Previewing Michigan Football at Rutgers

Saturday, Michigan Football has their second night game in a row when they take on Rutgers at SHI Stadium. The Wolverines have only played the Scarlet Knights eight times before, and are on a seven-game win streak against them.

Michigan announced that it will be wearing all-white uniforms against Rutgers on Saturday. The last time the Wolverines wore the white jersey and pants combination was last season when they played Nebraska on the road in a 32-29 victory.

Michigan’s red zone offense has struggled tremendously so far this season, despite what the final scores of their matchups might look like. While the Wolverines have taken 44 trips within the 20-yard line, they have only scored on 41 of these attempts, and only 28 of these scores have been touchdowns.

Luckily, Jake Moody has remained a safety net for Michigan this season. He has made all five of his attempted field goals against the Spartans last Saturday, including his furthest of the season from 54 yards away. Moody also has the third most points of any FBS player this season with 89 points, sitting only behind Pitt running back Israel Abanikanda with 102 points, and Blake Corum with 90 points.

While the Wolverines have struggled offensively in the red zone, Rutgers has had struggles there of their own, only defensively. The Scarlet Knights have allowed scores on each of their opponents red zone drives, as well as touchdowns on 15 of these 18 drives.

The Wolverines’ offense has consistently been called one-dimensional this season due to their impressive run-game being the central aspect. This matchup against Rutgers could be a good opportunity for JJ McCarthy to prove his passing abilities prior to bigger matchups later in the season, such as Illinois and Ohio State.

Blake Corum is continuing to show why he is a Heisman trophy contender after his performance against Michigan State. Corum completed his first receiving touchdown while also rushing for  177 yards and a touchdown last weekend. Running back Donovan Edwards was also helpful in multiple areas of the offense against the Spartans. Edwards had 42 rushing yards as well as three receptions for 38 receiving yards.

Tight end Luke Schoonmaker came back from his struggle vs Penn State a few weeks ago by grabbing five receptions for 70 yards against the Spartans. Schoonmaker continues to be one of McCarthy’s favorite targets, along with wide receiver Ronnie Bell who averages 12.4 yards per reception.

Linebacker Junior Colson has continued to show up for the Wolverines with 10 tackles and one tackle for loss against Michigan State. Linebacker Mike Morris is also an extremely vital part of the Michigan defense, as he is tied for the most sacks in the Big Ten with six.

Defensive back Rod Moore was effective against the Spartans with five tackles and one interception. Moore leads the Wolverines with three total interceptions this season. Additionally, defensive back Makari Paige had an impressive game of his own, getting six of his 10 total tackles of this season against Michigan State.

Brad Robbins only had to punt once during the entire game against Michigan State, and has only punted 19 times this season. Michigan Football’s 20 total punts this season are the least of any team in the Big Ten.

Overview of Rutgers

Rutgers’ offense has really struggled this season, specifically quarterback Evan Simon who has only completed 57.7 percent of his passes. While Simon has thrown four touchdown passes, he has also thrown six interceptions. These offensive problems have contributed to the Scarlet Knights having the least amount of passing yards in the Big Ten with 1238 yards. Gavin Wimsatt the freshman is expected to start Saturday.

Wide receivers Sean Ryan and Aron Cruickshank have been two of Simon’s favorite targets this season. Ryan averages 33.6 receiving yards per game and has two receiving touchdowns on the season, whereas Cruickshank averages 31.9 yards per game with two touchdowns of his own. Tight end Johnny Langan has also been an important part of Rutgers’ passing game, averaging 22.3 yards per game and completing one touchdown so far this season.

Despite having the fourth most rush attempts in the Big Ten, the Scarlet Knights have the eighth most rush yards with 1205 total yards. Two key components in Rutgers’ run game are freshman Samuel Brown V and sophomore Kyle Monangai. Brown has averaged 53.4 rush yards per game along with three touchdowns, whereas Monangai averages 26.5 yards per game and has two touchdowns on the season.

While the Scarlet Knights’ defense has struggled in the red zone, they have had a few key players aid them in overall defensive success. Lineman Deion Jennings has 66 total tackles so far this season, along with four passes defended. Linebacker Tyreem Powell has 45 tackles of his own, as well as three sacks. When it comes to Rutgers’ secondary, defensive back Christian Braswell has three interceptions and four passes defended.

The Wolverines are looking to go 9-0 for the first time since 2016, the same season in which they beat the Scarlet Knights 78-0. With a number of tricky games to close out the regular season for Michigan, it is extremely important that they are able to pull out this away-win on Saturday.