Patel gave the Scarlet Knights back their lead with his second field goal, as his attempt from 26 yards put RU up 34-31 with 11:11 left.
The RU defense forced an Ohio punt, which gave the Scarlet Knights the ball back with 6:41 remaining. The offense went on to kill the rest of the clock to close out the win. After the two-minute timeout, the Rutgers offense faced a four-and-seven from the Bobcats' 28-yard line. The offense remained on the field and Kaliakmanis delivered the winning moment, finding Sheffield for a 10-yard gain and a first down, allowing RU to kneel out the victory.
• Rutgers improved to 13-4 in season openers under head coach Greg Schiano (6-0 since 2020). It was the eighth straight season RU won its opener, improving to 83-64-9 all-time. This marked the third straight year not beginning on a Saturday.
• Rutgers improved to 104-40-11 all-time in home openers, winning 14 of the last 16, and 12-5 under Schiano.
• Rutgers improved to 13-0 in regular season non-conference games since Schiano returned. The Scarlet Knights are now 53-21 in non-conference games overall under Schiano.
• Rutgers is now 9-3 all-time in games played in August. The Aug. 28 date marked the earliest home game on the calendar in program history, matching 2014 versus Washington State in Seattle for the earliest game overall.
• Rutgers won its third straight over Ohio, moving to 3-1 in the series. The Scarlet Knights are now 14-5-1 against current MAC members.
• Dating back to last season, Rutgers has scored at least 30 points in five consecutive games, the first time achieving the feat since 2008.
• Rutgers scored 31 points in the first half, its most in an opening half since posting 38 against Wagner in 2022 and most in the first half against an FBS team since scoring 38 versus UMass in 2019.
• Rutgers went 5-for-5 on fourth down for the second time under Schiano, also done versus Wagner in 2023.
• Since 2020, RU is 18-2 when not committing a turnover in a game.
• Rutgers improved to 67-35 under Schiano when scoring first, 55-16 when scoring at least 30 points, 76-46 when recording at least 300 yards of total offense and 40-17 when scoring a defensive or special teams touchdown.
• DB Kaj Sanders blocked a punt recovered by DB Cam Miller for a touchdown. Rutgers now has scored 64 non-offensive touchdowns under Schiano, including 13 since 2020. It was the 74th blocked kick under Schiano (44th punt). RU leads the nation with 11 blocked punts since 2022.
• QB Athan Kaliakmanis went 18-for-23 passing for 252 yards and two touchdowns. It was his sixth time throwing multiple touchdown passes as a Scarlet Knight and 11th overall. The passing yards total was the most by a Rutgers quarterback in the series against Ohio.
• RB Antwan Raymond posted his ninth career rushing touchdown.
• WR Ian Strong matched his career high with seven receptions and posted his third career game with at least 100 receiving yards. He surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards (1,006).
• WR KJ Duff recorded a career-high five receptions and brought in his second career touchdown.
• WR DT Sheffield scored a 54-yard receiving touchdown, his first as a Scarlet Knight and 12th career.
• LB Moses Walker registered a career-high 13 tackles, including two for loss.
• Dating back to last season, PK Jai Patel has made 15 consecutive field goal attempts to set a school record. He was previously tied with Alex Falcinelli, who made 13 in a row in 1980. It was his ninth career game with multiple makes.
• Collegiate debut (3): TE Jackson Gister, LB Sam Robinson, OL John Stone
• Rutgers debut (13): DL Oliver Billotte, RB CJ Campbell Jr., DL Darold DeNgohe, DB Jett Elad, TE Jackson Gister, DB Jacobie Henderson, DB Chris Joines, DB Cam Miller, DL Eric O'Neill, LB Sam Robinson, OL John Stone, DL Bradley Weaver, TE Colin Weber
• First career start (2): DL Zaire Angoy, DL Jordan Walker
• Consecutive games played: DL Jordan Thompson (39), DB Cam Miller (38), DB Timmy Ward (35), TE Colin Weber (29), PK Jai Patel (27), OL Gus Zilinskas (27)
