The two teams have played some pretty fun games over the last decade or so, and it's kind of sad to see this mini-rivalry go out with such a whimper. You know about the Scarlet Knights' struggles, but Connecticut has had a much worse season. They are 1-9 and they have been under the watch of an interim coach since Paul Pasqualoni was unceremoniously fired in September.
The Huskies play a similar style of football as Rutgers, as they run a traditional offense with little success, and can stop the run on defense, but can not defend the pass to save their lives. I would expect an ugly, low scoring, grind it out game like we saw last year.
Rutgers will probably rely heavily on the run game, but unless Paul James rediscovers his September mojo (sorry, I just watched Austin Powers), I don't see them having much success doing so. If that is the case, the Knights are going to have to rely on Chas Dodd's arm to win. Making that task more difficult will be the absence of Leonte Carroo, who was concussed last Thursday after being victimized by a head shot against UCF (which wasn't called, love those Big East officials). Hopefully Brandon Coleman is healthier after the long week, and Tyler Kroft can keep finding holes in coverage over the middle. They really need their offensive line to step up and dominate today too.
I don't think the defense will have to worry too much about Connecticut's passing attack, so we should see a lot of defenders stacking the box. The secondary will still be worrisome left out on an island, but the Huskies don't have the quarterback or the weapons to exploit them. I expect a big day out of the four guys up the middle, Darius Hamilton, Steve Longa, Kevin Snyder and Ike Holmes. Those guys have been great all year, and they will face an offense more to their liking.
It's worth noting that Ruhann Peele will start at corner and also be Rutgers' primary slot receiver today.That's pretty cool, you rarely see guys play both sides of the ball at this level.
Injuries: Carroo is out, and Beteim Bujari and Delon Stephenson are both questionable. They have really missed Bujari, and it would be a tremendous boost to have him back.
Losing this game wold be very, very bad for Kyle Flood's job security.
Prediction- Rutgers: 23 Connecticut: 21
A safety by Hamilton will prove to be the difference.
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