Rutgers has at least one victory in the 2019 season already. It came before the first kickoff of the season.

On Friday evening, ahead of the Scarlet Knights’ season-opening matchup against UMass in Piscataway, Rutgers unveiled a larger-than-life statue named Victory. Construction on the 12-foot statue began back in early June and was first revealed before the first football game of the season.

The statue, which was built thanks to funding from Ron and Joanna Garutti, weigh’s 2,500 pounds and will stand on a nearly six-foot granite pedestal, making the entire structure approximately 18 feet in height. It portrays a Scarlet Knight raising his sword in triumphant fashion atop a steed.

“Ron and I have long traveled to our opponents’ campuses, where we so often would see a statue representative of the school’s mascot or tradition,” Joanna told ScarletKnights.com. “We felt that Rutgers, a proud Big Ten university, deserved to have its own statue, so we decided to fund it.”

RELATED: Rutgers Reveals Throwback Long Sleeve Uniform

With Rutgers joining the B1G five years ago, the athletics department has promoted fundraisers to help its different sports programs strive toward being more competitive in the conference. Newer facilities, renovations and additions to campus have been part of that movement.

Here are some of the pictures from Friday night’s unveiling:

We’ll see if the unveiling of the statue provides a spark for the football team in the season opener.

Rutgers opens the season against UMass and is coming off a 1-11 campaign a year ago. The Scarlet Knights are hoping to add a few more wins to the record this fall.