Rutgers stomped by No. 8 Oregon on Homecoming, loses fourth straight
Rutgers Football’s season is officially in a tailspin.
The Scarlet Knights were dominated on both sides of the ball by No. 8 Oregon, falling 56-10. The Ducks put up a crooked number in the opening half, heading into the locker room ahead 42-3. Against an athletic and stout defense, Rutgers had its worst offensive performance of the year, snapping a streak of 12 straight games scoring double-figures, and the second straight game with under 20 points.
The defense once again failed to contain a high-flying offense, allowing 750 total yards – 12.5 per play – and allowed touchdowns of 68, 30, 21, 34, 28, 20, and 35 yards, among other short scores. Rutgers, on the other hand, managed just 202 yards of offense, a difference of 548 yards.
Oregon quarterback Dante Moore had yet another standout game against the maligned defense, with a surgical mark of 15-for-20 passing with 290 yards – 279 of them in the first half – and four touchdowns through the air. He also added 49 yards rushing. On the opposing side, Scarlet Knights quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis completed just eight of his 25 pass attempts for 79 yards and two interceptions.
He and much of the first-team offense were taken out of the game, as AJ Surace got his second game action in the fourth quarter. He misfired on both of his passing attempts. Running back Ja’shon Benjamin scored the Scarlet Knights’ lone touchdown from eight yards out, after a muffed punt gave Rutgers the ball at the opposing 30-yard line.
Even with a sold-out Homecoming crowd, Head Coach Greg Schiano’s unit came out completely flat and was thoroughly outclassed in every aspect of the game. The Ducks recorded 446 yards of offense in the first half, compared to just 117 for the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers has now lost four straight games and falls to 0-4 in Big Ten play.
Turnover battle
While the game quickly took a turn for the worse, Rutgers came out with a splash play to open up the game. After two short Oregon gains, offensive coordinator Will Stein called up a bubble screen on third down. Gary Bryant Jr. hauled in the pass, but safety Jett Elad delivered a big hit and sent the ball flying high in the air, caught by defensive end Jordan Walker.
The Scarlet Knights’ offense could not do much with the prime field position, starting at Oregon’s 33-yard line, they still got points, as Jai Patel appeared to look like his old self with a career-long 51-yard field goal to put the first points on the board.
From there, the Ducks dominated.
The defense forced three Rutgers turnovers – two interceptions and a forced fumble of Antwan Raymond – and stifled any kind of offensive momentum. All three turnovers came at midfield or better.
Dante Moore threw an interception of his own in the red zone late in the third quarter, but by then the damage had been done. While the defense’s inability to contain big plays was the catalyst for Oregon’s lead, Rutgers’ lack of execution to grind drives to a halt truly ended any chance of an upset.
Explosive efficiency
As mentioned previously, Oregon’s offense could not be stopped. Stein called up a variety of looks, whether under center or shotgun, or heavy or lighter personnel.
His playcalling also brought out multiple looks for star tight end Kenyon Sadiq. He scored a 30-yard touchdown on an impressive bullet of a throw by Moore for Oregon’s first touchdown, and later scored from 21 yards out on a reverse into a flea-flicker, one play after Stein called up an exotic look on a pop pass with multiple offensive linemen out wide.
The Ducks’ third-year playcaller kept the Scarlet Knights’ defense off-balance for the entire game, and the skill-position players executed the scheme and playcalling to perfection.
Four different Oregon runners ran for 49 yards or more, leading to 415 total yards on the ground. Running back Jordon Davison reached the 100-yard threshold in just three carries, picking up most of them on back-to-back plays, with a 67-yard run and a 20-yard touchdown scamper on the Ducks’ opening offensive drive of the third quarter.
One game after Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. made some FBS history with over 500 yards of total offense – over 400 passing and 100 rushing, just the 16th quarterback to do so – Moore looked just as comfortable against Robb Smith’s defensive unit, with several explosive plays.
The much-maligned unit struggled once again.
How does this happen?
To put it shortly, Rutgers was not expected to win this game. It was not even expected to keep the game all that close. What also was not expected, however, was the result on the field.
Schiano was asked Monday in his game week presser, “Where is there?”, alluding to his common phrase of “We’ll get there” following three straight Big Ten losses.
“Where is there? There is playing at championship level,” he answered. “And we’re not playing at a championship. Are we playing at a competitive level? Absolutely. But we’re not playing at a championship level, because at a championship level, you find out how to win those games. We’ve had three games that I thought we had every opportunity in the world to win, and we didn’t, right? But we’re in those games. They’re competitive games. We’ve won some of them in the last two years. We’ve lost some of them. This year, we haven’t won any of them yet.”
Losing 56-10 to any opponent – even an Oregon team who, at its peak, plays like a national championship favorite – is not getting anywhere closer to “there.” The final score was not the most alarming part of the loss, it was how both teams arrived at that score.
Against another mobile quarterback – the fifth in seven games – Rutgers looked wholly unprepared for the Ducks’ downfield attack, and was unable to adjust to any kind of offense Stein put together. It looks like the struggles are starting to wear on the unit as well – multiple defensive backs appeared to be arguing on the field before a big run by Moore – and the unit gave up explosive play after explosive play.
The execution on both ends of the field has suffered, with three turnovers on the offensive end, as well. Defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi’s unit stifled the run and the pass game, and continued a troubling trend of poor execution on offense.
Going on the road next week, it is getting late early for Rutgers to turn around its season.
Injury report
Another injury to note, star wideout Ian Strong appeared to get rolled up on while run blocking in the second quarter. He came back a play later and finished out the first half, but did not play in the second half. It could have been due to the margin on the scoreboard, but that information will not be known until after the game.
Up next?
Next week the Scarlet Knights hit the road, traveling to West Lafayette to take on Purdue at Ross-Ade Stadium.
The game will kick off at noon Eastern, and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
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