How does first-and-goal at the 10 end with a punt on fourth-and-goal from the 43? Let Rutgers football explain.

It takes three penalties of 15, 10 and five yards, an incomplete pass and a sack, to be precise. No one said this would be pretty.

The Scarlet Knights took all of two drives on Saturday before suffering this calamity in their game against Boston College. After getting into the red zone on the back of a 48-yard run by Gavin Wimsatt on their second drive, Rutgers was the victim of offensive pass interference and holding calls to push them back to the 33 for second down.

Wimsatt then threw incomplete before Rutgers was called for a false start on third-and-goal. When the play took place, Wimsatt was sacked by Jaylen Blackwell.

According to ESPN Stats and Info, that made Rutgers the second Big Ten team in the last decade to punt on a fourth-and-goal, joining Illinois in 2020.

It was, if nothing else, hopelessly on brand for the program, which just had its best season since 2015, with a 5-8 record in 2021 that ended in a Gator Bowl invite after Texas A&M withdrew due to a COVID-19 breakout in its program. However, Rutgers still managed to get the win, going 96 yards in just over 5 minutes late in the fourth quarter to edge Boston College, 22-21.

The Scarlet Knights are hoping to notch six wins and a true bowl invite for the first time since 2014, when it won the Quick Lane Bowl in its first year in the Big Ten.

It seems they’ll need to clean up some red zone issues first, though.