For the first time in the history of Rutgers football, the team entered a season ranked - 16th in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls. The Scarlet Knights finished the season with an 8-5 record that included a 52-30 victory over the Ball State Cardinals in the 2008 International Bowl. It marked the third consecutive appearance of the team in a post-season bowl game, and the second bowl game won by the team.
| Date | Time | Opponent# | Rank# | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 30 | 7:00 PM | Buffalo* | #16/16 | Rutgers Stadium • Piscataway, NJ | ESPN+ | W 38–3 | 43,091 | |
| September 7 | 7:00 PM | Navy* | #15/16 | Rutgers Stadium • Piscataway, NJ | ESPN | W 41–24 | 43,514 | |
| September 15 | 3:30 PM | Norfolk State* | #13/13 | Rutgers Stadium • Piscataway, NJ | ESPN+ | W 59–0 | 43,712 | |
| September 29 | 3:30 PM | Maryland* | #10/10 | Rutgers Stadium • Piscataway, NJ | ABC | L 24–34 | 43,803 | |
| October 6 | 8:00 PM | #20/24 Cincinnati | #21/21 | Rutgers Stadium • Piscataway, NJ | ESPN2 | L 23–28 | 43,768 | |
| October 13 | 12:00 PM | at Syracuse | Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY | ESPN+ | W 38–14 | 36,226 | ||
| October 18 | 7:45 PM | #2/3 South Florida | Rutgers Stadium • Piscataway, NJ | ESPN | W 30–27 | 44,267 | ||
| October 27 | 12:00 PM | #6/6 West Virginia | #25/NR | Rutgers Stadium • Piscataway, NJ | ABC | L 3–31 | 43,620 | |
| November 3 | 7:00 PM | at #16/16 UConn | Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT | ESPNU | L 19–38 | 40,000 | ||
| November 9 | 8:00 PM | at Army* | Michie Stadium • West Point, NY | ESPN2 | W 41–6 | 39,073 | ||
| November 17 | 12:00 PM | Pittsburgh | Rutgers Stadium • Piscataway, NJ | ESPN+ | W 20–16 | 43,531 | ||
| November 29 | 7:45 PM | at Louisville | Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY | ESPN | L 38–41 | 37,012 | ||
| January 5 | 12:00 PM | Ball State* | Rogers Centre • Toronto, ON (International Bowl) | ESPN2 | W 52–30 | 31,455 | ||
Famous quotes containing the words football team, scarlet, knights, football and/or team:
“...I’m not money hungry.... People who are rich want to be richer, but what’s the difference? You can’t take it with you. The toys get different, that’s all. The rich guys buy a football team, the poor guys buy a football. It’s all relative.”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)
“when I see the beauty of your face,
Ye been so scarlet red about your eyen,
It maketh all my dreade for to dyen;”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)
“The threadbare trees, so poor and thin,
They are no wealthier than I;
But with as brave a core within
They rear their boughs to the October sky.
Poor knights they are which bravely wait
The charge of Winter’s cavalry,
Keeping a simple Roman state,
Discumbered of their Persian luxury.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In football they measure forty-yard sprints. Nobody runs forty yards in basketball. Maybe you run the ninety-four feet of the court; then you stop, not on a dime, but on Miss Liberty’s torch. In football you run over somebody’s face.”
—Donald Hall (b. 1928)
“giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle,
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.””
—Clement Clarke Moore (1779–1863)