The 2015 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team represents

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

in the

2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 3, 2015 and ended on D ...

. It is the Scarlet Knights' second season as a member of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, and second as a member of the East Division. The team was led by

Kyle Flood Kyle J. Flood (born January 20, 1971) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the Texas Longhorns football team. He is also the former head football coach of the Ru ...

, in his fourth year as head coach, and play its home games at

High Point Solutions Stadium SHI Stadium is the football stadium at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers Scarlet Knights football, Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's lacrosse, and women's lacrosse use the venue for home games. It is located on the Busch Campus at ...

Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway () is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of the New York metropolitan area, in the Raritan Valley. At the 2010 United States Census, the population was 56,044, an increase of 5,562 (+11.0%) fr ...

. The season began with controversies over an investigation into violations of NCAA regulations and school policy concerning coach Flood's improper contacting of a professor concerning a student's academic status; and the arrests and dismissal of several football players on violent felony charges connected to an April 2015 home invasion robbery in New Brunswick. Coach Flood was suspended for three games after the investigation found improper contact was made.

Before the season

Controversies and legal issues

The 2015 football season began with the shadow of several incidents of alleged misconduct and criminal charges. On May 24, 2015, redshirt freshman defensive back Darian Dailey was arrested in Florida on felony robbery charges. In late August 2015, head coach Kyle Flood suspended five players from the first half of the season opener for violating team policies on breaking curfews. These players were Ruhann Peele (cornerback), Leonte Carroo (receiver), Tim Gleeson (punter), Chris Laviano (quarterback) and Kevin Marquez (linebacker).Tim Casey
"Rutgers Kicks 5 Players Off Team, Then Wins Its Opener"
''The New York Times'', September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015. There were doubts that Flood would be coaching the season opener and some speculation amongst news media and fans about the possibility of Flood's firing or resignation. Around this time, many fans had called for the return of Flood's predecessor,

Greg Schiano Gregory Edward Schiano (born June 1, 1966) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at Rutgers University, a position he held from 2001 to 2011 and resumed before the 2020 season. Schiano served as the head coach for the Tampa ...

as head coach.Keith Sargeant
"Rutgers coach Kyle Flood: I will be coaching the game Saturday"
''New Jersey Advance Media'', September 3, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015. According to ''The Asbury Park Press'', students remarked that the recent controversies tarnish the university's reputation. On September 3, 2015, ten suspects, including six players, were arrested and charged with felony

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

criminal restraint False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person’s movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission. Actual physical restraint is ...

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

, and weapons possession charges stemming from an April 26, 2015 incident in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Keith Sargeant
"5 Rutgers football players arrested in connection with home invasions and assaults"
''NJ Advance Media (nj.com)'', September 3, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015. One victim, identified only as a 19-year-old male Rutgers student was reported to have had his jaw broken in the assault."Rutgers dismisses FB Lloyd Terry; is sixth player arrested in week"
''Sports Illustrated'', September 11, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015. Five players—Ruhann Peele (cornerback), Nadir Barnwell (cornerback), Razohnn Gross (fullback), Delon Stephenson (free safety), and Andre Boggs (cornerback)—were dismissed from the team moments before the season-opening football game against the

Norfolk State Spartans The Norfolk State Spartans refer to the 14 intercollegiate sports teams representing Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia, in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, tennis and track and field; w ...

. Former player Tejay Johnson (free safety and wide receiver), was also arrested on September 3. A sixth player, Lloyd Terry (fullback) was arrested a few days later. Several of the players arrested in this incident had previous arrests in 2013 and 2014 for other criminal charges. One of the suspects, Barnwell, was the center of an ongoing investigation into head coach Kyle Flood for possible violations of school policy and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) regulations prohibiting the athletic coaching staff from contacting faculty regarding the academic eligibility status of a player. According to New Jersey Advance Media, publisher of the ''Star-Ledger'' and other statewide newspapers, Flood defied academic support staff by contacting one of Barnwell's professors and that sources stated that Flood attempted to "circumvent the process and trying to get the kid eligible".Keith Sargeant
"Rutgers coach Kyle Flood defied academic support staff when he contacted professor, sources say"
''New Jersey Advance Media'' (nj.com), September 2, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015. Flood suspended wide receiver Leonte Carroo indefinitely after his arrest on September 13, 2015. Carroo was arrested by the

Rutgers University Police Department The Rutgers University Police Department (RUPD) is a campus police agency responsible for law enforcement on the New Brunswick, Newark, and Camden campuses of Rutgers University. RUPD is a department of the university's Division of Administration ...

and charged with simple assault stemming from a domestic violence incident that occurred on campus shortly after the end of the game against Washington State. Carroo was the seventh Rutgers player arrested in ten days. ''Star-Ledger'' and ''New Jersey Advance Media'' sports columnist Steve Politi described Carroo as "another casualty of the season from hell" and called the incident further proof that Flood had lost control of the team. Politi mused, "you wonder how soon before his head coach joins him on the list"—implying that Flood's tenure as coach should be ending with his termination. The 15-member Rutgers Board of Governors, one of the school's two governing bodies, and university president

Robert Barchi Robert Lawrence Barchi (born November 23, 1946) is an American academic, physician, and scientist. He was the 20th president of Rutgers University, holding the position from September 1, 2012, to June 30, 2020. Barchi was appointed to the positio ...

met on September 11 in a closed-door emergency session to discuss ongoing "athletic matters" and the potential for litigation in the wake of these controversies and arrests. On September 16, 2015, after the conclusion of a university-led investigation into his conduct determined he improperly contacted a professor to get Barnwell's grade changed, Flood was suspended for three games and fined $50,000 by Rutgers president Robert Barchi. Flood would be suspended during and miss an away game against Penn State (September 19, 2015), and home games against Kansas (September 26) and Michigan State (October 10).Saed Hindash
"Rutgers football coach Kyle Flood suspended three games"
''New Jersey Advance Media (nj.com)'', September 16, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015. Associate head coach

Norries Wilson Norries Wilson is an American football coach and former player. He was the running backs coach of the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights football team, but was let go in 2015. He was the first African-American head football coach in the Ivy L ...

would fill-in as head coach for those three games during Flood's suspension. After Flood's reinstatement, questions continued to circulate about possible drug problems within the program in the wake of former Scarlet Knights' fullback Lloyd Terry telling police that "he failed multiple drug tests while on the football team".Steve Politi
Kyle Flood's suspension is over but major questions loom at Rutgers"
''New Jersey Advance Media (nj.com)'', October 13, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015. Flood, along with athletic director

Julie Herman Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...

, was fired at the end of the season.

Coaching staff

Coaching changes

2014 offensive coordinator

Ralph Friedgen Ralph Harry Friedgen (born April 4, 1947) is a former American football coach. He was most recently the special assistant coach for Rutgers in 2015 after serving as their offensive coordinator in the 2014 season. He was the head coach at the Uni ...

relinquished his position as offensive coordinator due to age and stayed on as a special assistant to the head coach.

Ben McDaniels Ben McDaniels (born June 6, 1980) is an American football coach who is the Wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the U ...

, 2014 wide receiver coach and brother of former Denver Broncos head coach and current

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

offensive coordinator

Josh McDaniels Joshua Thomas McDaniels (born April 22, 1976) is an American football head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career in 2001 with the New England Patriots, where he served as the offensive coo ...

, was promoted to offensive coordinator. 2014 graduate assistant and former Rutgers defensive lineman Charlie Noonan was hired as defensive line coach at Holy Cross. Graduate assistant Sam Williams' two years of graduate assistant-ship expired and was hired by

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

working with special teams and recruiting quality control. 2014 Graduate assistant and former Rutgers quarterback

Mike Teel Mike Teel (born January 6, 1986) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the sixth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Teel spent time with the Se ...

was hired by his alma mater

Don Bosco Preparatory High School , motto_translation = To Increase in Knowledge and Grace , accreditation = Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools , rival = Bergen Catholic High SchoolSaint Joseph Regional High School , mascot = , ma ...

as offensive coordinatorKeith Sargeant
"Rutgers' Kyle Flood on Mike Teel's move back to Don Bosco Prep: 'It's a positive for us as a program'"
''New Jersey Advance Media (nj.com)'', May 29, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015. 2014 undergraduate student assistant Sean Barowski stayed on as a graduate assistant upon graduating.

2015 staff

Schedule

Rutgers announced their 2015 football schedule on June 3, 2013. The 2015 schedule consist of 7 home, and 5 away games in the regular season. The Scarlet Knights hosted Big Ten foes

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, and

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

and traveled to

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

.Rutgers Athletics
"Rutgers' 2015 Big Ten Schedule Announced"
(press release) June 3, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2015. The Scarlet Knights hosted three of their four non conference games against

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Norfolk State Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 ...

and

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. Rutgers matched up against

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

on November 21 at

Michie Stadium Michie Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. The home field for the Army Black Knights, it opened in 1924 and has a current seating capacity of 38,000. The stadium sits at t ...

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

. :Schedule Source:

Game summaries

Home against Norfolk State

On September 5, 2015, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights met the Norfolk State Spartans, a

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

team in the

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

, for the fourth game in their series. Rutgers had won the previous three games against Norfolk State in which the Scarlet Knights outscored the Spartans 128–0.

Home against Washington State

After last season's 41–38 victory against Washington State (

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

) on August 28, 2014, this was the second meeting between the Scarlet Knights and the Cougars. Rutgers lost after a penalty-prone fourth quarter (ending with a spike on 4th down), 34–37.

Away at Penn State

In the first game of head coach Kyle Flood's three-game suspension, associate head coach Norries Wilson filled in as head coach for the Rutgers and Penn State conference opener. Rutgers' only score was posted with 10:35 remaining in the fourth quarter by kicker Kyle Federico who made 34 yard field goal.

Home against Kansas

This was the first meeting between the Kansas Jayhawks (Big-12 Conference) and the Scarlet Knights. In 2012, Rutgers and Kansas announced two home-and-home series games this season and the 2018 season.

Home against Michigan State

Rutgers hosted the undefeated Michigan State Spartans for their sixth meeting. With Michigan State ranked number 4 in national polls, it was the first time in 6 seasons that Rutgers met a team ranked the top 25 (beating No 23-ranked USF 31–0 on November 12, 2009) and 8 seasons since they upset a No. 2-ranked South Florida in 2007. This was the last game that interim head coach Norries Wilson coached during head coach Kyle Flood's three-game suspension.Dan Duggan
"Norries Wilson earned Rutgers players' respect for handling 'tough situation' as interim coach"
''New Jersey Advance Media (nj.com)'', October 13, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.

Away at Indiana

Despite a 52–27 Indiana lead in the third quarter, the Scarlet Knights erased the 25-point deficit by converting three fourth-quarter turnovers into touchdowns and took the lead in the game's final seconds with a 26-yard field goal from Kyle Federico. Leonte Carroo caught seven passes, for 157 yards and three touchdowns before leaving in the second half with an injured right leg.

Home against Ohio State

Away at Wisconsin

Away at Michigan

Home against Nebraska

Away at Army

Home against Maryland

Roster

References

{{Rutgers Scarlet Knights football navbox

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

Rutgers Scarlet Knights football seasons

Rutgers Scarlet Knights football The Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team represents Rutgers University in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA). Rutgers competes as a member of the East Division of the Big Ten Conference. ...