Our “friends” at Rutgers had a rough opener on Thursday night, which might serve as a cautionary tale for our Temple Owls.

Rutgers entered its home game against UMass as a 28.5-favorite and lost.

Must admit it couldn’t happen to a nicer fan base.

(Not you, Joe, because there are exceptions to every rule and he is the most decent RU fan who regularly posts on this website.)

Yet I do remember holding my transistor radio and listening to this gem while walking past that bubble practice facility RU used to have on the way into a Temple game one night.

“Let’s face it. Rutgers should always blow out teams like Temple.”

Other guy: “Agreed.”

Me in real time: “Who the f*ck do they think they are?”

Temple won, 48-14, in Piscataway, behind a quarterback who became a legendary on-campus bartender (Mike Frost) and then part owner of the place.

(The post-game brewskis with my friend Joe Klecko never tasted better.)

That’s what great rivalries are made of and Temple-Rutgers was once that before the days of the geographically rivalry went by the wayside. Two schools 63 miles apart with huge alumni bases living in that 63-mile blueprint.

Rhode Island, the Owls’ foe (2 p.m., tomorrow) is not a rival but a team the Owls have a 12-0 overall record against and some memorable games. The Owls are 14.5-point favorites and the line moving from 10 to 14 in two days tells me something.

The wise guys like Temple and I like wise guys.

That’s not important in this context, though, because if UMass proved anything it’s that anybody anywhere can beat anybody anywhere if the T’s aren’t crossed and the I’s aren’t dotted.

Says here Rutgers had a hard time getting ink out of the pen, let alone dotting I’s and T’s.

Also says here that K.C. Keeler has cursive handwriting and has taken care of those factors.

As RU fans found out on Thursday night, you never know until the ball is kicked off and the lights are on but Keeler made a revealing statement to the team the other day that might have hit home.

“One of the betting websites, not that I ever quote betting websites, had this Temple-RU game as the ninth most likely upset between FCS and FBS teams,” Keeler said. “I told my guys that was the old Temple. This is the new Temple.”

Don’t know if Schiano had a similar message for his Knights but, if he did, it never got through.

This is what we do know.

Pro football focus had former Temple lineman Sekou Kromah with a 75.3 rating in Thursday night’s game, which was the highest among any Rutgers’ player, lineman or not.

One month ago Keeler told Kromah to look for another place to play because he was likely to be a backup here but told him we would take him back if he didn’t find a spot.

Let’s hope Keeler is right on both counts, that Kromah found a spot where he can play and this is the new Temple.

In about 24 hours, we will have our answer.

Late Saturday Night: Game Analysis