Rutgers’ inaugural Big Ten season looked at first to be one to remember, but it is quickly turning into one the fan base will want to forget. The Scarlet Knights (1-3 Big Ten, 5-3 overall) have gotten clobbered in their last two games leading up to their contest against the Badgers.
Rutgers started off the season with a pair of wins, one impressive, one expected. The first, a 41-38 Week 1 win against Washington State, was one of the few wins by a Big Ten team against a Power Five conference team in the out-of-conference season. However, the second was a 38-25 win against Howard was a closer-than-expected win against a cupcake FCS opponent.
Rutgers then opened their Big Ten career with a 13-10 loss to Penn State, who at the time looked like they could contend for the Big Ten title, but have since looked mediocre at best. After a pair of wins against Navy and Tulane, Rutgers knocked off Michigan 26-24, and at 5-1 looked to make a splash in their first Big Ten year.
Then the seasons’ wheels began to fall off. The Scarlet Knights traveled to Columbus and allowed Ohio State freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett to put on a show as the Scarlet Knights got clobbered 56-17.
Last week, after having a bye to prepare, Rutgers traveled to Nebraska and got trampled by senior running back Ameer Abdullah in a 42-24 loss. Abdullah set a Cornhusker record for 341 all-purpose yards as well as adding an impressive three rushing scores.
Allowing running games to dominate has been a consistent problem for Rutgers, ranking 83rd in rushing yards allowed per game, letting up an average of 178.3 per game on the ground. With Wisconsin’s stacked running game, Rutgers needs to stiffen up their run defense if they have any hope to win.
While their run defense hasn’t been great, their pass defense has been worse, ranking 89th in passing yards per game and allowing 249.3 yards per game through the air. This won’t be their biggest concern against Wisconsin’s shaky two quarterback system, but if they are beaten in the air by Wisconsin’s weak QB’s, they will have a much tougher road to victory.
On offense, the team has been lead by solid play from senior quarterback Gary Nova, with their passing game ranking 48th in the nation. However, in the loss to Nebraska, Nova injured his knee late in the first half. He didn’t return to play in the second half, and his status is up in the air for the game against the Badgers.
If Nova doesn’t play, freshman backup Chris Laviano will take the snaps, despite only attempting 11 passes on the season so far, most of them last week against the Huskers. The Scarlet Knights will likely struggle offensively without Nova, especially against a Badgers defense that has been particularly stingy of late.
Rutgers still has the possibility of winning a few more games and earning bowl eligibility, but to beat the Badgers, they would need to play like they did at the beginning of the season, and put aside their recent struggles.
