August 25, 2025
Week 1 of the 2025 college football season begins this Thursday, August 28th. There are fourteen games involving Big Ten teams scheduled to play on Thursday, but this preview is for the game between Rutgers and Ohio.
Ohio Bobcats
The Ohio Bobcats are predicted to finish 4th in the MAC Conference. They finished their 2024 season with 11 wins after a 30-27 victory over Jacksonville State in the Cure Bowl. Overall, they finished 11-3, and they were 7-1 in the MAC.
Anthony Tyus III is no longer with the Ohio Bobcats. He plays for the Seattle Seahawks now-let’s start there. The good news for Ohio, however, is that senior running back, Sieh Bangura, who was once a 1,000-yard rusher for Ohio, but transferred out to Minnesota for the 2024 season, just transferred back in. That’s huge.
Senior quarterback, Parker Navarro, is back! Navarro is strong, fast, and athletic. Last season, he threw for 2,423 yards and 13 touchdowns, and he rushed for another 1,100 (That’s actually very close to Vince Young’s numbers in 2006). That’s a lot of productivity, but Navarro won’t have to do it all by himself.
We know they have a guy back who can run the ball, and at wide receiver, juniors, Rodney Harris II, and Chase Hendricks, lead a deep and talented group.
The offensive line will be pieced together around two seniors, left tackle, Davion Weatherspoon, and right guard, Trent Allen. 6′ 4″, 310-pound-center, Kam Wright, steps in as a redshirt junior who saw action in 11 games last season. The right tackle, Jordan Jones, is also a redshirt junior who played in 11 games last year with the Bobcats.
Defensively, well, this is where things get interesting for Ohio because they had an absolute beast coming back at defensive end, senior, Bradley Weaver. Weaver decided to transfer to Rutgers! As a matter of fact, the defense lost seven starters.
The strength of Ohio’s defense will be their secondary. They have three seniors returning in the defensive backfield and All-MAC sophomore, free safety, DJ Walker. The group is led by All-MAC senior, cornerback, Tank Pearson.
At linebacker, they have French Fries. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Just kidding. I’m talking about junior linebacker, Jack Fries. Fries is a redshirt junior, and he didn’t get much playing time last season.
Their starting front seven consists of six juniors and a sophomore. It’s a young and inexperienced group. Sophomore defensive tackle, Austin Mitchell, saw action in five games last season, and he’s the only starter on this year’s defensive line that was actually with the Bobcats last season.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
In the tough and extremely competitive Big Ten Conference, Rutgers is predicted to finish 12th. The Scarlet Knights finished their 2024 season with a loss to Kansas State in the Rate Bowl. They were 7-6 overall, and 4-5 in the Big Ten.
On the offense, Rutgers has eight seniors in the starting lineup, and three of them are studs on the o-line. Left tackle, Tyler Needham, left guard, Bryan Felter, and center, Gus Zilinskas, anchor a very strong and experienced group.
At running back, we got to see then freshman, Antwan Raymond, score his sixth touchdown of the season in the Rate Bowl. Raymond is good enough to start as a true sophomore, but Rutgers will feature a senior, CJ Cambell Jr. Cambell transferred from Florida Atlantic.
Senior quarterback, Athan Kaliakmanis is back, and so is his stud tight end, Kenny Fletcher Jr. Wide Receiver seems to be a strength for Rutgers. They have a young talented sophomore, Ben Black, but this group will be led by the senior transfer from North Texas, DT Sheffield. Ian Strong and KJ Duff are good.
Defensively, the Scarlet Knights will start the Ohio transfer, Bradley Weaver, at defensive end, and both tackles are back from last season, Zaire Angoy and Keshon Griffen. The Scarlet Knights actually have six seniors starting in their front seven, and the only junior happens to be their star linebacker, Dariel Djabome.
In the secondary, Rutgers got two seniors who transferred and will start immediately. Safety, Jett Elad, transferred from UNLV, and cornerback, Cam Miller, transferred from Penn State. Senior safety, Al-Shadee Salaam is solid.
Conclusion and Predictions
When seniors transfer, they usually do so for two reasons: to start immediately, and to win a championship. That’s what I think of when I look at Rutgers. Do I think Rutgers can win a national championship? Heck no, lol, but I think the mindset of guys like Bradely Weaver and Cam Miller is to come together for that one great season.
This is the first game of the season for both teams, and I know they’re both looking to walk away with a win. It’s a Thursday night game and the Scarlet Knights are playing in front of their home crowd. The atmosphere will be electric.
If Ohio can’t stop Rutgers from running the ball, this will be a long evening for the Bobcats. Honestly, I’m wondering if Ohio has enough to win this game. They have Navarro, they have a capable running back, and they have the talent at wide receiver, but their o-line is questionable. On defense, their front seven lacks experience and leadership.
Keep something in mind. Rutgers is building a team that has to compete with teams like Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon, Michigan, etc. It’s cliche to say, but they’re built differently.
Ohio’s defense lost seven starters, and that’s the same defensive unit that almost blew a 27-7 lead at halftime to Jacksonville State in the Cure Bowl.
The Scarlet Knights must begin this season with three consecutive wins before heading into Big Ten action, and that begins with a win against Ohio.
My Pick to Win: Rutgers
My Pick Versus the Point Spread: Rutgers +14
Nooz Buffet 