Rutgers and Washington are set to kick off on Friday, October 10th, at 9 pm EST. The Scarlet Knights’ trip to the West Coast is the latest kickoff they will have this season.
Rutgers will look to rebound and get their season back on track after dropping two games before the bye week. Knights head coach Greg Schiano spoke about using the bye week to get back to fundamentals and to keep improving a little bit each day.
One of the fundamental concerns that Schiano has talked about at length is the defense’s
tackling issues. Washington running back Jonah Coleman is one of the best in the Big Ten, having already rushed for 474 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. Rutgers’ tackling will have to show drastic improvement, or else Washington’s running game can make it a long day for the Knights’ defense. The Huskie offense is averaging 446.4 yards per game, with an average of around 200 coming on the ground. Their quarterback, Demond Williams, can run as well, rushing for 246 yards this season. Rutgers has struggled mightily against the run so far this year, but it will need to find a way to slow it down to have a chance to win.
As for the offense, a few changes must be made as well. First of all, the team should’ve prepped more during the bye week to deal with loud environments, so what happened at the end of the Minnesota game doesn’t happen again. On top of that, the front line needs to do a better job at protecting quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis so he isn’t under as much pressure as he was against the Gophers, where he was sacked seven times. Other than that, Rutgers will again lean on their offense to score a lot of points to help secure the win. Washington has a very strong run defense, so this should be another instance of Rutgers using the pass to set up the run.
This game will come down to whether or not Rutgers’ run defense can hold Washington in check long enough for the passing offense to take advantage. That is much easier said than done because Washington’s defense held No.1 Ohio State in check for most of the game while its offense struggled.
Rutgers and Washington are set to kick off on Friday, October 10th, at 9 pm EST in Seattle. The Scarlet Knights’ trip to the West Coast is the latest kickoff they will have this season.
