Michigan Wolverine Football: Michigan at Rutgers — What May Happen
Sep 13, 2014; Piscataway, NJ, USA; General view of High Points Solutions Stadium during game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State Nittany Lions defeat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 13-10. Mandatory Credit: Jim O
Posted at 12:00pm — 10/4/2014
Michigan Wolverine Football: Michigan at Rutgers — What May Happen
What May Happen? Be Our Guest and Offer Up A Guess
No sense dwelling on the obvious, that is, the week that everyone wishes was not. It was far simpler to just worry and complain about simple wins and losses, although some have greatly magnified the evil of actually losing a sports contest. Now, the program is being assaulted from all sides and angles, perhaps including even from within. The media, and this is obvious to the savvy, are in full snout at the trough mode. The blood frenzy will continue until few precious drops remain. And then, like scavengers, they are off to the next planet. The media is enjoying a built in advantage, the concussion “incident” events from the initial hit until the final taps of a sun setting press conference (interpret as the final die-down). Their righteous indignation (quite self-serving) is easy to support and grabs public attention.
So, what is known? Rutgers is in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and is also known as the State University of New Jersey. Like about everything else in that part of the world, Rutgers is expensive, and so, many from New York and New Jersey travel to out of state universities to get a cheaper education.
Sep 20, 2014; Annapolis, MD, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights mascot stands on the field during the second quarter against the Navy Midshipmen at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY SportsWe know that the Big Ten is happy to be in the New York market, even though it has long been put forth as an assumption the New York market cares little about college football. New to the Big Ten does not mean new to Division One football. Rutgers has actually played more football games than Michigan.
We know that Rutgers is 4-1 and could easily be 5-0. The Scarlet Knights lost a tough 13-10 league opener to Penn State, demonstrating what life in the Big Ten will be like.
We know that Rutgers primary running back was hurt and did not play last week, and that the running game should not be as good as Cobb and Minnesota. But beware, watch some film and the offensive line of Rutgers is not bad at all. The group is veteran and seems to drive off the snap. Rutgers wants to run a balanced offense like most programs, and also like most programs will depend on the running game to accomplish this aim. The tight ends give Rutgers some versatility on offense. So, be prepared for some more common sense, do what works, basic with limited frills offense. In four of five games Rutgers has scored more than 30 points.
We know the atmosphere will be electric and probably nasty, it is New Jersey. The stadium is sold out and Rutgers months ago set the game for prime time.
We know that Michigan has talent but is in total disarray. When the soft start to melt, tell tale signs start to show. That is what Michigan fans should look for more than anything else this weekend. Regardless of what happens, nothing will satisfy the pitchfork and torch crowd the rest of this year, or perhaps ever more. Coaches will attempt to maintain order and program focus, and the players just need to let it fly and leave the ancillary issues at the front desk. Getting on the field may be a blessed relief for most.
We will see how Coach Nuss attacks Rutgers, a decent, and only decent defensive team. Rutgers will look for the off-tackle power play, probably from an unbalanced line, and probably on first down. Michigan will work the inside game, hopefully breaking a few more, instead of three or four a game over five yards.
What else happens is an unknown. About everything else about Michigan is an unknown. So as the title says, take a guess, usually there is the art of making an educated guess. But that luxury may not exist. The best guess the books are making is a Michigan loss.
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Written by GBMWolverine Staff — Doc4Blu
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