Football Opens 2025 Season with 34-31 Win Over Ohio

Thursday, August 28

Piscataway, N.J.

6:00 PM

Rutgers University

1-0 , 0-0

Ohio

0-1 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Ohio

Rutgers

Photo by: Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics

Football Opens 2025 Season with 34-31 Win Over Ohio

Aug 28 | Football

Box Score Game Book Head Coach Greg Schiano Postgame Press Conference Postgame Quotes Statistics Photo Gallery

RUTGERS 34 (1-0), OHIO 31 (0-1)
SHI STADIUM • PISCATAWAY, N.J.
AUGUST 28, 2025 • ATTENDANCE: 46,907

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers football (1-0) opened its 2025 season with a 34-31 win over Ohio (0-1) on Thursday night at SHI Stadium.

QB Athan Kaliakmanis finished 18-of-23 for 252 yards and two touchdowns, finding WR KJ Duff and WR DT Sheffield for scoring receptions. RB Antwan Raymond rushed 14 times for 87 yards and a score, while RB CJ Campbell Jr. added 71 yards on the ground. WR Ian Strong posted 100 receiving yards on seven catches.

LB Moses Walker led the defense with a career-high 13 tackles, including two for loss. DB Kaj Sanders added seven tackles and blocked a punt, which was recovered by DB Cam Miller for a touchdown. PK Jai Patel went 2-for-2 on field goals to extend his streak to 15 consecutive makes, a new school record.

FIRST QUARTER

Rutgers' offense went right to work, producing a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive on its opening possession. On fourth-and-two from Ohio's 14-yard line, Raymond took a handoff and went the distance for the first touchdown of the season. The rushing score put the Scarlet Knights up 7-0 with 9:52 left in the first quarter. RU converted two fourth downs on the drive, while Raymond rushed three times for 27 yards.

Opening drive of the season ➡️ Antwan Raymond TD@RFootball strikes first 👊

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/sl8gU3t3QE
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) August 28, 2025

The Bobcats responded with a touchdown drive of their own to tie the score at seven.

SECOND QUARTER

After Patel drilled a 23-yard field goal to give Rutgers back the lead, Kaliakmanis followed with his first touchdown pass of the night, connecting with Sheffield for a 54-yard score. The pitch and catch extended the Scarlet Knights' lead to 17-7 with 13:52 left before halftime.

Kaliakmanis capped another scoring drive with a second touchdown pass, this time to Duff in the red zone for a 24-14 lead. RU's special teams followed with its first punt block of the season, as Sanders knifed through for the block, which was recovered by Miller in the end zone. The back-to-back touchdowns made it 31-14 three minutes before the midpoint.

Special teams with a special play 🤩@RFootball's Kaj Sanders with the block and Cam Miller with the scoop + score 👏

📺: BTN pic.twitter.com/5SA1JftOxa
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) August 28, 2025

Ohio added a late field goal, as Rutgers headed into the locker room with a 31-17 lead.

THIRD QUARTER

The Bobcats scored back-to-back touchdowns out of halftime, as a 13-yard touchdown reception from TE Jake Bruno from QB Parker Navarro tied the score at 31-31.

Rutgers marched into Bobcats' territory to end the quarter, highlighted by a 26-yard pass from Kaliakmanis to WR Ian Strong.

FOURTH QUARTER

Patel gave the Scarlet Knights back their lead with his second field goal, as his attempt from 26 yards put RU up 34-31 with 11:11 left.

The RU defense forced an Ohio punt, which gave the Scarlet Knights the ball back with 6:41 remaining. The offense went on to kill the rest of the clock to close out the win. After the two-minute timeout, the Rutgers offense faced a four-and-seven from the Bobcats' 28-yard line. The offense remained on the field and Kaliakmanis delivered the winning moment, finding Sheffield for a 10-yard gain and a first down, allowing RU to kneel out the victory.

NOTES

• Rutgers improved to 13-4 in season openers under head coach Greg Schiano (6-0 since 2020). It was the eighth straight season RU won its opener, improving to 83-64-9 all-time. This marked the third straight year not beginning on a Saturday.
• Rutgers improved to 104-40-11 all-time in home openers, winning 14 of the last 16, and 12-5 under Schiano.
• Rutgers improved to 13-0 in regular season non-conference games since Schiano returned. The Scarlet Knights are now 53-21 in non-conference games overall under Schiano.
• Rutgers is now 9-3 all-time in games played in August. The Aug. 28 date marked the earliest home game on the calendar in program history, matching 2014 versus Washington State in Seattle for the earliest game overall.
• Rutgers won its third straight over Ohio, moving to 3-1 in the series. The Scarlet Knights are now 14-5-1 against current MAC members.
• Dating back to last season, Rutgers has scored at least 30 points in five consecutive games, the first time achieving the feat since 2008.
• Rutgers scored 31 points in the first half, its most in an opening half since posting 38 against Wagner in 2022 and most in the first half against an FBS team since scoring 38 versus UMass in 2019.
• Rutgers went 5-for-5 on fourth down for the second time under Schiano, also done versus Wagner in 2023.
• Since 2020, RU is 18-2 when not committing a turnover in a game.
• Rutgers improved to 67-35 under Schiano when scoring first, 55-16 when scoring at least 30 points, 76-46 when recording at least 300 yards of total offense and 40-17 when scoring a defensive or special teams touchdown.
• DB Kaj Sanders blocked a punt recovered by DB Cam Miller for a touchdown. Rutgers now has scored 64 non-offensive touchdowns under Schiano, including 13 since 2020. It was the 74^th blocked kick under Schiano (44^th punt). RU leads the nation with 11 blocked punts since 2022.
• QB Athan Kaliakmanis went 18-for-23 passing for 252 yards and two touchdowns. It was his sixth time throwing multiple touchdown passes as a Scarlet Knight and 11^th overall. The passing yards total was the most by a Rutgers quarterback in the series against Ohio.
• RB Antwan Raymond posted his ninth career rushing touchdown.
• WR Ian Strong matched his career high with seven receptions and posted his third career game with at least 100 receiving yards. He surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards (1,006).
• WR KJ Duff recorded a career-high five receptions and brought in his second career touchdown.
• WR DT Sheffield scored a 54-yard receiving touchdown, his first as a Scarlet Knight and 12^th career.
• LB Moses Walker registered a career-high 13 tackles, including two for loss.
• Dating back to last season, PK Jai Patel has made 15 consecutive field goal attempts to set a school record. He was previously tied with Alex Falcinelli, who made 13 in a row in 1980. It was his ninth career game with multiple makes.
• Collegiate debut (3): TE Jackson Gister, LB Sam Robinson, OL John Stone
• Rutgers debut (13): DL Oliver Billotte, RB CJ Campbell Jr., DL Darold DeNgohe, DB Jett Elad, TE Jackson Gister, DB Jacobie Henderson, DB Chris Joines, DB Cam Miller, DL Eric O'Neill, LB Sam Robinson, OL John Stone, DL Bradley Weaver, TE Colin Weber
• First career start (2): DL Zaire Angoy, DL Jordan Walker
• Consecutive games played: DL Jordan Thompson (39), DB Cam Miller (38), DB Timmy Ward (35), TE Colin Weber (29), PK Jai Patel (27), OL Gus Zilinskas (27)

UP NEXT

Rutgers remains home to face Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 6 for the first matchup on the gridiron between the programs. It will be the R Community Game and a celebration of Eric LeGrand's "A Walk to Believe." The game, slated for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on Peacock, is presented by GGL Law Firm. LeGrand's walk is sponsored by Prudential and GGL Law Firm.

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