jimmythegreek
The opening odds start here
Who says the biggest ticket in town is the boss rocking Madison Square Garden? While he will be playing with the E Street Band in front of a sellout crowd, so will Rutgers (4-2 1-1) in front of more than twice the 20K capacity the Garden holds as the Scarlet Knights continue to have an outside shot at the National picture. Second ranked South Florida (6-0 1-0) will look to keep itself in the hunt for the BCS Championship Game when they face the Knights this evening at 7:30 in front of a national audience on ESPN.
While Rutgers may be feeding off of its' incredible season that saw them rally for a victory against then #3 Louisville in Piscataway, also a Thursday night showdown, tonight's game is a great opportunity for the Knights, who were ranked as high as #10 this season to jump back into the national picture. Rutgers would rest assured be back in the top 25 with a win over the Bulls and an inside track on the Big East title.
However, getting past USF will not be an easy task by any means. It all starts with defense as the Bulls possess a stellar defensive end in George Selvie, who leads the nation with 11.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for negative yardage. The Bulls haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 14 games, but will face Rutgers All-American Ray Rice (165-818 5.0 13 TD), the last to reach the mark against them when he ran for 202 yards on 35 carries and two TDs last season in the Knights' 22-20 road victory. Rice, who needs 268 yards for 4,000, is averaging 180.0 yards in two games against South Florida. South Florida also has an impressive cornerback tandem in Trae Williams and Mike Jenkins. QB Matt Grothe (59% 1121 yds, 7 TD 3 INT) has been particularly efficient and also is dangerous in calling his own number (81-346 4.3 4 TD) while combining with Benjamin Williams (63-309 4.9 5 TD) and Mike Ford (46-251 5.5 6 TD) in the backfield.
Rutgers figures to keep USF's defense busy with a steady diet of Rice, while the receiving trio of Tiquan Underwood (34-675 4 TD), Kenny Britt (27-640 4 TD) and Tim Brown (17-245 1 TD) gives QB Mike Teel (63% 1817 yards 12 TD 6 INT) plenty of weapons.
The key to slowing the Bulls' ground game is clearly limiting the production of Grothe, who is coming off consecutive 100-yard rushing games. The problem is Rutgers' run defense is vulnerable to mobile quarterbacks. For starters, the Scarlet Knights sacrifice size for speed as well as quickness and the front four try to shoot gaps rather than anchor at the point of attack. Not surprisingly players get caught out of position on occasion as a result. Grothe keeps his head up, reads defenses and changes directions well so he will take advantage when defenders get caught out of their gaps or too far upfield. Secondly, Rutgers tries to mask its inability to anchor by running line stunts. The Bulls are admittedly more vulnerable to line stunts right now because a knee injury OC Nick Capogna sustained in the season-opener has limited the second-year starter. Capogna, who played but didn't start against Florida Atlantic last week, is a leader on the field and he does a great job of keeping the line on the same page. However, his replacement Jake Griffin has filled in well and the front five have played like a cohesive unit. They should be able to adjust to the Scarlet Knights' games up front and create seams for Grothe who is patient runner that will give them time to get into position.
South Florida -2 and over 52.5
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While Rutgers may be feeding off of its' incredible season that saw them rally for a victory against then #3 Louisville in Piscataway, also a Thursday night showdown, tonight's game is a great opportunity for the Knights, who were ranked as high as #10 this season to jump back into the national picture. Rutgers would rest assured be back in the top 25 with a win over the Bulls and an inside track on the Big East title.
However, getting past USF will not be an easy task by any means. It all starts with defense as the Bulls possess a stellar defensive end in George Selvie, who leads the nation with 11.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for negative yardage. The Bulls haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 14 games, but will face Rutgers All-American Ray Rice (165-818 5.0 13 TD), the last to reach the mark against them when he ran for 202 yards on 35 carries and two TDs last season in the Knights' 22-20 road victory. Rice, who needs 268 yards for 4,000, is averaging 180.0 yards in two games against South Florida. South Florida also has an impressive cornerback tandem in Trae Williams and Mike Jenkins. QB Matt Grothe (59% 1121 yds, 7 TD 3 INT) has been particularly efficient and also is dangerous in calling his own number (81-346 4.3 4 TD) while combining with Benjamin Williams (63-309 4.9 5 TD) and Mike Ford (46-251 5.5 6 TD) in the backfield.
Rutgers figures to keep USF's defense busy with a steady diet of Rice, while the receiving trio of Tiquan Underwood (34-675 4 TD), Kenny Britt (27-640 4 TD) and Tim Brown (17-245 1 TD) gives QB Mike Teel (63% 1817 yards 12 TD 6 INT) plenty of weapons.
The key to slowing the Bulls' ground game is clearly limiting the production of Grothe, who is coming off consecutive 100-yard rushing games. The problem is Rutgers' run defense is vulnerable to mobile quarterbacks. For starters, the Scarlet Knights sacrifice size for speed as well as quickness and the front four try to shoot gaps rather than anchor at the point of attack. Not surprisingly players get caught out of position on occasion as a result. Grothe keeps his head up, reads defenses and changes directions well so he will take advantage when defenders get caught out of their gaps or too far upfield. Secondly, Rutgers tries to mask its inability to anchor by running line stunts. The Bulls are admittedly more vulnerable to line stunts right now because a knee injury OC Nick Capogna sustained in the season-opener has limited the second-year starter. Capogna, who played but didn't start against Florida Atlantic last week, is a leader on the field and he does a great job of keeping the line on the same page. However, his replacement Jake Griffin has filled in well and the front five have played like a cohesive unit. They should be able to adjust to the Scarlet Knights' games up front and create seams for Grothe who is patient runner that will give them time to get into position.
South Florida -2 and over 52.5
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