Rutgers vs. Minnesota 10/22/16 Preview

Rutgers Football vs. Minnesota Preview

Rutgers looks to move on from last week's 24-7 loss at the hands of the Fighting Illini, or more accurately, at the hands of the Scarlet Knights themselves. When you commit 5 turnovers you beat yourselves, regardless of the efforts of the other team. One obvious bright side was the ability of Giovanni Rescigno to guide the Rutgers offense down the field. As Coach Ash said in his postgame press conference, "Gio came in and provided a spark for the offense." By the Monday morning press conference, Rescigno "will be the starter moving forward."

Speaking of Rescigno, congratulations go out to him for putting himself in this position. Because he joined his recruiting class late, and only started one year at QB in high school, there was not a lot of fanfare with his arrival. Once Zach Allen was brought in this summer, Tylin Oden joined in the fall, and two returning QBs who saw game action last year were on the roster, it seemed Rescigno was buried on the depth chart. But by the season opener he was right there, listed as a co-backup on the two deep. He runs over half the Howard defense on his second collegiate snap, doesn't play again for weeks, then comes in against Illinois obviously prepared and ready to lead the offense. Now he's the starting quarterback at a Power 5 school. And the guy he backed up for three years in high school is the No. 3 QB at Michigan. I have a feeling Gio has some more surprises in him for the RU faithful.

During Drew Mehringer's post-game presser, the OC looked as if he was about to cry. Between the turnovers, the bad snaps, and the fact that RU bested Illinois in almost every offensive category other than points scored, I don't blame him. By the Monday press conference, he was definitely a bit more upbeat. He seemed to reinforce that Gio is starting because "he made a couple of plays with his feet" and "energized the sideline." Rescigno certainly seemed more confident on the option type plays, and more fluid with pitching and tucking the ball, probably because he played out of the pistol formation in high school.

Mehringer also mentioned that he was pleased with the play of Andre Patton and said that Patton "needs to play well for us to have success."

Defensively, I didn't feel like there was much new we learned this week. Defensive Coordinator Jay Niemann seems to be most concerned with the run defense, an area where Rutgers continues to give up big plays. Having Saquan Hampton healthy again for this week should help. It would be really good to have Hampton and Hester for the same game, something that hasn't been the case since week 1.

In terms of preparing for Minnesota, one of the main concerns for Rutgers appears to be the size of the Minnesota players, particularly the offensive line. Ash mentioned that Minnesota has a "big offensive line, good running backs, good quarterback." On paper, it seems as though Rutgers catches a break since it was announced that Minnesota's No. 1 QB Mitch Leidner will miss another game with a concussion. His replacement, Conor Rhoda, completed just 7 of 15 passes last week against Maryland. [UPDATE: Mitch Leidner was cleared to play.]

Yet Minnesota still beat the Terps by three touchdowns. So, it will certainly come down to run defense. Minnesota is averaging 207.3 yards rushing per game, and the Rutgers defense is giving up 263.7 rushing yards per game. The main man is tailback Rodney Smith, currently fourth in the Big Ten in rushing. Meanwhile, receiver Drew Wolitarsky is second in the conference in catches. This differential is a big reason the Scarlet Knights are currently 17.5 point underdogs.

The Scarlet Knights will be traveling to Minneapolis for the game, but the weather should not be a factor. As of now, the weather report has it being a high of 64 degrees and sunny on Saturday.