The Rutgers Scarlet Knights will open the 2020 season against the Monmouth Hawks, the school announced on Thursday.
Rutgers will host Monmouth at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey on Sept. 5, 2020. The game will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Monmouth competes in the Big South Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Hawks are scheduled to play at Eastern Michigan this season and at Western Michigan in 2019.
Last year, the Big Ten loosened restrictions on scheduling FCS teams, at the time saying they could be scheduled in seasons when its members only had four Big Ten home games. Rutgers has five Big Ten home games in 2020, so either they received an exemption or FCS teams are allowed to be scheduled at any time now.
The addition of Monmouth completes Rutgers’ football schedule for the 2020 season. After opening against Monmouth, Rutgers hosts Syracuse on Sept. 12 and then travels to Philadelphia to take on Temple on Sept. 19.
Rutgers opens Big Ten Conference play on Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Ohio State Buckeyes. Other conference road games include Purdue (Oct. 10), Maryland (Oct. 31), and Michigan State (Nov. 21).
Big Ten games at home for the Scarlet Knights in 2020 include Illinois (Oct. 3), Indiana (Oct. 17), Nebraska (Oct. 24), Michigan (Nov. 14), and Penn State (Nov. 28).