On Saturday, the Illinois Fighting Illini host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to settle on the field the question of who has the worst football program in the Big Ten. This is only the second meeting between the two schools since Rutgers joined the conference, and as we’ve learned, the Scarlet Knights will be on the schedule every year until at least 2021. The Big Ten seems to want to make Illinutgers a thing.
There is some history tying the two programs together, however. In 2002, Rutgers, then a member of the Big East, opened the season with a humiliating 37-19 loss at the hands of the FCS Villanova Wildcats, with their starting quarterback posting the inglorious line of 184 yards on 17 completions.