2026 PSU vs. Rutgers

Back to 2026 Schedule

General Pre-Game Information

• Game Eleven of 2026 season—This is the 5th and final home game on Penn State’s Big Ten schedule and it’s also Senior Day. PSU comes into this contest riding an 18-game winning streak vs. Rutgers. The Nittany Lions have not lost to the Scarlet Knights since 1988 (their only loss in this series at Beaver Stadium). The Rutgers Scarlet Knights (0-0, 0-0) are coming off their home date with Nebraska. Rutgers has never beaten PSU as a member of the Big Ten.

• Last PSU Game played (Sat., Nov. 14): Penn State X Minnesota X at Beaver Stadium

• Current Rankings: AP Poll-TBA / US LBM Coaches Poll-TBA

• Rutgers 2025 Record: 5-7 overall, 2-7 in Big Ten (1-4 on road)—Head Coach: Greg Schiano (18th season overall/7th season in current stint)—Schiano (2001-2011, 2020-present) is 0-5 vs. Penn State (0-2 at Beaver Stadium) all in his second stint with the Scarlet Knights. (see more on Schiano below)

• 36th meeting with Rutgers all-time (18th meeting at Beaver Stadium/12th meeting as Big Ten members): Penn State is 33-2 all-time vs. Rutgers (18-2 at home/16-1 at Beaver Stadium/15-0 away including 6-0 at old Giants Stadium/11-0 in Big Ten since Rutgers joined in 2014)—The series dates back to 1918 when a war-depleted roster of Nittany Lions lost to the then-Rutgers Queensmen, 26-3 at New Beaver Field (Rutgers featured All-America Left End Paul Robeson that fall and he reportedly played the entire 48-minute game but did not factor in the 4 rushing TDs scored by the Queensmen). Penn State’s lone score came on an early first quarter field goal by right tackle Red Henry which gave the Lions a brief 3-0 lead. The series was dormant until a Nittany Lions 18-14 win in 1950 at State College, and since then, Penn State has only lost one additional time to the now Scarlet Knights in 1988 when former PSU player and assistant coach Dick Anderson pulled off the upset of Joe Paterno at Beaver Stadium, 21-16. Rutgers officially became the Scarlet Knights in 1955.

• Last Penn State Game vs. Rutgers (2025 at SHI Stadium, Piscataway, NJ/PSU is 6-0 at this venue): unranked PSU held off Rutgers, 40-36 making the Nittany Lions bowl-eligible with a 6-6 overall record under interim head coach Terry Smith (3-3 in regular season). The two teams combined for 1,042 yards in total offense with PSU surrendering 533 yards and 5 TDs (3 passing/2 rushing). It was Rutgers largest scoring output against State all-time. Ethan Grunkemeyer QB made his 6th start in place of the injured Drew Allar and completed 17 of 21 passes for 209 yards and a TD (53-yards to Andrew Rappleyea TE to tie the game 7-7 in first quarter). The offense delivered 509 yards overall which was its largest total output since it put up 518 yards against Oregon in the 2024 Big Ten Championship game. Kaytron Allen RB ran for a career best 226 yards and 1 TD in the game. It was the biggest rushing yards performance by PSU since Larry Jounson rushed for 279 yards vs. Michigan State in 2002. A 55-yard run by Kaytron in the first period pushed him over 4 thousand career yards making him the first Nittany Lion to do it (Kaytron’s final career yards total-4,180). Nick Singleton RB added 86 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. Amare Campbell LB posted 14 tackles and returned a fumble recovery 61 yards for a touchdown.

  LINK TO PSU-RUTGERS 2025 GAME STATS

• Last PSU Game vs. Rutgers at Beaver Stadium (2023): #12 Penn State was a 27-6 winner over the Knights in the first game after PSU’s offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich was fired by James Franklin after an 8-2 start to the season (losses were to Ohio state & Michigan). Yurcich was replaced by the combo of Ja’Juan Seider & Ty Howle for the final 3 games. Drew Allar started the game at QB but left in the third period with a 10-6 lead after taking a big hit to his right shoulder. Beau Pribula took over and finished the game leading the Lions to 17 unanswered points. Pribula threw only 1 pass, but he rushed for a team high 71 yards and a TD which was set up by a KJ Winston interception. A strip sack and recovery by Chop Robinson setup Kaytron Allen’s second touchdown run of the afternoon.

• Memorable PSU moments from the 2021 Rutgers game at Beaver Stadium: This 28-0 win over the Scarlet Knights could be called “Canada Day” since 5 of the 6 Canadian Players on the PSU roster played and were key contributors to the victory (Jesse Luketa DE/LB from Ottawa, Jonathan Sutherland S from Ottawa, Theo Johnson TE from Windsor, Malick Meiga WR from Quebec, & Christian Veilleux QB of Ottawa). PSU was racked by the flu in the days ahead of the game—21 players were out and 15 others played or tried to play sick. Sutherland stepped into the role of starting linebacker and collected his only career interception along with a tackle for loss. Veilleux nearly started at QB in place of the ill Sean Clifford who only appeared for first 4 offensive series before having to leave the game. Veilleux was clutch in relief; throwing 3 TDs on 15 of 24 passing for 235 yards (it was his first game on any level since 2019 due to his 2020 high school season at Bullis in Maryland being cancelled by Covid-19 issues). Veilleux threw his TD passes to Jahan Dotson, Parker Washington, and 67 yards to fellow Canadian Malick Meiga (it was Meiga’s first college TD catch—his only one at PSU). Note: Veilleux became the first true Freshman at PSU to throw a TD pass since Christian Hackenberg in the 2013 win at Wisconsin. Veilleux also became the first Canadian QB to play in a Power 5 game since Jesse Palmer of Florida in the 2000 season. Interestingly, Veilleux is the only one of the five Canadians who was still playing at a collegiate level in 2026—he transferred to the University of Alberta (U Sports/Canada West) after his NCAA eligibility expired in 2025 and he was not drafted by the CFL.

• Greg Schiano ties to Penn State: Schiano was a former assistant under Joe Paterno at PSU in the 90’s. He began as a Grad Assistant in 1990, and from 1991-95, he was the coach of the PSU defensive backs. Schiano has faced Penn State nine times as either an assistant or head coach. As an assistant at Miami (1999-2000), he was the Hurricanes defensive coordinator in the famous “No Flags” Penn State 27-23 win in 1999 at the Orange Bowl Stadium. As the DC at Ohio State (2016-18), he was involved in two narrow 1-point Buckeye wins and the legendary 2016 Whiteout “Block Six” victory by Penn State. He has served two separate stints as the head coach at Rutgers. In his pre-Big Ten days with the Knights (2001-2011), Schiano and Rutgers did not play against Penn State. In part two of his Rutgers career (2020-present), Schiano has faced the Nittany Lions on 5 occasions losing all five. Note: Schiano’s current offensive coordinator at Rutgers is Kirk Ciarrrocca who was the OC under James Franklin at Penn State in 2020.

• 1st Xpm ET kick for PSU in 2026 season.

  TV/Radio Information

• TV Game Announcers: TBA

• First game televised on X since

• This is the xx game this season to be televised on a traditional or non-traditional TV Network

• Penn State Radio Network Announcers: Steve Jones (PBP), Jack Ham (Analyst), & Brian Tripp (Sidelines). Jones & Ham are in their 27th season in the booth together. Ham, a member of both the CHOF (1990) and Pro Football Hall of Fame (1988), played linebacker at Penn State (1968-70). Jones (Class of 1980) & Tripp (Class of 2011) are also Penn State grads.