Football Defeats Miami (Ohio), 45-17

Saturday, September 6

Piscataway, N.J.

3:30 PM

Rutgers University

2-0 , 0-0

Miami (Ohio)

0-2 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Miami (OH)

Rutgers

Photo by: Ariel Fox

Sep 06 | Football

Box Score Game Book Head Coach Greg Schiano Postgame Press Conference Postgame Quotes Statistics Photo Gallery

RUTGERS 45 (2-0), MIAMI (OHIO) 17 (0-2)
SHI STADIUM • PISCATAWAY, N.J.
SEPTEMBER 6, 2025 • ATTENDANCE: 45,981

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers football (2-0) defeated Miami (Ohio) (0-2), 45-17, on Saturday at SHI Stadium. The win improved the Scarlet Knights to 2-0 for the fifth consecutive season under head coach Greg Schiano.

QB Athan Kaliakmanis finished 26-of-36 for 259 yards and four touchdown passes, connecting with WR Ian Strong twice, WR KJ Duff and WR DT Sheffield. RB Antwan Raymond added 82 rushing yards and a pair of scores.

DB Bo Mascoe recorded a 68-yard interception return to help set up a touchdown. DL Djibril Abdou Rahman and LB Dariel Djabome each collected a sack.

On special teams, PK Jai Patel added a 39-yard field goal to increase his program record to 16 consecutive makes.

FIRST QUARTER

After the defense forced Miami to a three-and-out on its opening possession, RU opened the game with a scoring drive. Kaliakmanis connected with Strong for a 14-yard touchdown pass, putting Rutgers up 7-0 with 7:25 left in the opening quarter.

The RedHawks responded with their first touchdown of the day to tie the game at 7-7 after the first 15 minutes of play.

SECOND QUARTER

Patel drilled a season-long 39-yard attempt to put the Scarlet Knights up 10-7 with 12:34 in the quarter. The field goal capped a 16-play, 54-yard scoring drive, highlighted by Strong's three catches for 31 yards.

Rutgers put the clamps on Miami on its ensuing possession, as Mascoe intercepted QB Dequan Finn for a 68-yard return – the seventh-longest interception return in program history. Raymond scored on a two-yard run three plays later, increasing RU's lead to 17-7 at the 8:18 mark before half.

Another three-and-out from Rutgers' defense set up Kaliakmanis' second touchdown pass of the night, this one to Duff for an 11-yard score. Kaliakmanis completed five passes during the scoring drive, with Duff's reception making it 24-7 with under two minutes before the midpoint.

The RedHawks added a field goal late for a 24-10 score at halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

Miami scored a touchdown before Rutgers punched back with one of its own. On third-and-six from the RedHawks' 17-yard-line, Kaliakmanis connected with Strong, who made a defender miss en route to the end zone. Strong's second touchdown put the Scarlet Knights up by two touchdowns, 31-17.

FOURTH QUARTER

Kaliakmanis continued to pick apart the Miami defense late in the game, finding Sheffield for a five-yard touchdown to make the score 38-17 and give him a career-high four touchdown passes on the night.

A pair of sacks from Abdou Rahman and Djabome forced a turnover on downs by the RedHawks and Raymond helped cap off the victory with his second score of the night. After a 35-yard rush to get in the red zone, Raymond punched it in from four yards out to push the score to 45-17, which would hold as the final.

A few second half highlights from @RFootball's dominant 45-17 victory over Miami (OH) 🎬 pic.twitter.com/bvp32LiJ19
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 7, 2025

NOTES

• Rutgers improved to 2-0 for the fifth straight season, last achieving the feat from 1937-41.
• Rutgers improved to 14-0 in regular season non-conference games since head coach Greg Schiano returned. The Scarlet Knights are now 55-21 in non-conference games overall under Schiano.
• Rutgers improved to 1-0 versus Miami (Ohio), 15-5-1 against teams currently in the MAC and 107-69-1 when playing an opponent for the first time.
• Rutgers improved to 14-3 in September games since 2021.
• Dating back to last season, Rutgers has scored at least 30 points in six consecutive games, the first time achieving the feat since the final three games of 2006 and first three of 2007. The offense scored on 7-of-9 drives with four scoring marches of at least 10 plays.
• Since 2020, RU is 19-2 when not committing a turnover in a game.
• Rutgers improved to 68-35 under Schiano when scoring first, 56-16 when scoring at least 30 points, 69-26 when scoring at least three offensive touchdowns, 63-22 when winning the turnover battle and 71-14 when recording more rushing yards.
• Rutgers led in time of possession 39:06-20:54 with two quarters of at least 10 minutes. Since 2023, the Scarlet Knights have 27 quarters with at least 10 minutes of possession.
• Rutgers picked up 31 first downs on offense, its most against an FBS opponent since recording that total in 2015 versus Kansas.
• QB Athan Kaliakmanis went 26-for-36 passing for 259 yards and a career-high four touchdown passes. He became the first RU quarterback to throw four touchdown passes in a game since Chris Laviano in 2015 versus Maryland, reached 20 completions for the third time as a Scarlet Knight and 200 passing yards for the 12^th time in his career. He has thrown a touchdown pass in eight consecutive games dating back to last season, the first Scarlet Knight to achieve the feat since Gary Nova (12 consecutive games) in 2012. He is up to 3,207 passing yards for Rutgers in becoming the 13^th player in program history to reach 3,000 passing yards.
• RB Antwan Raymond scored a rushing touchdown for the fourth straight game in scoring twice and now has 11 career rushing touchdowns.
• WR Ian Strong recorded career highs with nine receptions, 116 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He became the fourth Scarlet Knight all-time to record three consecutive 100-yard receiving games dating back to last season, joining Kenny Britt with five in a row in 2008, Tiquan Underwood with four consecutive in 2007 and Bill Powell with three straight in 1998. He had his first career multiple-score game.
• WR KJ Duff recorded a career-high six receptions in totaling 71 receiving yards with a touchdown.
• DB Bo Mascoe hauled in his second career interception and returned it 68 yards, the seventh-longest interception return in Rutgers history.
• DL Djibril Abdou Rahman posted his first career sack.
• PK Jai Patel extended his school record with his 16^th consecutive make dating back to last season.
• The start of the game was delayed 55 minutes due to severe weather in the area.
• Collegiate debut (1): DL Farell Gnago
• Rutgers debut (2): DL Farell Gnago, WR Dane Pardridge
• Consecutive games played: DL Jordan Thompson (40), DB Cam Miller (39), DB Timmy Ward (36), TE Colin Weber (30), PK Jai Patel (28), OL Gus Zilinskas (28)

UP NEXT

Rutgers continues its homestand with Band Day welcoming Norfolk State to SHI Stadium on Sept. 13. The game, presented by PNC Bank, will start at 3:30 p.m. The Scarlet Knights are 4-0 all-time in the series, last meeting in 2015.

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