The Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-3, 4-2-1 ATS, 3-4 O/U) battle the Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-3, 4-3 ATS, 3-3-1 O/U) in a Big Ten showdown on Saturday evening. The Scarlet Knights beat Indiana last week. The Gophers’ struggles continued in an ugly road defeat against Penn State in their previous action. Minnesota posted a 42-7 win against Rutgers in the previous meeting in 2019.
The Rutgers Scarlett Knights are targeting their second Big Ten win of the season. They finally earned their first conference win last week, defeating Indiana 24-17 to cover the three-point spread. The victory ended a three-game slide which included defeats against Iowa and a road loss against Ohio State. The Knights have covered the spread in two of their four conference games.
Rutgers has used several QBs this season. Last week it was Noah Vedral getting the start. The senior had limited action in the earlier loss to Nebraska and recorded 113 passing yards in the win last week. Evan Simon leads the team with 740 passing yards and a 4:6 TD to INT ratio.
The Rutgers offense will run more than most teams. They have three RBs that will see action led by Samuel Brown V. The freshman RB had a season-best 101 rushing yards last week and leads the squad with 374 yards on 4.3 yards per rush. Aron Cruickshank has been kept in check. The senior WR has only made nine receptions in his last three games and has collected 255 receiving yards. The Rutgers offense has scored 24 or fewer points in all but one game.
Toe Tap Touchdown ??@ryan1_sean | #CHOP pic.twitter.com/nj4BuQMdNk
— Rutgers Football (@RFootball) October 22, 2022
The Scarlet Knights' defense is much better than the offense. In fact, the defense is outstanding. They limited Indiana to only 272 total yards last week. The unit only had one weak performance in the loss against Ohio State, but who doesn’t? The pass defense ranks 29th while the rush defense is sixth. Rutgers is scoring an average of 23 points, landing them 102nd. They are allowing an average of 21.3 points, placing them 32nd in the FBS.