I gotta be honest. I feel GREAT regarding our prospects of beating Michigan, because Rutgers is a BETTER football team. Michigan Football is a shell of its former self. They ain’t Ohio State, They ain’t Penn State and they ain’t even Michigan State, so that’s why Rutgers has a TERRIFIC opportunity to bring home the victory Saturday. It’s pretty simple: We execute= We win.
Their quarterback is John O’Korn, whom we last faced in 2013 when he played for Houston. He replaced Wilton Speight who was lost to a season ending injury. Karan Higdon is Michigan’s most productive rusher with 446 rushing yards. Grant Perry is their most productive receiver with 270 receiving yards. DL Chase Winovich seems to be their best defensive player who brings 9 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks to the table. He is nicely complemented by Rashan Gary who has 35 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks. LB Devin Bush leads their tacklers with 56.
To view how far Michigan has fallen, all one must do is compare contests from last year to this year.
Last year Michigan beat Penn State 49-10
This year Michigan lost to Penn State 42-13
Last year Michigan beat Michigan State 32-23
This year Michigan lost to Michigan State 14-10
One of the biggest reasons MSU and PSU beat Michigan is that they mitigated the effectiveness of Michigans rushing attack. UM went from rushing for 326 yards vs PSU in 2016 to 103 yards in 2017. They went from 192 yards rushing in 2016 vs MSU to 102 yards rushing in 2017. Rutgers Defense will need to show similar improvement, if we are to beat Michigan. Last year Rutgers Defense was mauled, and Michigan rolled up 481 yards rushing, with Chris Evans getting 153, Karan Higdon 108, Ty Isaac 99, and Jabrill Peppers 74.
A reasonable goal is to hold Michigan to fewer than 100 yards rushing. Now, I’m not going to complain if we give up 150 yards, and still get the win, but if we give up>200 rushing yards, it will likely be blowout city for us. That isn’t likely to happen imo.
Michigan was hurt by graduation, so most of the players who hammered Rutgers last year are no longer part of the team. Michigan lost between 14-16 starters depending on which source you consult, and including 10 on defense. Phil Steele claims that Michigan lost 16 starters (returns 5 on offense 1 on defense) This explains why Michigans offensive line is much weaker this year. Their rushing attack has slipped to #55 and they are ranked #118 in sacks given up. In particular, they gave up 7 sacks to Penn State and 4 sacks to Michigan State. Kemoko Turay and Sebastian Joseph better take note, because this is a PRIME opportunity for them, to earn the right, for an opportunity to receive an NFL paycheck.
On the other hand Michigan’s defense has been terrific, as they have the #4 defense in the country. But that ranking didn’t mean anything when Michigan faced Penn State and Michigan State, who have provided us with a clear template on how to beat Michigan: RUN THE BALL! Penn State ran for 224 yards, including 108 by RB Saquan Barkley and 76 by QB Trace McSorley. Michigan State ran for 158 yards, including 61 by QB Brian Lewerke, 59 by RB Madre London, and 27 by RB Gerald Holmes.
Gio, Gus, Robert, Raheem, and Josh are very capable of putting up similar numbers. We’ve already rushed for 131 yards vs Washington, and the Offensive Line is playing so much better now. In the last two games, we’ve put up 267 yards rushing on Illinois and 134 yards rushing on Purdue. We should be able to put up 100 yards+ on the Wolverines easily.
Penn State combined their rushing output with 282 passing yards, which is why they were able to HAMMER them. DaeSean Hamilton had 115 receiving yards. Janarion Grant is capable of the same. Saquon Barkley had 53 receiving yards. Raheem BlackShear is capable of the same. Mike Gesicki had 52 receiving yards. Jerome Washington is capable of the same. If we can muster up a significant passing attack, we should be able to beat Michigan, by a wide margin. I’ve been waiting all season for our offense to explode. However, that is not likely against Michigan, due to their tough defense. On the other hand, MSU only had 94 yards passing, and generated 5 turnovers, leading to their victory. This is probably our likeliest path to victory: running the ball, avoiding turnovers, and turning Michigan over.
Now lets look at key matchups:
Key Matchups:
Juwann Bushell-Beatty vs Kemoko Turay
Grant Perry vs Isaiah Wharton
Rashan Gary vs Tariq Cole
Mike McCray vs Raheem BlackShear
This is our best opportunity to beat a quality program this year. I say Rutgers seizes the day.
Rutgers 17
Michigan 14
Their quarterback is John O’Korn, whom we last faced in 2013 when he played for Houston. He replaced Wilton Speight who was lost to a season ending injury. Karan Higdon is Michigan’s most productive rusher with 446 rushing yards. Grant Perry is their most productive receiver with 270 receiving yards. DL Chase Winovich seems to be their best defensive player who brings 9 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks to the table. He is nicely complemented by Rashan Gary who has 35 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks. LB Devin Bush leads their tacklers with 56.
To view how far Michigan has fallen, all one must do is compare contests from last year to this year.
Last year Michigan beat Penn State 49-10
This year Michigan lost to Penn State 42-13
Last year Michigan beat Michigan State 32-23
This year Michigan lost to Michigan State 14-10
One of the biggest reasons MSU and PSU beat Michigan is that they mitigated the effectiveness of Michigans rushing attack. UM went from rushing for 326 yards vs PSU in 2016 to 103 yards in 2017. They went from 192 yards rushing in 2016 vs MSU to 102 yards rushing in 2017. Rutgers Defense will need to show similar improvement, if we are to beat Michigan. Last year Rutgers Defense was mauled, and Michigan rolled up 481 yards rushing, with Chris Evans getting 153, Karan Higdon 108, Ty Isaac 99, and Jabrill Peppers 74.
A reasonable goal is to hold Michigan to fewer than 100 yards rushing. Now, I’m not going to complain if we give up 150 yards, and still get the win, but if we give up>200 rushing yards, it will likely be blowout city for us. That isn’t likely to happen imo.
Michigan was hurt by graduation, so most of the players who hammered Rutgers last year are no longer part of the team. Michigan lost between 14-16 starters depending on which source you consult, and including 10 on defense. Phil Steele claims that Michigan lost 16 starters (returns 5 on offense 1 on defense) This explains why Michigans offensive line is much weaker this year. Their rushing attack has slipped to #55 and they are ranked #118 in sacks given up. In particular, they gave up 7 sacks to Penn State and 4 sacks to Michigan State. Kemoko Turay and Sebastian Joseph better take note, because this is a PRIME opportunity for them, to earn the right, for an opportunity to receive an NFL paycheck.
On the other hand Michigan’s defense has been terrific, as they have the #4 defense in the country. But that ranking didn’t mean anything when Michigan faced Penn State and Michigan State, who have provided us with a clear template on how to beat Michigan: RUN THE BALL! Penn State ran for 224 yards, including 108 by RB Saquan Barkley and 76 by QB Trace McSorley. Michigan State ran for 158 yards, including 61 by QB Brian Lewerke, 59 by RB Madre London, and 27 by RB Gerald Holmes.
Gio, Gus, Robert, Raheem, and Josh are very capable of putting up similar numbers. We’ve already rushed for 131 yards vs Washington, and the Offensive Line is playing so much better now. In the last two games, we’ve put up 267 yards rushing on Illinois and 134 yards rushing on Purdue. We should be able to put up 100 yards+ on the Wolverines easily.
Penn State combined their rushing output with 282 passing yards, which is why they were able to HAMMER them. DaeSean Hamilton had 115 receiving yards. Janarion Grant is capable of the same. Saquon Barkley had 53 receiving yards. Raheem BlackShear is capable of the same. Mike Gesicki had 52 receiving yards. Jerome Washington is capable of the same. If we can muster up a significant passing attack, we should be able to beat Michigan, by a wide margin. I’ve been waiting all season for our offense to explode. However, that is not likely against Michigan, due to their tough defense. On the other hand, MSU only had 94 yards passing, and generated 5 turnovers, leading to their victory. This is probably our likeliest path to victory: running the ball, avoiding turnovers, and turning Michigan over.
Now lets look at key matchups:
Key Matchups:
Juwann Bushell-Beatty vs Kemoko Turay
Grant Perry vs Isaiah Wharton
Rashan Gary vs Tariq Cole
Mike McCray vs Raheem BlackShear
This is our best opportunity to beat a quality program this year. I say Rutgers seizes the day.
Rutgers 17
Michigan 14
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