Rutgers Football: Rate Bowl Game Preview

by Nathan Thompson December 23, 2024

Greg Schiano has finally brought his Rutgers Football team to the point where they will likely be going to a bowl game after every season as long as he is the head coach, and this year is no different. This year’s bowl game is the Rate Bowl, which is at Chase Field, the home of MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks, in Phoenix, Arizona. The Scarlet Knights will be taking on the Wildcats of Kansas State from the Big 12 Conference for the 2nd time ever. The first meeting between the two schools was in 2006, when a 10-2 Schiano-led Rutgers squad took care of business against Kansas State in the inaugural Texas Bowl, by a score of 37-10. It also won’t be the first time Rutgers has played in the Rate Bowl, as they faced Arizona State in the then called “Insight Bowl” in 2005. There will be many questions regarding player personnel availability for both teams, but nonetheless, this matchup shapes up to be a very underrated one from an outside perspective.

Season Reviews:

Rutgers:

Rutgers has gone through probably one of the most bizarre seasons by any team in recent memory, as it was a true “roller-coaster” to be a fan of this team. After initially beginning the season 4-0, with key wins over Virginia Tech on the road, and Washington at home, it appeared that the Scarlet Knights were bound for a historic breakout season in Greg Schiano’s 5th season back as head coach. But, an injury plague hit, and there were clear defensive struggles slowing down the team, which caused them to go on a demoralizing four game losing streak. After all hope had seemingly been lost following the bye week, Rutgers needed to focus on just trying to get to the six win mark. While the defense still struggled, it had improved just enough, and the offense, led by Senior QB Athan Kaliakmanis, flourished. All of the sudden by the end of the season, Rutgers was a prolific passing team, complemented by star RB Kyle Monangai in the running game, which led the team to winning three of their last four games, and finishing with a 7-5 overall record, and 4-5 conference record. There are mixed emotions for Rutgers fans, as this wasn’t how the season was expected to play out, but thankful the team was able to figure it out in the end.

Kansas State:

Kansas State is led by Head Coach Chris Klieman in his 6th season in Manhattan. He had his Wildcats squad rolling through the first two months of the season, having a 7-1 record and ranked as high as 13th in the nation at one point. They were fighting for a Big 12 Conference title, until they weren’t. Doing the complete opposite as Rutgers, Kansas State lost three of their last four regular season games, which included losses to Houston, Arizona State, and Iowa State. Most of their losses, however, have been very close-fought games, and certainly could’ve gone the other way. Despite the rough November, Kansas State found themselves with a solid 8-4 record, and a 5-4 conference record. They have a high-powered offense led by Sophomore QB Avery Johnson and star RB DJ Giddens, who rushed for 1,343 rushing yards in his Junior season, but will not be playing due to declaring for the NFL draft. The biggest question for Kansas State will be whether their players will have the motivation for this one, as their season ended in what is likely a disappointment. Either way, they will test the depleted Rutgers defense to the best of their ability, and make this a close battle until the very end.

Keys for Rutgers:

Defend QB Runs: Rutgers is notorious for letting even the least mobile QBs run all over them, and we’ve seen it first hand this season. Pass-first QBs such as Will Rogers, Miller Moss, Ethan Garbers, and Luke Altmyer ran all over Rutgers. If RU wants to win this game, they need to key in on KSU’s Avery Johnson, who rushed for 548 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Get the Passing Game Going Early: The passing game is what was prominent in Rutgers’ final four games, where Athan Kaliakmanis passed for an average of 30.25 times per game for about 202.25 yards per game. This doesn’t mean to go away from the running game, even if Kyle Monangai doesn’t play, but passing is what rejuvenated the Rutgers offense and ultimately saved the season.

Make a Big Special Teams Play: Greg Schiano-led teams are well known for game changing plays on special teams, whether that’s a punt block or field goal block. We saw it happen last season in the 2023 Pinstripe Bowl against Miami, as a blocked kick like that could completely change the momentum of a game, and it could very well swing the game in Rutgers’ favor this year as well.

Keys for Kansas State:

Let Avery Johnson Run: Counteracting to the key for Rutgers, Kansas State will realize that one of Rutgers’ big weaknesses is defending QB runs, and will probably be drooling at the mouth. They have a guy who can certainly slice up the defense and control their own destiny from there. If they can do this, it may turn out to be a great day for the Wildcats.

Pass Attack: Kansas State, just like Rutgers, has some young, star-studded Wide Receivers that can cook up an opposing defense. Get the ball in the hands of Keegan Johnson, Jason Jackson, and Tight End Garrett Oakley in short yard passes and then let them do their thing. K-State’s leading receiver Jayce Brown will be unavailable, due to having entered the transfer portal. Rutgers is good at stopping the deep ball, but has struggled to stop short, quick passes to mid-field.

Force Some Turnovers: Rutgers has a ridiculously good record when they don’t turn over the football, so if they don’t, that may not be a good sign for Kansas State. But, if you can catch Athan Kaliakmanis off-guard and pick him off, or even force a fumble (on a team that rarely fumbles), it will set Kansas State up for a likely chance at winning the game. .