2018 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

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.

2018 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
DivisionEast Division
2018 record1–11 (0–9 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJohn McNulty (1st season)
Offensive schemePower spread
Defensive coordinatorJay Niemann (2nd season)
Base defenseMultiple
Home stadiumHighPoint.com Stadium
(Capacity: 52,454)
2018 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
No. 3 Ohio State xy$  8 –1     13 –1  
No. 14 Michigan x  8 –1     10 –3  
No. 17 Penn State  6 –3     9 –4  
Michigan State  5 –4     7 –6  
Maryland  3 –6     5 –7  
Indiana  2 –7     5 –7  
Rutgers  0 –9     1 –11  
West Division
No. 21 Northwestern xy  8 –1     9 –5  
Wisconsin  5 –4     8 –5  
No. 25 Iowa  5 –4     9 –4  
Purdue  5 –4     6 –7  
Minnesota  3 –6     7 –6  
Nebraska  3 –6     4 –8  
Illinois  2 –7     4 –8  
Championship: Ohio State 45, Northwestern 24
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

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]

Previous season

The Scarlet Knights finished the 2017 season 4–8, 3–6 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place in the East Division.

Offseason

Recruits

The Scarlet Knights signed a total of 21 recruits.

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award Player Position Year
John Mackey Award[7] Jerome Washington TE SR

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 112:00 p.m.Texas State*
BTNW 35–740,124
September 83:30 p.m.at No. 4 Ohio State
BTNL 3–5293,057
September 1512:00 p.m.at Kansas*
FSNL 14–5528,044
September 2212:00 p.m.Buffalo*
  • HighPoint.com Stadium
  • Piscataway, NJ
BTNL 13–4234,574
September 2912:00 p.m.Indiana
  • HighPoint.com Stadium
  • Piscataway, NJ
BTNL 17–2432,056
October 612:00 p.m.Illinois
  • HighPoint.com Stadium
  • Piscataway, NJ
BTNL 17–3836,702
October 1312:00 p.m.at Maryland
BTNL 7–3432,995
October 2012:00 p.m.Northwestern
  • HighPoint.com Stadium
  • Piscataway, NJ
BTNL 15–1832,514
November 312:00 p.m.at Wisconsin
BTNL 17–3174,379
November 103:30 p.m.No. 4 Michigan
  • HighPoint.com Stadium
  • Piscataway, NJ
BTNL 7–4243,786
November 1712:00 p.m.No. 16 Penn State
  • HighPoint.com Stadium
  • Piscataway, NJ
BTNL 7–2044,840
November 244:00 p.m.at Michigan State
FOXL 10–1464,951
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Roster and coaching staff
2018 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB 2 Raheem Blackshear  So
QB 3 Jalen Chatman Fr
RB 4 Trey Sneed  So
WR 5 Paul Woods Fr
WR 6 Mohamed Jabbie  So
WR 7 Hunter Hayek So
QB 8 Artur Sitkowski Fr
RB 10 Isaih Pacheco Fr
QB 11 Johnathan Lewis So
WR 12 Jalen Jordan Fr
WR 13 Prince Taylor  So
QB 14 Rob Nittolo  Sr
WR 14 Everett Wormley So
WR 15 Shameen Jones  Fr
QB 17 Giovanni Rescigno (C)  Sr
WR 18 Bo Melton So
QB 19 Austin Albericci Fr
WR 21 Eddie Lewis Fr
RB 23 Jonathan Hilliman  Sr
RB 24 Charles Snorweah  Jr
RB 28 Aslan Pugh  So
WR 34 Javis Hanks Fr
WR 36 Ryan Downer  Fr
FB 41 Brandon Myers Fr
RB 44 Max Anthony  Jr
OL 50 Owen Bowles  Fr
OL 51 Jamaal Beaty  Fr
OL 54 Kamaal Seymour  Jr
OL 55 Michael Maietti  So
OL 56 Micah Clark So
OL 57 Zach Miseo  Fr
OL 58 Charles Zarzecki  Fr
OL 61 Mike Lonsdorf  So
OL 63 Jim Onulak  So
OL 65 Tariq Cole (C)  Sr
OL 66 Nick Krimin  So
OL 70 Reggie Sutton Fr
OL 71 Raiqwon O'Neal Fr
OL 73 Jonah Jackson (C)  Jr
OL 74 Sam Howson  So
OL 75 Zach Venesky  Jr
OL 76 Matt Rosso Fr
OL 77 Sam Vretman So
OL 78 Liam Flite Fr
OL 79 Zack Heeman  Sr
WR 81 Tyler Hayek  Fr
WR 82 Zihir Lacewell Fr
WR 84 Cole Murphy  Jr
TE 85 Daevon Robinson Fr
TE 86 Nakia Griffin-Stewart  Jr
TE 87 Jonathan Pimentel Fr
TE 88 Jerome Washington Sr
TE 89 Travis Vokolek So
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DB 1 Blessuan Austin Sr
LB 3 Olakunle Fatukasi So
DB 4 Trey Avery  So
LB 5 Trevor Morris Sr
LB 6 Deonte Roberts (C) Sr
DL 7 Elorm Lumor  So
LB 8 Tyshon Fogg So
DB 9 Saquan Hampton (C)  Sr
DB 11 Isaiah Wharton (C)  Sr
DB 12 Christian Izien Fr
LB 13 Deion Jennings Fr
DB 16 Jelani Ray Garvin Jr
DB 17 Zamir Mickens Fr
LB 20 Elijah Barnwell  Fr
DB 20 Avery Young Fr
DB 21 Tim Barrow  Fr
DB 22 Damon Hayes Jr
DB 23 Kiy Hester  Sr
DB 25 Jarrett Paul Fr
DB 29 Lawrence Stevens  So
DB 30 Kessawn Abraham Fr
LB 31 Johnny Yorey Fr
DB 32 Rani Abdulaziz  Fr
DB 33 Parker Day  Fr
DB 35 Anthony Marshall Fr
LB 42 Izaia Bullock  Jr
LB 43 Chike Nwankwo Fr
LB 44 Tyreek Maddox-Williams  So
DL 45 Muhammad Wainwright  Sr
LB 49 Nihym Anderson Fr
DL 50 Julius Turner  So
LB 55 Austin Rosa  Jr
LB 56 Rashawn Battle  So
DL 57 Joahne Duggan  Fr
DL 72 Manny Taylor  Jr
DL 85 Matt Thomas Fr
DL 88 Brendan Bordner  Fr
DL 90 Freddie Recio So
DL 91 Tijaun Mason  Fr
DL 93 Jason Griggs  So
DL 94 Jamree Kromah Fr
DL 95 Jon Bateky Sr
DL 96 Willington Previlon  Jr
DL 97 Mike Tverdov  Fr
DL 98 Robin Jutwreten Fr
DL 99 Kevin Wilkins  Sr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
LS 46 Brendan Shank Fr
LS 47 Billy Taylor So
LS 48 Ryan Cassidy  Fr
P 92 Nick Johnston Sr
P 94 Adam Korsak So
K 95 Justin Davidovicz So
P 96 Zach Sterr Fr
K 99 Gavin Haggerty  Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • John McNulty (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks)
  • Jay Niemann (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers)
  • Vince Okruch (Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends)
  • Noah Joseph (Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties)
  • A. J. Blazek (Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line)
  • Corey Brown (Defensive Line)
  • Nunzio Campanile (Running Backs)
  • Lester Erb (Wide Receivers)
  • Toby Neinas (Specialists/Outside Linebackers)
  • Cory Robinson (Cornerbacks)
  • Kenny Parker (Head Strength and Conditioning)
  • Anthony Van Curen (Defensive Assistant)
  • Charles Watkins (Offensive Assistant)
  • John Weiss (Offensive Assistant)
  • Marquise Watson (Defensive Assistant)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster
Last update: September 8, 2018

Game summaries

Texas State
1 2 3 4 Total
Bobcats 0 0 7 0 7
Scarlet Knights 7 14 7 7 35
See also: 2018 Texas State Bobcats football team

at No. 4 Ohio State
1 2 3 4 Total
Scarlet Knights 0 0 3 0 3
No. 4 Buckeyes 14 21 10 7 52
See also: 2018 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

at Kansas
1 2 3 4 Total
Scarlet Knights 7 7 0 0 14
Jayhawks 17 14 10 14 55
See also: 2018 Kansas Jayhawks football team

Buffalo
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulls 14 21 0 7 42
Scarlet Knights 3 3 0 7 13
See also: 2018 Buffalo Bulls football team

Indiana
1 2 3 4 Total
Hoosiers 7 17 0 0 24
Scarlet Knights 7 0 0 10 17
See also: 2018 Indiana Hoosiers football team

Illinois
1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 10 14 0 14 38
Scarlet Knights 7 7 0 3 17
See also: 2018 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

at Maryland
1 2 3 4 Total
Scarlet Knights 0 0 0 7 7
Terrapins 10 14 10 0 34
See also: 2018 Maryland Terrapins football team

Northwestern
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 7 0 3 8 18
Scarlet Knights 0 12 3 0 15
See also: 2018 Northwestern Wildcats football team

at Wisconsin
1 2 3 4 Total
Scarlet Knights 0 0 3 14 17
Badgers 7 3 14 7 31
See also: 2018 Wisconsin Badgers football team

No. 4 Michigan
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 4 Wolverines 7 14 14 7 42
Scarlet Knights 7 0 0 0 7
See also: 2018 Michigan Wolverines football team

No. 16 Penn State
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 16 Nittany Lions 3 10 0 7 20
Scarlet Knights 0 0 0 7 7
See also: 2018 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

at Michigan State
1 2 3 4 Total
Scarlet Knights 7 0 0 3 10
Spartans 0 7 0 7 14
See also: 2018 Michigan State Spartans football team

Players drafted into the NFL
See also: 2019 NFL Draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionNFL Club
6177Saquan HamptonSNew Orleans Saints
6196Blessuan AustinCBNew York Jets

References
  1. 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.
  2. "Bowser's second TD run rallies Northwestern past Rutgers". ESPN.com. Associated Press. October 20, 2018.
  3. "Michigan State scores late TD, beats Rutgers 14-10". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 24, 2018.
  4. "Rutgers Scarlet Knights Football Record By Year". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  5. "2018 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Stats". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  6. 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.
  7. "2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released" (PDF). July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
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