Rutgers Rant: National reporter with deep ties to Scarlet Knights makes Minnesota prediction

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As Rutgers hits the road for the first time this fall, it looks to get back on track.

The Scarlet Knights (3-1, 0-1) face Minnesota (2-1) in their first away game of the 2025 campaign on Saturday. Head coach Greg Schiano's team will look to recover from its first loss of the campaign against Iowa by beating a program that is essentially a mirror image of itself.

The Golden Gophers are coached by Schiano protégé PJ Fleck, while Rutgers is led by former Minnesota quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, who is returning to where his college career started for the first time since transferring to Piscataway last year.

Will the Scarlet Knights make it two wins in a row over Minnesota?

The Rutgers Rant is back to preview the contest against the Golden Gophers and share our predictions for how it will go. We do so alongside our guest picker Kathryn Tappen, a longtime sideline reporter at NBC who graduated from Rutgers and has deep family ties to her alma mater.

JOIN OUR RUTGERS RANT DISCORD: Talk Rutgers with Steve Politi, Brian Fonseca.

We also discuss our exclusive interview with President William Tate on his outlook for the Rutgers athletic department as a whole and his feelings on Schiano in particular, as well as our story on the connection between Athan Kaliakmanis and his brother Dino, who overcame disability to achieve his dream of becoming a Division I football player.