Rutgers Football Predictions

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights had their streak of four consecutive bowl games come to an end last season with a 4-8 campaign. It was a tumultuous season with Kyle Flood getting suspended for three games, while key players missed significant time.

Now the job belongs to Chris Ash, who got a 5-year, $11 million deal this offseason. He was the co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State under Urban Meyer over the past two years. He was also the co-defensive coordinator at both Wisconsin and Arkansas with Bret Bielema.

Ash inherits some decent talent here and has a chance for success in his first season. The Scarlet Knights go from being the most inexperienced team in the Big Ten last year with just eight returning starters to 16 returning starters in 2016. They bring back 50 lettermen while losing only 18. Let’s see if Ash can get them back to a bowl right away.

Last Season
Big Ten East
Record
ATS Record
Over/Under
Points For
Points Against
T-6th
4-8 (1-7 Big Ten)
4-8
6-6
27.1
34.9
2016 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Schedule
Date Opponent
Spread (Est.)
Win Chance
9/3 @ Washington
9/10 Howard
9/17 New Mexico
9/24 Iowa
10/1 @ Ohio State
10/8 Michigan
10/15 Illinois
10/22 @ Minnesota
11/5 Indiana
11/12 @ Michigan State
11/19 Penn State
11/26 @ Maryland
Estimated Wins: TBD
Offense

Rutgers put up 27.1 points and 377 yards per game last season. It will be going with its fifth offensive coordinator in five years in Drew Mehringer, who was the wide receivers coach under Tom Herman at Houston. He inherits a whopping nine returning starters on this side of the ball.

Junior QB Chris Laviano completed 60.9 percent of his passes for 2,247 yards with 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions as a sophomore last year. He’ll be handing the ball off to the top two rushers from last season in juniors Robert Martin (763 yards, 6 TD, 5.4/carry) and Josh Hicks (674 yards, 4 TD, 5.2/carry).

The Scarlet Knights lose their star receiver in Leonte Carroo, who leaves as the school’s third-leading pass-catcher after getting drafted in the third round by the Miami Dolphins. But everyone else is back, led by senior Janarion Grant (35 receptions, 352 yards, 1 TD), senior Andre Patton (34, 432, 1 TD) and senior Carlton Agudosi (17, 313, 1 TD).

Four starters, nine of the top 10 on the depth chart, and 73 career starts return along the offensive line. This should be a position of strength to say the least. The returning starters feature three seniors in C Derrick Nelson, RG Chris Muller, and RT JJ Denman along with junior LG Dorian Miller.

Defense

Rutgers was dominant defensively in the Big East, but the switch to the Big Ten has certainly made it susceptible on this side of the ball. It has given up 34.9, 30.2 and 29.8 points per game the past three seasons, respectively. The new defensive coordinator is Jay Niemann, who actually coached Ash at Drake back in ’95-’96. He inherits seven returning starters on this side of the ball, but they do lose each of their top three tacklers from last year.

The defensive line returns seven of the top eight on the depth chart from last season. All four starters have all-conference potential in DE Quanzell Lambert (43 tackles, 7.5 for loss), DT Darius Hamilton (110 tackles, 24.5 for loss in 3 years), DT Sebastian Joseph (22 tackles, 5.5 for loss) and DE Julian Pinnix-Odrick (33 tackles, 3 for loss). Hamilton redshirted last year due to a knee injury and is their best player up front.

Each of their top three tacklers from last year were linebackers, and all three have departed. That makes this position the biggest question mark on the entire team. Three underclassmen are projected to start in sophomore WLB Deonte Roberts, freshman MLB Solomon Manning and sophomore SLB Najee Clayton.

Steve Belichick, Bill’s son, is the new safeties coach. He will have the luxury of working with four returning starters in the secondary, though three of them are only sophomores in CB Isaiah Wharton (57 tackles, 11 passes defended), CB Blessuan Austin (33 tackles, 1 INT) and FS Saquan Hampton (28 tackles, 1 INT). The other returning starter is senior SS Anthony Cioffi (45 tackles, 4 INT), who will be the leader of this unit.

Odds (Courtesy of 5Dimes)
Regular Season Win Total
Big Ten East Odds
Big Ten Championship Odds
4-Team Playoff Odds
National Championship Odds
4.5
+20000
+60000
N/A
+500000
Season Predictions

Injuries and suspensions really hampered the Scarlet Knights last season. They never really had a chance as they went 4-8 overall and 1-7 in Big Ten play. There’s no question they should be more competitive under Chris Ash and his 16 returning starters now.

However, the Scarlet Knights have a lot of ground to make up. They were outgained by 166.9 yards per game in Big Ten play last season, which was the worst mark in the entire conference. Their only four wins came against Norfolk State, Kansas, Indiana and Army.

Rutgers does get seven home games this season, including Howard, New Mexico, Illinois and Indiana. Unfortunately, those are the only four games I see it winning as it will be an underdog in the rest of its games. That’s why I will call for a 4-8 record overall and a 2-7 mark in Big Ten play. This is still a young team despite the 16 returning starters and Ash has a tough task ahead of him.

2016 Projections
Big Ten East
Big Ten Record
Overall Record
Win Total Prediction
T-6th
2-7
4-8
Under 4.5
More College Football Predictions
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East
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West
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