No. 6 Indiana Visits Rutgers for Homecoming Blackout Saturday at 8 P.M.
The short version
- Rutgers hosts No. 6 Indiana Saturday at 8 p.m. at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey, in a homecoming blackout game.
- Indiana is the defending national champion on a 20-game winning streak and opened as a 23.5-point favorite.
- Rutgers closed non-conference play with a 58-7 win over Howard but has committed 10 turnovers in four games.
- Three of four On The Banks staffers picked Indiana; Ryan Castellano predicted a 27-21 Rutgers upset.
- Rutgers has a bye after this game, then meets Maryland in two weeks.
Defending national champion Indiana brings a 20-game winning streak to Piscataway for an 8 p.m. Saturday kickoff; three of four staff writers pick the Hoosiers.
Rutgers returns to Big Ten competition Saturday night when No. 6 Indiana visits SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey, for an 8 p.m. kickoff. The matchup falls on homecoming weekend and doubles as the Scarlet Knights' annual blackout night under head coach Greg Schiano. For Indiana, it is the first road game of the season and the program's first trip to Piscataway with Curt Cignetti as head coach.
The hosts arrive off their best result of the year, a 58-7 rout of Howard that closed out non-conference play. Before that, Rutgers scored 35 points in a seven-point loss to USC. Ball security has been the season-long issue, with 10 giveaways across four games, and quarterback Dylan Lonergan has shown a tendency to throw interceptions against FBS opposition.
Indiana carries the country's longest active win streak at 20 games, a run that stretches back through an undefeated 2025 national championship season. The Hoosiers have also won or tied the turnover battle for 28 consecutive weeks. They were pushed last week, though, edging Northwestern 29-23 in a game one staff preview described as a reminder not to take any opponent lightly.
The numbers lean sharply toward the visitor. Las Vegas opened Indiana as a 23.5-point favorite, and ESPN's forecast gives the Hoosiers a 96.6% chance to win. Indiana's run defense ranks first in the Big Ten, allowing 65.8 yards per game.
Rutgers does have some threads to pull. The Scarlet Knights have won the last three meetings between the programs, 38-3 in 2021, 24-17 in 2022 and 31-14 in 2023, though one writer acknowledged those came against a different Indiana team. Receiver KJ Duff and Antwan Raymond are cited as playmakers capable of causing the Hoosiers problems, and Clay Thevenin is coming off a breakout showing a week ago.
Indiana could be short-handed on offense. Lee Beebe, who piled up 203 yards against Northwestern, carries a questionable tag on the latest injury report, while running back Turbo Richard, a Boston College transfer, is probable. The game also features a head-to-head between Duff and Indiana wideout Charlie Becker, a pairing one preview called two of the top receivers in the country.
Staff predictions broke 3-1 for the Hoosiers. Andrew Rice projected Indiana 38, Rutgers 14, while arguing the final margin would land closer than the spread. Arnav Sarkar went with Indiana 45, Rutgers 17, and Bob Cancro picked Indiana 38, Rutgers 17, guessing a crowd in the neighborhood of 49,000 for the occasion.
The dissenting vote came from Ryan Castellano, who forecast Rutgers 27, Indiana 21. His case rests on history: the Scarlet Knights knocked off No. 3 Louisville at home in 2006 and No. 2 South Florida at home in 2007, upsets remembered locally as the "Pandemonium in Piscataway" nights.
A break follows either way. Rutgers is off next weekend before facing Maryland in two weeks, and Cancro expects the Knights to sit at 1-4 entering that open date. He also noted that Cignetti, in his 10th season as a head coach, would secure his 98th Division I victory by winning this week.
