Pat Hobbs has an idea of what to add to the Fun Slide, the food trucks and the carnival games lining “The Rutgers Boardwalk” outside of the football stadium.
“You have everything that you would have at the boardwalk except a roller coaster,” the Rutgers athletics director told The Post about three hours before the 2023 season kicked off, as 53,026 fans swarmed a pregame experience designed to cross tailgating with the Jersey Shore. “I still want a roller coaster on game day.”
For a change Sunday, the Rutgers football team didn’t take its fans on an emotional roller-coaster ride once the game started. The Scarlet Knights’ 24-7 victory against Northwestern was more like a comfortable Ferris wheel loop for the second-largest crowd ever to watch the home team win in Piscataway, N.J.
The pivotal fourth season of head coach Greg Schiano’s second turn at the helm began by leaving donors, prominent football alumni and those close to the program with a shared feeling that the team has matured beyond the stage of being the token get-well game for its rivals.
