After getting thrashed by Wisconsin 31-10 last weekend, Rutgers football is listed as a near two-touchdown underdog this weekend at home against Nebraska. To be more specific, FanDuel has the Scarlet Knights listed as 13.5-point underdogs with the over/under being listed at 53.5 points. Rutgers will be searching for its first win ever over the Cornhuskers in this game, as Nebraska is currently a perfect 7-0 against the Knights.
Rutgers will be coming into this game on a three-game losing streak, falling
to Northwestern and Wisconsin in blowout fashion and being defeated by a struggling Michigan team. Similar to the Knights, the Cornhuskers are on a long losing streak of their own, falling to Indiana, Oregon, Washington and Illinois in consecutive weeks. However, unlike Rutgers, three of these losses came by a touchdown or less.
Anthony Colandrea, the Cornhuskers’ starting quarterback, has had a decent season so far, throwing for 2,100 yards and 16 touchdowns. However, his play has taken a serious step down in this losing streak for the Huskers, as over the last four games he has thrown three touchdowns and five interceptions. His passing yards haven’t decreased much over this stretch, but those yards have not translated into touchdowns. His best receiving option so far this season has been Kwazi Gilmer, who has 46 catches for 603 yards and seven touchdowns so far this season. Colandrea is also a decent runner, rushing for an average of 4.5 yards per carry as well as four total touchdowns this season. This is a concern for Rutgers, which has historically struggled against mobile quarterbacks.
Nebraska has two solid options in their running back room, Jamal Rule and Mekhi Nelson. So far this season, Rule has carried the ball 88 times for 632 yards and five touchdowns, while Nelson has 78 carries for 348 yards and five touchdowns. Having these two increases the likelihood of Nebraska wearing down the Knights’ poor rush defense.
Defensively, Nebraska is led in tackles by linebacker Owen Chambliss, while lineman Jahsear Whittington leads the Cornhuskers’ pass rush with 4.5 sacks.
In most years, this game could be seen as the perfect opportunity for the Knights to get their first-ever win against the free-falling Huskers. However, since Rutgers is also in a free fall and might be without several of its top offensive talents again, it is hard to see Nebraska not using this game to “get right.” The score differential will likely depend heavily on who is actually available for Rutgers.
Rutgers vs. Nebraska will take place at home on Saturday, November 14, at 12:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
