Rutgers staves off Ohio in opener thanks to revamped offense

Athan Kaliakmanis passed for 252 yards and two touchdowns as Rutgers held on to defeat Ohio 34-31 on Thursday in Piscataway, N.J. in the season-opener for both teams.

Jai Patel kicked a 26-yard field goal with 11:11 to play, snapping a 31-31 tie.

Ohio quarterback Parker Navarro passed for 239 yards and three TDs and ran for 93 yards and a score.

Chase Hendricks caught a career-high 115 yards for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats scored two third-quarter touchdowns to draw even at 31.

Kaliakmanis has a trio of game-breaking wide receivers to choose from.

Transfer DT Sheffield joins returning wide outs Ian Strong and KJ Duff to give the offense multiple deep threats. Strong caught seven passes for 100 yards and Duff grabbed 5 passes for 54 yards and a score.

“I’m very encouraged by our offense,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. “The running backs, the wide receivers, the tight ends — there’s some depth there and then the offensive line, they did a good job tonight.

“Defensively we’ve got to get better at this. We had six guys that had never started a game and then we brought in guys that had played, and played not very much either.”

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The Scarlet Knights defense, like last season, had a difficult time getting off the field on third down. The Bobcats converted five of their 10 plays on third down, allowing Navarro to have free reign, especially in the second half when he engineered two scoring drives.

“His (Navarro) ability to make plays with his feet and the confidence he has in his own ability and the faith he has in his teammates is really special,” Ohio coach Brain Smith said. “He’s very democratic. He’s just spreading it around.”

Rutgers has won 14 of its last 16 opening games.

The takeaway

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Navarro, a grad student in his second year as the Bobcats starting QB, has emerged as one of the top dual-threats in the country.

He has “escape-ability,” makes good decisions on when to keep it or throw and has a deep set of receivers. He threw to eight different receivers against Rutgers.

Key play

Kaliakmanis hit Sheffield for a 10-yard pass on fourth down that kept the Rutgers drive alive with 1:54 to play to seal it. The Scarlet Knights converted all five of their fourth-down attempts.

Transfers make an impact

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano brought in a program-high 19 transfers and three of them paid immediate dividends.

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Running back CJ Campbell Jr. (FAU) ran for 70 yards, wide receiver Sheffield (North Texas) caught four passes for 85 yards and a TD and DB Cam Miller (Penn State) had three solo tackles and recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown.

Isn’t that special

Rutgers blocked its 44th punt, scoring its 16th TD off the block, in 17 seasons under Schiano. Since 2022, the Scarlet Knights lead the country with 11 blocked punts.

Up Next

Rutgers hosts Miami (Ohio), its second straight MAC opponent, on Sept. 6. Ohio hosts West Virginia, its second straight Power 4 team, on Sept. 6.