In their tenth season under head coach John F. Bateman, the Scarlet Knights compiled a 6–3 record and outscored their opponents 212 to 150.

[3] Throughout the year, Rutgers celebrated the centennial of college football, one hundred years since the 1869 game between Rutgers and Princeton, recognized as the first intercollegiate football game.

The 1969 game against Princeton, which Rutgers won 29–0, was broadcast in the Eastern United States by ABC Television.

Rutgers played nine games, rather than the scheduled 10, because a November 15 matchup at Holy Cross was canceled following an outbreak of hepatitis among the Massachusetts school's football team.

[7][4] The Scarlet Knights played their home games at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey, across the river from the university's main campus in New Brunswick.