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Week 11: Syracuse Orange @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights
We’re 1 fer 1 in out must win games in order to crawl into bowl contention…Can Syracuse continue to play at such a high level down in New Jersey?
When: Saturday November 8th, 2008 – 12:00 PM Eastern
Where: New Brunswick, New Jersey at Rutgers Stadium
Capacity: 42,000
Television: ESPNU
The Spread: The line opened at Rutgers -14 and after some fluttering back and forth still sits at Rutgers -14. The Orange are 0-4 against the spread their last four games in Rutgers.
Rivalry info: Syracuse is 28-9-1 all time against Rutgers losing 4 of the last 5 to the Scarlet Knights.
Head Coaches: Rutgers – Greg Schiano – 8th season at Rutgers (41-51 overall) Syracuse- Greg Robinson – 4th season at Syracuse (9-34 overall.)
Last time they played: Syracuse opened up with a 14-0 lead over the Scarlet Knights early in the first quarter…but Rutgers scored 38 unanswered to win the game 38-14.
Syracuse Offense vs Rutgers Defense:The Syracuse Offense is actually starting to roll a bit thinks to the continual hard running of Curtis Brinkley. Brinley put on a show last weekend tearing apart the #5 ranked run defense in the nation for 166 yards. If the Offensive Line can open holes for Brinkley like they did last week – Boonah will have no problem notching his 6th straight 100 yard game against a Rutgers defense that gives close to 150 ypg on the ground. Unfortunately this game may become somewhat of a shootout – and Brinkley can’t do it all on his own. Dantley has been efficient but has yet to really open up. Hopefully the re-addition of converted WR/CB now WR again Da’Mon Merkerson is the answer to possession receiver Donte Davis to help keep the air game flowing and the holes open for Brinkley. Rutgers ranks next to last in both rushing and passing efficiency in the Big East so there’s no reason the Orange cant put some points on the board in this one.
Rutgers Offense vs Syracuse Defense: With such offensive studs like WR Tiquan Underwood and WR Kenny Britt it was only a matter of time before the Rutgers offense finally started to roll. Quarterback Mike Teel was off to a horrible start but was able to throw for a total of 6 touchdowns against the Panthers…that’s twice as many as he threw in 7 games prior. Perhaps the resurgence of the Rutgers offense is thanks to soph RB Kordell Young who in his past three games has ran for 90 yards and a TD a game giving the Scarlet Knights more of a balanced attack. The Orange are going to have trouble trying to man Underwood and Britt – but the key to beating Rutgers is getting after Teel who has thrown 8 interceptions on the year. Although we’ve only been able to muster 8 sacks the entire year…its pivotal we get after Teel and force him into a few mistakes if we want to keep the Rutgers offense under wraps.
Why Syracuse will win: Brinkley continues to run wild and has the Scarlet Knights chasing him all day. Merkerson is able to stretch out the field and the WR core continues to make progress and mesh with Dantley. The Orange D continues to tighten up and forces Teel to turn the ball over a few times.
Why Louisville will win: The Rutgers offense is just too much for our secondary to handle and Britt and Underwood have a PSU-like field day. Schiano and his blitz heavy D give Brinkley few lanes and make life tough for Dantley.
Syracuse player to watch: RB Curtis Brinkley – 899 yards rushing – 5 rushing TD’s – 10 receptions for 67 yards. The SU workhorse is the key to this game and every game for Syracuse. He has a chance to exceed the 1000 yard mark on the season if he merely hits his average. An accommodating Rutgers D, ranked 73rd, should give him plenty of chances to extend his 100 yd games to a school record 6 straight.
Rutgers player to watch: WR Kenny Britt is having a sensational year. Unlike Louisville who lost their no deep threat, this kid can get behind us in a hurry. Britt has 51 receptions for 714 yards and 3 TDs. If he has a big game, much like Derek Kinder of Pitt did against us, it will be a potentially long day for the defense. He can single handedly keep the chains moving. We need to keep an eye on him all game long.
LVO’s Five things I don’t want to see Saturday:
1) Rutgers is starting to build somewhat of a reputation out there as a dirty team. They have already knocked out 3 Big East QBs out of games with head or neck injuries.The last thing we need to see Saturday is Cam Dantley knocked out. Not that we don’t have a capable backup in Andrew Robinson. Its just that Cam has started to show some nice progress last week and Andrew hasn’t seen any meaningful playing time since the opener. This is not the recipe for another win.
2) Mike Teel feeling comfortable in the pocket. Teel found his rhythm against Pitt to the tune of 6 TD passes. He has struggled with interceptions early in the year. Comfort equals trouble. We need to apply pressure and make him throw when he isn’t ready. Another big game for Santiago and the rest of the Dline is critical.
3) The draw play. It seems like a simple enough play, a delayed handoff to a back designed to catch the defense backpedaling into pass coverage. We suck at defending it. I don’t want to see it run against us because I’ll probably puke.
4) A fair catch off of a Rutgers punt. We are ranked 118th in the nation in punt returns. Find someone with some stones to advance the pigskin. Please! And hang on to the damn thing while you’re at it.
5) Us win the toss. We defer every damn time! Take the f’ing ball and stick it to these clowns right away. Let them get to know Curtis Brinkley early and often.
Lvilleorange Prediction: I’m seeing some signs of life on the Syracuse side of the field. Progress is being made. Can we take some momentum into Rutgers and get a road win. I don’t know, but I expect this to be a close game. I feel an incredible urge to put down my kool-aid. If we can run we will win. Oh what the hell, Syracuse 20 Rutgers 17.
Reyes39 Prediction: Rutgers 38 Syracuse 28
-Stats thanks to collegefootballdatabase and ncaa.org
-photos thanks to espn.com
