Last year’s dark horse, the Washington Huskies, take their #8 ranked squad across country to face a heavy underdog in the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. Game time is 8 P.M ET at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Typically, a team that loses 5 starters to the NFL Draft doesn’t duplicate their previous season’s success (12-2) unless they’re Alabama and Ohio State. However, the Huskies return several key players on both sides of the ball including their stud quarterback Jake Browning who finished 6th in last year’s Heisman vote. So, it’s easy to see why the #8 ranked Huskies are predicted to make another run at the College Football Playoffs.
This matchup concludes a two game series that also saw both teams kickoff the season in 2016. Washington easily covered the spread by destroying Rutgers 48-13.
Rutgers finished their 2016 campaign at the bottom of the Big 10 conference with a 2-10 record. They bring back one of the worst offenses from last year, without much improvement this offseason. It’s going to be another long year for the Scarlett Knights.
The betting line has consistently hovered around -30.5 for the Washington Huskies. There’s a chance that a few sportsbooks might even have them at -30.
This game is all about how much Washington will beat Rutgers by. The difference in talent levels will be evident on the field and on the scoreboard. In addition to having an elite college quarterback, who finished 2nd in the Nation with 43 touchdowns, Washington also sports a running back who has back-to-back 1,300 yard seasons. So, not only can they beat you in the air, but they can also pound it down your throat. This type of balanced attack will be too much for the Scarlett Knights to handle, even with an entire offseason of preparation.
Washington lost 3 vital members to their secondary, but still boast of an impressive front 7 unit. The defense finished 8th in the country last year allowing a tick over 17.5 points per game, which is about 2 full points above what Rutgers scored per game. But, when Washington played inferior talent in 2016, they crushed them. The Huskies opened 2016 with 3 straight wins over non-conference opponents (including Rutgers) by an average of 39 points per game.
The only chance Rutgers has is if Browning gets knocked out of the game and they get points off turnovers and special teams. With this scenario being highly improbable, things should go as expected with a huge Washington victory.
Rutgers is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games. They are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 home games and 5-13 ATS in their last 18 games as an underdog. Taking it further, Rutgers is 0-5 ATS as a heavy underdog of 21.5 to 31 points.
Washington is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 Friday games, 10-5 ATS in their last 15 road games, 6-2 ATS in their last 8 non-conference games, and an impressive 12-4 ATS when favored by 21.5 to 31 points.
Rutgers might come out strong and keep the game competitive for a quarter, but Washington will impose their will and pull away big by the end of the game.