 This was Rutgers' first bowl appearance since December 16, 1978 loss against Arizona State, 34 to 18, at the Garden State Bowl, which was the first bowl game in which Rutgers was a participant.In 2006, the Scarlet Knights were invited to the inaugural Texas Bowl, in Houston, Texas in which they defeated the Kansas State Wildcats 37 to 10.On January 5, 2008 Rutgers faced Ball State in the International Bowl held in Toronto, for their third straight bowl game for the first time in the program's history.