Rutgers Takes Care of Business Against Tulane

Game 5: Tulane

Tulane So Far

Tulane Coaching

Rutgers on Offense

Rutgers on Defense

Prediction Rutgers 35 Tulane 13

B1G Power Rankings Week 5

1. Michigan State (Previously 1)

Last Week: 73-14 win over Eastern Michigan
This Week: Wyoming
Prediction: MSU 41 WYO 20

They destroyed a very bad Eastern Michigan team and should have no problem with an underrated Wyoming team before Big 10 play begins. Still head and shoulders above everyone else in the conference.

2. Ohio State (2)

Last Week: Bye
This Week: Cincinnati
Prediction: tOSU 30 CIN 27

As Rutgers fans know, Cincinnati always has a good offense and Gunner Kiel could give the Bucs some problems, but JT Barrett and the offense are improving every week.

3. Nebraska (3)

Last Week: 41-31 win over Miami (FL)
This Week: Illinois
Prediction: NEB 37 ILL 24

They won a chippy game over a mediocre Miami team convincingly, and should dispatch of Illinois easily before a big show down in East Lansing next week.

4. Wisconsin (4)

Last Week: 68-17 win over Bowling Green
This Week: USF
Prediction: WIS 55 USF 17

Melvin Gordon went crazy last week and seems to be healthy after being banged up earlier in the year. USFwillnot give their defense any problem.

5. Penn State (5)

Last Week: 48-7 win over UMass
This Week: Northwestern
Prediction: PSU 30 NW 13

Still not looking particularly great, but nobody else warrants being above them yet. They should handle a really bad Northwestern team.

6. Rutgers (7)

Last Week: 31-24 win over Navy
This Week: Tulane
Prediction: Coming Soon

Injuries are mounting for the Scarlet Knights, but their front seven and running game have been very strong.

7. Maryland (8)

Last Week: 34-20 win over Syracuse
This Week: at Indiana
Prediction: UMD 31 IND 35

Syracuse isn't good. I could see Indiana's offense giving this defense some trouble.

8. Indiana (12)

Last Week: 31-27 win over Missouri
This Week: Maryland
Prediction: IND 35 UMD 31

Going on the road and defeating the defending SEC East champions is the Big 10' biggest and most impressive win this year.

9. Iowa (9)

Last Week: 24-20 win over Pitt
This Week: at Purdue
Prediction: Iowa 24 PUR 13

Back up quarterback CJ Beathard lead a second half comeback at Pitt last week and it looks like the Hawkeyes have a QB controversy brewing.

10. Michigan (6)

Last Week: 26-10 loss to Utah
This Week: Minnesota
Prediction: MICH 17 MIN 13

The Wolverine offense has been abysmal against power 5 foes and a QB change might be on the horizon.

11. Minnesota (10)

Last Week: 24-7 win over San Jose State
This Week: at Michigan
Prediction: MIN 13 MICH 17

Pretty solid team, but they can't pass. Hard to see them going into the Big House and taking back the Little Brown Jug.

12. Illinois (11)

Last Week: 42-35 win over Texas State
This Week: at Nebraska
Prediction: NEB 37 ILL 24

Wes Lunt is good, their defense, not so much.

13. Purdue (13)

Last Week: 35-13 win over Southern Illinois
This Week: Iowa
Prediction: PUR 13 Iowa 24

Two wins now.

14. Northwestern (14)

Last Week: 24-7 win over Western Illinois
This Week: at Penn State
Prediction: NW 13 PSU 30

First win in a while.

Rutgers Bounces Back With Win Over Navy

Game 4: Navy

Rutgers heads down to Annapolis today to take on the Navy Midshipmen and hopefully pick up the pieces from last week's heart breaking loss to Penn State. This is a classic trap game, even though the Knights lost last week, since Navy is a solid team with a dangerous offense and Rutgers could be looking back at last week and/or ahead to playing Michigan in a few weeks. Hopefully they were focused this week in practice, because Navy as always presents an intersesting and difficult challenge.

On offense, Rutgers needs to get Paul James going again. They shied away from the run game to their own detriment last week, and they need to establish James early to get out to a lead and make Navy play from behind. Rutgers offensive line is a lot better than Navy up front, and they need to make their presence felt. If you want to hit Leonte Carroo off of play action to try to get a bigg play and Nova's confidence up, fine. But be the running football team that you are today.

On defense, Rutgers must stay disciplined to stop Navy's triple option and various constraint plays. Interior guys on the fullback, outside guys on the quarterback, ddefensivebacks on the slot backs. It's not that easy, but it can be done. Rutgers has usually played out of the nickel package with a rover (I would expect it to be Davon Jacobs today) to get more speed on the field to stop run, so watch for that. Let Darius Hamilton and co. make plays in the backfield and get them off schedule. That will really throw a wrench in things. As will getting out to a big lead and making them pass. They do not want to do that/

Rutgers should win this game, but who knows how focused they will be for various reasons. Hopefully the offense gets back on track and the defense builds upon last week.

Rutgers 24 Navy 21

Half Time Injury Update: Starting cornerback Nadir Barnwell and starting linebacker Kevin Snyder both did not suit up today. Not having Snyder's veteran presence could have hurt against the triple option team, but the linebackers are doing fine. Barnwell is good in run support and Navy is throwing effectively so it hurts not having him,

Wide receivers Andre Patton and Ruhan Peele are both out for the fourth consecutive game.

Runningback Paul James went down with an apparent leg injury and looks to be done for the day.

Free safety Delon Stephenson also seems to be out for the rest of this one with an injury.

Opponent Preview: Navy

Tomorrow's Opponent, but Future American Heroes

Navy has become one of Rutgers most common out of conference opponents, and that makes sense. They are located in the northeast and provide an interesting and tough test for the team year in and year out before conference play kicks into full gear. Tomorrow will be the 16th meeting between the two programs in the last 22 years, and Rutgers leads the all time series against the Midshipmen 12-7.

The Midshipmen So Far...
Navy is off to a 2-1 start, with road wins over Temple and Texas State after a season opening home loss to Ohio State. They gave the Buckeyes quite a scare in week one, as they trailed by only three points for much of the fourth quarter, before Ohio State eventually pulled away.

Coaching
Ken Niumatalolo is in his seventh year as the head man in Annapolis and he owns a 51-31 record, with five bowl appearances and two bowl wins. Niumatalolo is from Hawaii and played for the quarterback for the Rainbow Warriors before becoming a long time offensive assistant at Navy, taking over the head coaching position from Paul Johnson who left for Georgia Tech after the 2007 regular season.

Offense
Niumatalolo runs the triple option offense out of the flexbone, and it has worked so well under him and Johnson that the other two service academies copied the Navy model on offense in their rebuilding efforts. The triple option was once the most en vouge offense across college football 30-40 years ago, and it only stopped for the most part because of the recruiting disadvantages it put some power programs in (not going to get you to the NFL! Most opposing coaches say). The service academies don't have to worry as much about recruiting for obvious reasons. This offense still works though, despite only being run by the three service academies, Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern at the FBS level.

Defending Navy's offense and the triple option in general is extra difficult because you not only have to account for the fullback, quarterback and slot back, all of whom are potential ball carriers on most plays, but the counters and traps and the occasional pass plays that will gash you if they get you off guard as well. It is incredibly tough to defend if you do not have experience defending it, but Joe Rossi and some of Rutgers players have experience against it after playing Army in 2012 and Navy in 2011.

The Navy offense is led by quarterback Keenan Reynolds, who rushed for 1466 yards and 31 touchdowns a year ago. The junior signal caller is a very elusive runner and a master ball handler, making him the perfect quarterback for this type of offense. He is not a major passing threat, but he has thrown for 13 touchdowns against only 4 interceptions while averaging over 8 yards an attempt in his 2+ years as a starter. He missed last week's game against Texas State with a knee injury, but he is expected to start tomorrow.

Navy's offensive line is pretty experienced, led by third year starting guard Jake Zuzek. Most triple option teams are pretty small lines(I remember a few years ago Georgia Tech started a running back at right tackle after a few injuries), but all of the Midshipmen starting five are north of 275. They are smart players and will get great angles on their and they will cut block you. You have to watch out for that. This group is not over powering though, and they really don't need to be.

Senior slot back Noah Copeland is Navy's leading rusher and sophomore Jamir Tillman is their leading receiver.

Defense
Navy runs a 3-4 defense, and they lost a lot of starters from last years group, including appropriately named rover Wave Ryder. They still have a lot of experience on this side of the ball, however, as their top six leading tacklers are upperclassmen.

Navy is bigger upfront than you would expect, and they are of course very disciplined. Not many explosive play makers in this group, and they will give up a lot of yards, but they are usually able to prevent you from making big plays and lock it down in the redzone.

Conclusion
Navy always presents an interesting challenge with their now rare triple option offense, and I think there are a ton of benefits to playing a team like this. Having to stop the option can teach a normally fast and attacking offense to stay back and stay disciplined in your run fits, and that should carry over into conference play. They are also not a great team on defense and could boost the offense's confidence after last week's disaster. The Midshimpmen are a regional rival and a normally solid team, they are exactly the kind of program Rutgers should play in their out of conference slate, even when they go to a 9 game conference schedule.

Big 10 Power Rankings and Picks for Week 4

1. Michigan State (Prev 1)

Last Week:Bye
This Week: Eastern Michigan
Prediction: MSU -45

Still the best and most well rounded team in the conference by a wide margin. They should have the top defense in the league, and Connor Cook and Tony Lippett are dangerous in the passing game. Look for them to get their ground game going against a week Eastern Michigan team this week.

2. Ohio State (2)

Last Week: 66-0 Win over Ken State
This Week: Bye

The Buckeyes really took their frustrations out on the Golden Flashes last week. Even though Ken State is not very good, their offense looked much improved from the first two games. They are very young, they will get better as the season goes along.

3. Nebraska (3)

Last Week: 55-19 Win over Fresno State
This Week: Miami (FL)
Prediction: NEB -8

Bo Pelini's team bounced back from last weeks narrow escape against McNeese State by taking care of business out west. Ameer Abdullah is the best running back in the conference, and the defense looked better against the Bulldogs. The Canes are a bad team, they should not cause a problem playing a night game in Lincoln.

4. Wisconsin (4)

Last Week: Bye
This Week: Bowling Green
Prediction: BG +27 with the Badgers winning outright

The Badgers still have a strong defense and running game, but they face a tough MAC opponent. Let's see if Tanner McEvoy can throw against an FBS team. Bowling Green coach Dino Babers is from the Art Briles coaching tree, so they could have trouble with their speedy spread offense.

5. Penn State (7)

Last Week: Sigh
This Week: UMass
Prediction: PSU -27

The Nittany Lions have a bunch of glaring weaknesses, but they have the best quarterback in the conference in Christian Hackenberg and maybe the best defensive player in the league in Anthony Zettel. Umass played Colorado, Boston College and Vanderbilt tough, but the "Joe Out" crowd might give them problems.

6. Michigan (5)

Last Week: 34-10 Win over Miami (OH)
This Week: Utah
Prediction: Utah +4

Michigan seems to be a classic "the sum is less than the whole of it's parts" team. Turnovers are a problem, as is their young offensive line. The Utes usually have a physical front seven that will probably give them fits up front.

7. Rutgers (8)

Last Week: 13-10 Loss to Penn State
This Week: at Navy
Prediction: Coming Soon

Yes, Rutgers lost and still moved up. This is not a good conference, folks. Gary Nova showed last week that he is still turn over prone, but the defense stepped up in a huge way. At the very least, they won't be pushovers in their new conference.

8. Maryland (10)

Last Week: 40-37 loss to West Virginia
This Week:aat Syracuse
Prediction: MD pick em


I watched most of the Terps game last week, and they were lucky they only lost by three. The Mountaineers dominated them, but shot themselves in the foot with turnovers, inefficiency in the redzone and the total lack of ability to defend the zone read. So yes, they looked bad and still moved up.
9. Iowa (6)

Last Week: 20-17 loss to Iowa State
This Week: at Pitt
Prediction: Iowa +7

Brandon Schreff surprisingly started the CyHawk Game last week, but it wasn't enough to jump start their offense. It is a rivalry game, but Iowa State is a middle of the road Big 12 team at best. I'd expect a low scoring contest with the Panthers.

10. Minnesota (9)

Last Week: 30-7 loss at TCU
This Week: San Jose State
Prediction: Minn -10

Facing a Gary Patterson defense with a one dimensional offense is no way to go through life.Their own defense didn't look great wither.

11. Illinois (12)

Last Week: 44-19 loss at Washington
This Week: vs Texas State
Prediction: Ill -13

They played a very sloppy game in Seattle  and the defense continues to be troublesome.

12. Indiana (11)

Last Week: 45-42 loss to Bowling Green
This Week: at Missouri
Prediction: Mizz -14

Their offense finally looked explosive, but their defense fell apart in the second half. Missouri is one of the better team in the SEC East, this will be a tough one.

13. Purdue (14)

Last Week: 30-14 loss to Notre Dame
This Week: Southern Illinois

They were actually somewhat competitive against the Irish, so that's showing improvement!

14. Northwestern (13)

Last Week: Bye
This Week: Western Illinois

They are bad and injured too.

Other Picks:
Florida State -14 over Clemson
No Winston, no problem.Their defense and run game are still great and Clemson willingly starts their second best QB.

Oklahoma -8 over West Virginia

Alabama-15 over Florida

Virginia +15, BYU outright

The Hoos defense has been great so far, they should slow down Taysom Hill.

This is another pretty weak slate of games across the country. Can't wait until conference play kicks into full gear.