The 1978 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team represented Rutgers University in the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season.
In their sixth season under head coach Frank R. Burns, the Scarlet Knights compiled a 9–3 record while competing as an independent.
The team outscored its opponents 284 to 165 and finished the season with a 34–18 loss to Arizona State in the Garden State Bowl.
[3] It was the Scarlet Knights' first major bowl appearance.
This college football 1970s season article is a stub.