 42 Scarlet Knights 3 3 0 7 13
1 2 3 4 Total Hoosiers 7 17 0 0 24 Scarlet Knights 7 0 0 10 17
1 2 3 4 Total Fighting Illini 10 14 0 14 38 Scarlet Knights 7 7 0 3 17
1 2 3 4 Total Scarlet Knights 0 0 0 7 7 Terrapins 10 14 10 0 34
1 2 3 4 Total Wildcats 7 0 3 8 18 Scarlet Knights 0 12 3 0 15
1 2 3 4 Total Scarlet Knights 0 0 3 14 17 Badgers 7 3 14 7 31
1 2 3 4 Total No. 4 Wolverines 7 14 14 7 42 Scarlet Knights 7 0 0 0 7
1 2 3 4 Total No. 16 Nittany Lions 3 10 0 7 20 Scarlet Knights 0 0 0 7 7
1 2 3 4 Total Scarlet Knights 7 0 0 3 10 Spartans 0 7 0 7 14
Players drafted into the NFL [ edit ] ^ Fonseca, Brian (June 5, 2018). "Rutgers Football 2018 Preview: Kansas at a glance" . 247Sports.com . Note: the source lists 39 of 41 as of the beginning of the 2018 season, and Kansas defeated FBS team Central Michigan the week prior. ^ "Bowser's second TD run rallies Northwestern past Rutgers" . ESPN.com . Associated Press. October 20, 2018. ^ "Michigan State scores late TD, beats Rutgers 14-10" . ESPN.com . Associated Press. November 24, 2018. ^ "Rutgers Scarlet Knights Football Record By Year" . Sports-Reference.com . Retrieved May 20, 2019 . ^ "2018 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Stats" . Sports-Reference.com . Retrieved May 20, 2019 . ^ Kratch, James (March 12, 2019). "Trevor Morris flying under NFL Draft radar after standout Rutgers career: 'It's better to be the underdog' " . NJ.com . ^ "2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released" (PDF) . July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018 .
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