Howard Bison at Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Sep 25, 2026·6:00 PM CT·Piscataway, NJ

By JR·2 min read

HOW(1-2)

RUTG(0-3)

AT

6:00 PM CT

TLDR: Rutgers has spent 3 weeks looking for its first win, and Friday night Howard comes to Piscataway. A matchup this lopsided on paper is supposed to fix the scoreboard, but that is all it can fix.

FRI SEP 25, 6:00 PM CT

Spread

WIN

Total

Howard

(1-2)

LLWWL

Rutgers

(0-3)

LLLLL

Kickoff67°10 mph

Rutgers, winless through 3 games by Yahoo's count, hosts 1-2 Howard, an FCS team under first-year coach Ted White that is expected to lean on its run game. Rutgers is 6-0 all-time against the Bison, and the board has the Scarlet Knights favored by about 6 touchdowns. The open question is whether Rutgers stops the run early enough to pull its starters or lets a desperate home game stay close into the second half.

Howard

Run-first plan can shorten the game and limit possessions
Already saw a Big Ten roster at Indiana this month
First-year staff under Ted White still settling in
0-6 all-time vs Rutgers, every loss by double digits

Rutgers

6-0 all-time vs Howard, 44-7 in 2024
Big talent and depth edge over an FCS roster
0-3 start, per Yahoo's preview
Winless team under pressure to cover a huge number

This is a Friday, September 25 game at SHI Stadium on Big Ten Network, and it's Game 4 on the Rutgers schedule. Yahoo's preview has the Scarlet Knights at 0-3, which explains the 'desperation time' headline on a game against an FCS opponent. Howard comes in at 1-2 after a slate that included a Big Ten trip to Indiana. So both sidelines have already seen what a power-conference roster looks like this month.

Howard has a first-year head coach in Ted White, and the Bison built this schedule on purpose: 2 neutral-site games, a Big Ten road trip in September, and then Piscataway. The preview material on the Bison says their plan is the run game. That's the logical approach for an FCS team playing up a division. You shorten the game, keep your defense on the sideline, and make a frustrated home crowd sit through long drives. The board has Rutgers favored by roughly 6 touchdowns, which tells you how the market sees this going.

History is firmly on the home side. Rutgers is 6-0 all-time against Howard, and every one of the 3 recent meetings was a double-digit Scarlet Knights win, including a 44-7 opener in 2024. That game kicked off a Rutgers season with real hopes. This one lands with those hopes gone, which is a very different mood for the same opponent.

What actually matters here is the first quarter. If Rutgers stuffs the Bison ground game early, the Yahoo preview's line applies: the Knights 'should be able to cruise.' A cruise means the backups are in by halftime, which is its own story for a 41-point spread. If Howard strings together a couple of long drives and the half is still close, an 0-3 team starts to tense up in its own stadium.

Friday's forecast is about as easy as it gets for late September in Jersey: 67 degrees, clear, around a 1-in-3 chance of rain and a 10 mph breeze. Nothing there changes how either team plays. Rutgers needs a clean game and a win. Howard needs to show it can run on a Big Ten front and then get home healthy before the Truth and Service Classic against Hampton the following week.

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