The Huskies host the Scarlet Knights on Montlake today for a second straight matchup against Rutgers under the Friday night lights. After last year’s loss at Rutgers, including many missed opportunities and unforced errors, UW looks to get its revenge. That might be a tall task though as Greg Schiano has historically fielded well-coached teams that tend to play above their talent level, even if their two in-conference losses don’t reflect it. Additionally, while the Huskies are making a quick turnaround on a short week after an east coast trip, the Scarlet Knights are coming off of a bye.
The Scheme & Personnel
Head Coach Greg Schiano is in his 17th season at the helm of the Scarlet Knights program (6th during this current stint). As a defensive-minded head coach, the team’s identity has tended to revolve around tough defenses and a complementary offense. However, this year’s squad has had its challenges. Their defensive front has struggled with creating negative plays (just 8 sacks on the season), and the secondary has snagged just two interceptions. With so few impact plays, you’d expect the defense to be structured as a “bend-but-don’t-break” scheme, but that’s not necessarily accurate. The Scarlet Knights have given up 28+ points in 3/4 of their FBS matchups this year, and they’ve yielded 218 passing yards and 128 rushing yards per game on the season. Even more alarming to Rutgers fans, Big Ten offensive juggernauts Iowa and Minnesota have each completed over 66% of their passes against the Rutgers secondary, including a 324 yard passing performance by Minnesota.
On the ground, Rutgers’ run defense has been decent against conventional rushing attacks. They held Minnesota to under 3 yards per carry and Iowa to under 4.5 yards per carry. However, gap integrity against more diverse rushing attacks, particularly those with mobile QBs, have posed issues. Ohio scored 31 points against this Rutgers defense to open the season, and that performance was powered by their rushing. The Bobcats racked up 201 yards on the ground (at a clip of 6.1 yards per carry), of which their QB gained 93 yards and a TD on just 9 carries. If Rutgers is to shore up their run defense against dual-threat rushing attacks, their going to need improved play from LBs Moses Walker, Jett Elad, and Sam Robinson.
Keys to the Game
If the Huskies are going to avoid the upset and re-establish momentum after last week’s thrilling comeback against Maryland, Jonah Coleman and the rest of the rushing attack has to set the tone. In our early season non-conference slate, Coleman looked like an All-America candidate powering a high-octane rushing attack. However, in our two conference games, his production has tapered off. Of course, playing Ohio State’s defense and losing several key members of the offensive line hasn’t helped were major factors in his decline in production, but the opportunities for explosive plays should be there against a suspect Rutgers run defense.
On the other side of the ball, Demond Williams needs a hot start to the game. In the first half of last week’s Maryland game, Demond looked a bit off compared to his typically poised and decisive style of play. Whether that was due to a early game script that was not well-suited for the Maryland game plan, or just road game jitters, it wasn’t a good performance. If we’re going to make up for injuries up front (both in run blocking and pass protection), others will need to step up. Getting in rhythm with the passing game, establishing the rushing attack, and being able to play with a lead will hamper Rutgers’ situational ability to attack the backups along the left side of our line. Of course, all of that is easier said than done, but we should have the skill talent to exploit the flaws in Rutgers’ defense.