History vs. Michigan:
Michigan leads all-time series 6-1
Last meeting: 2020 at Rutgers - 48-42 Michigan
This Season:
vs Temple - W 61-14
at Syracuse - W 17-7
vs Delaware - W45-13
Vedral is 58/81 (71.6%) with 606 yards, 4 TDs and no INTs. He's had 22 rushes for 71 yards with a long of 15.
Running Backs: Isaih Pacheco 5'11" 215 lbs (Jr.) & Aaron Young 5'10" 205 lbs (So.)
Pacheco has had 45 rushes for 152 yards (3.4ypc) with 3 TDs and a long of 20 this season. He's also had 2 catches for -1 yard. Young has carried the ball 12 times for 45 yards (3.7ypc) with 1 TD and a long of 7. He's added 4 receptions for 32 yards and a long of 21.
Wide Receivers: Bo Melton 5'11" 195 lbs (Sr.), Shameen Jones 6'2" 185 lbs (RS Sr.) & Aron Cruickshank 5'10" 170 lbs (Jr.)
Melton has 20 receptions for 227 yards, 2 TDs and a long of 57 yards. Jones has had 7 catches for 44 yards with a long of 11. CruickShank has had 10 catches for 72 yards and a long of 19. He's also rushed the ball 4 times for 30 yards with a long of 14.
Tight End: Jovani Haskins 6'6" 250 lbs (RS Sr.)
Haskins has totaled 3 catches for 38 yards with a TD and a long of 30 yards.
Left Tackle: Raiqwon O'Neal 6'4" 305 lbs (RS Jr.)
15 career starts.
Left Guard: Cedrice Paillant 6'4" 310 lbs (RS Jr.)
10 career starts.
Center: Nick Krimin 6'5" 315 lbs (RS Sr.)
27 career starts.
Right Guard: Reggie Sutton 6'4" 305 lbs (RS Jr.)
13 career starts.
Right Tackle: Brendan Bordner 6'5" 305 lbs (RS Sr.)
6 career starts.
Defensive Tackles: Julius Turner 6'0" 275 lbs (RS Sr.), & Mayan Ahanotu 6'4" 285 lbs (RS Jr.)
Turner has 9 tackles with 4 behind the line of scrimmage and 2.5 sacks. Ahanotu has had 5 tackles with 1.5 for a loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
Defensive Ends: Mike Tverdov 6'4'' 275 lbs (RS Sr.) & CJ Onyechi 6'1" 250 lbs (RS Sr.)
Thus far, Tverdov has compiled 1 tackle which was for a loss and a pass deflection. Onyechi has 9 tackles with 1 for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery.
Outside Linebackers: Drew Singleton 6'2" 235 lbs (RS Sr.) & Olakunle Fatukasi 6'2" 240 lbs (Sr.)
Singleton has totaled 6 tackles and a fumble recovery. Fatukasi is probably Rutgers best player and already has had a total of 31 tackles including 6.5 for a loss, 3.5 sacks, and a forced fumble.
Middle Linebacker: Tyshon Fogg 6'2 245 lbs (Sr.)
Fogg has started the season with 10 tackles, 1 for a loss and 1 sack.
Cornerbacks: Tre Avery 5'11" 190 lbs (RS Sr.) & Kessawn Abraham 5'10" 185 lbs (RS Jr.)
Avery has 10 tackles and an INT he returned 21 yards. Abraham has had 7 tackles and 3 pass breakups.
Safeties: Christian Izien 5'10" 200 lbs (RS Jr.) & Avery Young 6'1" 205 lbs (Jr.)
Izien has 13 tackles on the season to go along with 1.5 for loss and 3 pass breakups. Young has contributed with 18 tackles, 1 for a loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
Punter and Kicker: Adam Korsak 6'2" 180 lbs (RS Sr.) & Valentino Ambrosio 5'9" 160 lbs (Jr.)
Korsak has 14 punts with an average of 51.7 yards and a long of 69. 3 were fair caught and 10 were downed inside the 20 with no touchbacks. Ambrosio is 3/4 on the year with a long of 34. He's 12/15 with a long of 42 on his career.
Returners: Aron Cruickshank 5'10" 170 lbs (Jr.)
Cruickshank has 6 punt returns this season with an average of 23.5 yards including a 62 yard TD return. He's also returned 6 kicks with an average of 26.1 yards and a long of 57.
Players to watch:
QB - Noah Vedral
OLB - Olankunle Fatukas
P - Adam Korsak
KR/PR - Aron Cruickshank
Prediction:QB - Noah Vedral
OLB - Olankunle Fatukas
P - Adam Korsak
KR/PR - Aron Cruickshank
Let's start with performance. Rutgers scores are somewhat impressive. 61 on Temple is the most points Rutgers scored in a game since September 16th, 2017 when they beat Morgan State 65-0. In the 42 games since, they only managed more than 21 points in 10 of those games and 5 of them were just in 2020. So, it was a welcome performance to start the year but it wasn't exactly as efficient as it appeared. For starters, Rutgers was only up by 12 (26-14) until half way through the 3rd. Secondly, despite the points, the offense was rather disappointing. On top of a defensive touchdown, Rutgers started 5 drives inside Temple territory with help of a 5-0 turnover differential, including two inside the Owls 20. On the 9 drives Rutgers actually started in their own territory, they had 6 punts (3 of them 3 and outs) and 3 touchdowns. The 3 touchdowns were the last 3 drives of their kind when the game was put away and on fields of 55, 64 and 62 yards respectively.
The Syracuse game is about what you'd expect out of Rutgers offensively. 195 total yards for the entire game against a Syracuse team that gave up 346 yards of offense the week prior to Ohio. A 3-0 turnover victory and Syracuse being pretty bad helped in this one. The victory over Delaware is probably the most efficient Rutgers has looked in awhile but it was Delaware and one troubling trend continued. They managed just 4.3 yards per carry against the FCS team. This coupled with 1.2 yards per carry against Syracuse and 4.3 yards a carry against Temple is not a great sign when it comes to Big Ten defensive fronts.
It should be noted that the offensive line is a tad smaller than the NIU line we saw last week. They held Temple and Delaware without a sack but Syracuse managed to rack up 4. I don't envision much of a running game for Rutgers and think Michigan should be able to generate pressure as well. QB Noah Vedral is capable but not much of a deep ball threat, however he has the ability to leave the pocket and pick up yards with his feet which make him a player to watch. It should also be noted his receivers are pretty talented and have the ability to make a play, especially Cruickshank in the open field.
Defensively, Rutgers has been impressive. They've had 8 turnovers, have chipped in a touchdown and a safety and have held their 3 opponents to just 34 points. However.... They played Temple, Syracuse and Delaware. None of which are teams that strike fear into the hearts of defenses worth anything but maybe Rutgers defense is worth something. They've truly not been tested. Their run defense was stout against Temple and Syracuse but Delaware did manage 4.7 yards per carry against Rutgers and it's not like they were catching them off guard and running at opportune times. The Blue Hens had 34 running plays to 25 passes. Teams have had a hard time completing passes against Rutgers going only 39-84 (46.4%). Again, how much of this is Rutgers actually being good we will find out soon. The bright side is, even if Rutgers pass defense is above average, I'm not sure their run defense will be up to snuff for what Michigan has brought to the table the first 3 games. Not only can this wear down the Scarlet Knights in combination with an offense that will have trouble moving the ball and perhaps putting them on the field more than they'd like but it could also open up the passing game for Michigan if need be and Rutgers secondary would have to prove it's not just opponent incompetence that's allowed them some sexy numbers.
Rutgers won't score easily and maybe Michigan won't score with much ease at first either. With Rutgers apparent NFL punter, Michigan could face a lot of long fields even if Rutgers can't manage much real estate but Michigan should be able to grind down Rutgers, take a decent lead into half and then spend the last 30 minutes hurting people's feelings.
Michigan wins 48-10
This years predictions:
41-17 vs WMU (47-14 actual)
31-20 vs Washington (31-10 actual)
45-16 vs NIU (63-10 actual)
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