Rutgers football isn’t starting the season with a gimme by any stretch

There is no lead-up, no ramping of the opponents to start the college football season for Rutgers football. This Saturday’s opponent, Boston College, is a solid ACC program and by no means represents a cupcake or a gimme game.

And not just a run-of-the-mill opponent from a Power Five conference, but a team that was bowl eligible last year. Boston College is a solid program and is further along in its rebuild than Rutgers is currently in their third season under head coach Greg Schiano.

Given their returning roster and relatively solid season in 2021, Boston College will be favored to start the season with a win over Rutgers. In short, this isn’t the type of game that will allow Rutgers to ease into their schedule.

Last season, Rutgers began the season with a game against Temple, a program that would objectively be viewed as a lesser opponent. Rutgers rolled to a 61-14 win and then followed it up with a win the next week at Syracuse from the ACC.

So starting against a Boston College program that is certainly no slouch is by no means easing into the season. For a team in need of continuity along the offensive line and with a lack of experience at linebacker, a lesser regarded opponent would have been ideal.

“Whatever the schedule is you play it…I guess the pros would be, people would say, there’s an urgency you’re playing,” Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano told reporters on Monday.

“But I always thought opening game there’s always an urgency. I don’t care who you’re playing because you haven’t played together as a team. It’s college football. This team is quite different than the team last year. And you only get, unlike every other sport, you only get 12 opportunities to do it. So every opening game I’ve ever been a part of, no matter who we played, I’ve been incredibly excited.”

There are a lot of intrigues in this match-up. Both programs are in their third year of a rebuild, and both programs have something of a rivalry…