Rutgers Scarlet Knights 2023 College Football Preview
July 25, 2023
2022 Recap
Record – 4-8
ATS – 6-6
It was another struggle for the Scarlet Knights as Big Ten Football just isn’t their JAM as of yet. They opened up like a HOUSAFIRE winning their first three games, but once conference play began, it got fairly ugly. They only managed to defeat a single Big Ten opponent (Indiana) but there were a pair of close calls along the way (CORN, Sparty). The Scarlet Knights ended the season on a sour note by getting dismembered by Maryland on the road (lost 37-CACK).
Rutgers Scarlet Knights 2023 Outlook
OFFENSE
We’ve seen how folks projectile vomit when forced to watch just a few minutes of the communist airheads on THE VIEW, but taking in the majesty of the 2022 Rutgers offense might have been worse for Scarlet Knights fans LY. They averaged just 17.4 PPG (#124 FBS) and 282 YPG (#127) whilst posting a horrible 10 TD to 14 INT ratio. The hope is that youngster Gavin Wimsatt can make significant improvement at QB and stay healthy for the entire season. The THROW GAME weaponry looks very suspect but maybe Western Illinois transfer Nasiem Bradley can make a big impact? He was a dangerous specimen LY with the LEATHERNECKS (903, 9 TD). The strength of the offense is definitely the deep RB room as they’ll use a rotation of capable backs to wear down opposing defenses. They’ll need to improve up front but they have an experienced OL coach and over 100 career starts amongst the group. We believe they’ll be better on offense this year but it’s still a mediocre-looking attack on paper. Maybe new OC Kirk Ciarrocca can give them a spark?
DEFENSE
The Scarlet Knights were sneaky-good on defense LY as whilst they allowed 29 PPG (2nd worst Big Ten) they yielded a respectable 143 YPG on the ground (#10) and just 5.2 yards-per-play (#8). They’ll be a tough bunch this season with the return of eight starters and legit talent at every level. DE Aaron Lewis is a true PENETRATOR (8 TFL, 10 QBH LY), leading tackler Deion Jennings is a rock at LB (8.5 TFL), and safety Max Melton does a fine job on the back end (10 PBU, 2 INT). It’s also great to get DE/LB Mohamed Toure back after he missed LY due to injury (9 career sacks). This has the look of an above-average Big Ten defense but it won’t be easy facing the killer offenses in the Big Ten East.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Things don’t appear promising as the only key piece back for duty is PK Jude McAtamney (12-18 FG LY) and it really stings to lose All-Universe punter Adam Korsak who won the Ray Guy Award in 2022.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – If they want any hope of making a bowl game they’ve gotta do some real damage in the first half of the season as they’ve got, dare we say it, four winnable games. You know when Michigan plays the easiest schedule in history (again) that someone has to get SCREWED, and this year it happens to be Rutgers. The Big Ten East docket is nasty and they draw road games at Iowa AND Wisconsin.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Nothing overly-spooky is noted.
Season Win Total
Market consensus July 25
Over 3.5 -150
Under 3.5 +120
MEGALOCKS says:
Lean: Over
Wagner? Book it. Now we’ve just gotta worry about three more wins. Hmm. we count six other winnable games on the schedule so will take at least a SMALL TASTE of the ‘over’. Dumpster diving, yo.
MEGAmazing Tidbit
DEGENERATE WORLD, take notice. HC Greg Schiano has a fantastic ATS record as a road dog (31-19-1, 62%) and vs non-conference competition (36-21-1, 63%).
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
If these guys played in the Big Ten West they’d have a legit shot to make a bowl game and do a bit of damage. Then again, if we had wheels, we’d be a wagon. The defense will have to carry the team as we’re not thrilled with the QB situation or the special teams. We’ll call for four or five victories and a winning campaign vs the Vegas line. CHOP THAT WOOD, boys!