Michigan Football: 5 predictions for the Wolverines against Rutgers

Michigan football is taking on Rutgers Saturday in the Wolverines third Big Ten road game of the season. Here are five predictions.

For the third time, the Michigan football team will travel to New Jersey to take on Rutgers. The last time the Wolverines traveled to Piscataway, it was an embarrassment, with UM scoring 73 points and this game feels to have a similar result.

The Wolverines look like the most complete team in the Big Ten. Michigan football has defeated three straight ranked opponents and done so by an average of 24 points. Rutgers, on the other hand, has lost eight straight games and only lost by single digits twice in Big Ten play.

While these two teams are now in the same conference, in terms of talent level, they might be in a different universe. Offensively, Rutgers averages 276 yards per game. On defense, the Scarlet Knights are giving up 416.

Those aren’t promising numbers against a Michigan football team that has the nations top total defense (216 YPG), the best pass defense, as well as an offense that averages 418 yards per game and 36.7 points, which is 27th in the FBS.

This game is a mismatch of epic proportions. But it also puts pressure on Michigan to not just beat Rutgers, but blow them out. The committee is not going to be impressed if the Wolverines win 21-3 or something like that. The Wolverines need to hang 40-50 points on Rutgers and maintain their impressive dominance from game to game.

Some teams might walk in not expecting to need their best, but as hungry as this team is, I don’t know that we will see that. I’ve got more on that and the rest of my predictions here.