Indiana football hits the road for the first time this weekend, taking on Rutgers Saturday night in Piscataway. The Scarlet Knights got off to a rough start to the year, but are coming off a 58-7 win against Howard that could inspire confidence ahead of the Hoosiers coming to town.
The Hoosiers are also coming into the game off of a win, but a win that was much closer than experts and oddsmakers expected against Northwestern at home. Indiana is the heavy favorite again heading into the Rutgers matchup,
so the game is something of a get-right game for a Curt Cignetti team that’s struggled to dominate lesser opponents this year.
Here are three things to watch for in the matchup:
KJ Duff
It would be hard to overstate how important KJ Duff is to Rutgers’ passing game. He’s beating Charlie Becker with seven touchdown receptions already this year and has more than twice as many receptions as the next Scarlet Knights receiver. Plus more than three times as many receiving yards.
At 6’6”, 225 lbs, Duff would be a standout receiver on any college roster. Against then No. 12 USC, Duff had seven receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown. The next leading receiver had just two receptions.
Beyond winning Saturday, Bryant Haines’ approach to handling Duff may be a clue to how he will approach Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith later this year. They’re different players, but Indiana is without a true lockdown corner like D’Angelo Ponds, who was key to Indiana’s pass defense against elite receivers last year.
Indiana’s secondary
Outside of Duff, Saturday will be a good measuring stick for just how good Indiana’s secondary is as a unit, facing a quarterback who has struggled with turnovers so far this year.
Dylan Lonergan, Rutgers’ starting quarterback, has only played in three game this season, including last week’s thrashing of Howard that only required 17 passing attempts from him. Despite such limited action, he’s already thrown for five interceptions this year compared to his seven touchdowns. AJ Surace has stepped in for Lonergan at times to pretty mixed results.
Unlike Aidan Chiles, Lonergan isn’t a true rushing threat and he isn’t exceptional at extending plays. Outside of accounting for KJ Duff, this will be a much more straightforward assignment for Indiana’s defense, particularly the secondary, which struggled last week against Northwestern.
Fight
Rutgers suffered a week one home loss to UMass that would have caused lesser teams to throw in the towel then and there. That is not quite how Rutgers has responded to that catastrophic loss.
While the effort has resulted in just the one win against Howard, Rutgers kept it close in losses on the road at Boston College and at home against USC, both of which were one score games. Obviously USC’s loss last week makes the effort look somewhat less impressive, but keeping it to seven points against the Trojans is not what anyone expected after the loss to the Minutemen.
Part of this is probably due to the fact that Greg Schiano feels like he has nothing to lose, which may be true, but doesn’t make them less dangerous. If anything, it could make planning for this game a little less predictable.
Against USC, for example, Schiano opted for a fake punt on a fourth and 21 that turned into a 40-yard completion for his punter. The touchdown that resulted from that drive cut USC’s lead to three.
Cignetti hasn’t been caught off guard often, if ever, at Indiana, but he needs to prepare his group for a team that has everything to prove this week against a top ten team.
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