# 2019 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

The 2019 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team represented Rutgers University during the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Scarlet Knights played their home games at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey and competed as members of the East Division of the Big Ten Conference. They were led by fourth-year head coach Chris Ash. On September 29, 2019, Ash was fired after 31⁄3 seasons as head coach. He posted an overall record of 8–32 and 3–26 in Big Ten play. Nunzio Campanile was their interim head coach for the remainder of the season. They finished the season 2–10, 0–9 in Big Ten play to finish in last place in the East Division.

## Offseason

Andy Buh was hired as defensive coordinator on January 21, 2019. He had previously served in the same position for three years at Maryland. Henry Baker, who served as cornerbacks coach for Rutgers in 2017 but coached at North Carolina in 2018, was hired back as cornerbacks coach and passing game coordinator.

## Preseason
### Preseason Big Ten poll

Although the Big Ten Conference has not held an official preseason poll since 2010, Cleveland.com has polled sports journalists representing all member schools as a de facto preseason media poll since 2011. For the 2019 poll, Rutgers was projected to finish in last in the East Division.
Media poll (East Division) :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Michigan | 222 (20) |
| 2 | Ohio State | 214 (14) |
| 3 | Michigan State | 156 |
| 4 | Penn State | 154 |
| 5 | Indiana | 86.5 |
| 6 | Maryland | 82.5 |
| 7 | Rutgers | 37 |

## Schedule

Rutgers' 2019 schedule began on August 30 with a non-conference game against UMass, a football independent. The Scarlet Knights' other non-conference games were against Boston College of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Liberty, also an independent at the time. In Big Ten Conference play, Rutgers played all members of the East Division as well as Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois from the West Division.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 7:15 p.m. | UMass* | SHI StadiumPiscataway, NJ | BTN | W 48–21 | 40,515 |
| September 7 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 20 Iowa | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | FS1 | L 0–30 | 61,808 |
| September 21 | 12:00 p.m. | Boston College* | SHI StadiumPiscataway, NJ | BTN | L 16–30 | 32,217 |
| September 28 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 20 Michigan | Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI | BTN | L 0–52 | 110,662 |
| October 5 | 12:00 p.m. | Maryland | SHI StadiumPiscataway, NJ | BTN | L 7–48 | 30,185 |
| October 12 | 12:00 p.m. | at Indiana | Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN | BTN | L 0–35 | 37,055 |
| October 19 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 20 Minnesota | SHI StadiumPiscataway, NJ | BTN | L 7–42 | 26,429 |
| October 26 | 12:00 p.m. | Liberty* | SHI StadiumPiscataway, NJ | BTN | W 44–34 | 23,058 |
| November 2 | 3:30 p.m. | at Illinois | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | BTN | L 10–38 | 35,632 |
| November 16 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 2 Ohio State | SHI StadiumPiscataway, NJ | BTN | L 21–56 | 33,528 |
| November 23 | 12:00 p.m. | Michigan State | SHI StadiumPiscataway, NJ | FS1 | L 0–27 | 24,641 |
| November 30 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 10 Penn State | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | BTN | L 6–27 | 98,895 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 5) released prior to gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||
Source:

## Game summaries
### UMass

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Minutemen | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Scarlet Knights | 7 | 31 | 3 | 7 | 48 |

### At Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Scarlet Knights | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 20 Hawkeyes | 7 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 30 |

### Boston College

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 7 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 30 |
| Scarlet Knights | 7 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 16 |

### At Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Scarlet Knights | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 20 Wolverines | 14 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 52 |

### Maryland

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Terrapins | 7 | 20 | 21 | 0 | 48 |
| Scarlet Knights | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### At Indiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Scarlet Knights | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hoosiers | 21 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 35 |

### Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 20 Golden Gophers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | 42 |
| Scarlet Knights | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |

### Liberty

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Flames | 14 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 34 |
| Scarlet Knights | 7 | 14 | 17 | 6 | 44 |

### At Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Scarlet Knights | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Fighting Illini | 10 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 38 |

### Ohio State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 2 Buckeyes | 21 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 56 |
| Scarlet Knights | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 10 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 27 |
| Scarlet Knights | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### At Penn State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Scarlet Knights | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| No. 10 Nittany Lions | 7 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 27 |