– Last Updated on June 8, 2018 7:51 am
2017 Football Preview – Big Ten – Scarlet Knights
Looking for 2017 Rutgers Scarlet Knights predictions? The Scarlet Knights are still trying t find their competitive footing in the Big Ten. Last year they were winless in the conference and that could certainly happen once again. The coach might be safe because the expectations are pretty low too.
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- 2017-18 College Football Preview – Rutgers Scarlet Knights
- Head Coach: Chris Ash
- 2015 Record: 2-10
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights Odds to win the 2017 FBS Championship: +100000
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Getting more wins might be too much to ask but there are lots of ways for this group to show improvement.
2017 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Predictions: Team Strengths
Its all Relative: This is not a good team right now. There is not much history for this program and it has really fallen off since Greg Schiano left campus.
The best part of this team is probably the special teams featuring Janarion Grant. When he went down last year everything kind of stopped.
The goal of offensive coordinator Jerry Kill is to get him the ball as much as possible but they have to be careful not to wear him out.
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There are still questions about who is going to be running the offense though, thanks to Louisville grad transfer QB Kyle Bolin.
Defensive Improvement: The defense was not very good but there are a lot of returning players – at least there is some optimistic notion for incremental improvement.
Trevor Morris looks the part at middle linebacker. He led the team in tackles a year ago and is sure to get lots more chances to pad those number this season.
To give their defense more of a chance the Knights might to lean more on senior RB Robert Martin. He averaged more than 5ypc a year ago.
2017 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Predictions: Team Weaknesses
Depth Issues: Rutgers is not a sporting powerhouse. For most of their history they have been alsorans in whatever conference they participated in.
As they have adjusted to life in the Big 10 the big challenge they have is depth. They are never going to recruit against Michigan and Ohio State but their lack of depth is even more notable when inevitable injuries attack the roster.
It is still going to be a few more seasons for the talent to get to a level of competing with the big boys…and it might never get there. Louisville and USF are not exactly blue blood programs.
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Somehow, someway the Knights have to figure out a way to score the ball. They were shutout against OSU, Michigan, Penn State and Michigan State. Those zeroes are very ugly looking.
The lack of offense put the defense in some rough situations. It is a bit of a chicken and eggs situation though.
This team needs to set some measure that is attainable as a goal. It might be winning a single conference game, that is the state of the program right now.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights Prediction: 1-11
Expectations are low is Piscataway and they should be. This team is not very good and it will be evident week after week.
Taking on the Best if the B10 is one thing but the Knights will begin their season by hosting Washington. A team with ambitions of returning to the playoffs. It won’t be pretty either.
Their best chances for wins will be in the following 2 weeks with Eastern Michigan and Morgan State. Morgan State is the lone layup on the schedule, just don’t read much into it. They are a low level FCS program.
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I do not see any road victories for Rutgers. Perhaps they might nip Purdue at home but i like that program,
2017 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Football Schedule
- 9/1/17 8:00 PM ET WASH
- 9/9/17 3:30 PM ET EMU
- 9/16/17 3:30 PM ET MORG
- 9/23/17 3:30 PM ET @NEB
- 9/30/17 TBD OSU
- 10/14/17 TBD @ILL
- 10/21/17 12:00 PM ET PUR
- 10/28/17 12:00 PM ET @MICH
- 11/4/17 TBD MD
- 11/11/17 TBD @PSU
- 11/18/17 TBD @IND
- 11/25/17 TBD MSU
What do you think about our 2017 Rutgers Scarlet Knights predictions? Please leave us a comment below telling us how you think they’ll do in 2017!
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