Rutgers apologizes for 'Beat Ped State' shirts

Rutgers University is apologizing for offensive signs and shirts referencing the Jerry Sandusky scandal that some fans wore to the school's football game against Penn State.

Several photographs posted over the weekend on an official Rutgers Football Facebook page showed tailgating fans wearing T-shirts that read "Beat Ped State," a nod to the child-sex-abuse scandal involving former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, according to screenshots of the Facebook page.

A blue-and-white sign outside the game in Piscataway showed what appeared to be stick figures of a man and boy engaged in a sex act, with "Penn State" emblazoned across the top.

In a statement this afternoon, Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann called the signs and shirts a "classless display that does not represent the ethos of our university, athletic department or fan base."

She said the images that "appeared briefly on our Facebook page as part of a 200-picture montage were immediately removed when we were alerted to their content."

The matchup was the first Big Ten game for the Scarlet Knights since they joined the conference this summer. Penn State won, 13-10.

"On behalf of Rutgers University and the Athletic Department, we would like to apologize for the regrettable actions of a handful of Rutgers fans on Saturday that do not convey the message of good, competitive spirit that we look forward to having with our new Big Ten rival Penn State University," Hermann said in the statement.

Sandusky, a longtime assistant coach at Penn State, was convicted in 2012 of molesting boys he met through the Second Mile, a charity he founded for at-risk youth. He is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence.